PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES:

How to survive winter travel hell

There’s no place like home for the holidays, but when you’re elbow to elbow with tens of millions of fellow travelers, even the most ardent booster of Dad’s glazed ham will question what it’s all worth. Here are some tips for surviving — and maybe even enjoying — the ride.

Air Delta Comfort+, American Airlines’ Main Cabin Extra (right), JetBlue’s Even More Space: By any other name, priority boarding, a few additional inches of leg room and reserved overhead bins would smell as sweet. For only a few-dozen dol- lars extra, you’ll mollify an otherwise cramped, stressful experience. Next, tap those credit card perks. Chase Sapphire Reserve offers free membership to Priority Pass, a network of some 1,200 airport lounges worldwide; certain Amexes get you into Delta SkyClub and the coveted Centurion Lounge. If the nerdy details make your head spin, just remember this: Access kicks in as soon as you get your card, so if you’ve been considering better plastic, sign up now.

Rail Behold, the glorious civility of Amtrak’s red cap service. Available at a dozen train stations nationwide, the free concierge offers baggage-handling assistance and early boarding to anyone — yes, anyone — who asks for it. You’ll be escorted to your seat, often before the gate number is even announced. (Tip well!)

Road If there are nine circles of holiday travel hell, sitting bumperto-bumper in a sea of red tail lights ranks among the worst. But road warriors can breathe easier now that Google Maps lets you share your ETA in real time, sparing you from an onslaught of probing (if well-intentioned) text messages from Mom.