Come the holidays, Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport fills up with more people, more bags, and a lower-level arrivals curbside that moves fast. You pull up, you load up, you clear out. Pick the wrong vehicle and that turns into an embarrassing scramble with half the suitcases riding in somebody's lap.
A fair question heading into holiday travel is which of these to take, and the answer depends entirely on your group size, your bag situation, and whether you mind a slightly tight curbside maneuver. So here's how three of the most popular vehicles on our lot stack up for a BHM holiday pickup.
- Chrysler Pacifica: The pick for 6-8 passengers. Stow 'n Go seats fold flat into the floor so you load bags first and sort seating later. Best all-around airport hauler in the lineup.
- Jeep Grand Cherokee: The sweet spot for 4-5 people with serious luggage. Seats five comfortably, 37.7 cubic feet behind the second row, and genuinely capable if you hit a holiday ice event on the way home from BHM.
- Ram 1500 Crew Cab: The choice if you're hauling one or two people plus enough gear to stock a small cabin. Enormous bed, serious towing, but the cab caps out at five seats.
- Bottom line: Group of 5+, go Pacifica. Party of 4 or fewer with mixed luggage, Grand Cherokee handles it cleanly. Solo or duo with big gear, the Ram 1500 gives you a bed that never says no.
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How Do These Three Actually Compare?
Line the specs up side by side and the tradeoffs show themselves fast.
| Vehicle | Passenger Seats | Cargo Behind Last Row | Max Cargo (Seats Down/Stowed) | EPA Combined MPG | Towing Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 Chrysler Pacifica | Up to 8 | 32.3 cu ft | 140.5 cu ft | 22 mpg | Up to 3,600 lbs |
| 2026 Jeep Grand Cherokee | 5 | 37.7 cu ft | 70.8 cu ft | 22-23 mpg | Up to 6,200 lbs |
| 2026 Ram 1500 Crew Cab | 5 | 53.9 cu ft (short bed) | 53.9 cu ft (bed, open) | 15-22 mpg (varies by engine) | Up to 11,610 lbs |
The Pacifica's Stow 'n Go system is the differentiator at the top. Chrysler rates the 2026 model at 140.5 cubic feet with both rear rows folded into the floor. That number matters when your mother-in-law shows up with three checked bags and a tote she "just carried on."
The Grand Cherokee's 37.7 cubic feet behind the second row looks modest next to the Pacifica's max, but it's a real, usable number with five people aboard. Jeep lists the 2026 Grand Cherokee at up to 6,200 pounds of towing, which isn't a typical airport concern, though it tells you something about how the platform is built.
The Ram 1500 Crew Cab's cargo situation:
- 53.9 cubic feet is an open truck bed
- Rain and cold nights expose your luggage
- One unclaimed piece of luggage rides fully exposed
- Keep that weather exposure in mind
Which One Actually Works at the BHM Arrivals Curb?
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The spec sheets go quiet on this one, so let's talk about the curb itself. Birmingham-Shuttlesworth runs a compact, single-terminal layout. Pickups happen on the lower-level arrivals curbside, outside baggage claim. The curb moves quickly, especially through the November and December travel surges. BHM's own guidance during the summer 2026 travel peak pointed drivers to the remote lot when the parking deck hit capacity, and that pattern repeats over the holidays.
Practically, that means you don't want to be the person at the curb trying to tetris eight bags into a crossover while the airport police wave you along. You want a vehicle that loads quick.
How each vehicle loads at the curb:
- Chrysler Pacifica: Fold the third row ahead of time. Pull up, open the sliding doors on both sides, everyone boards at once. Done in 90 seconds if the group is organized.
- Jeep Grand Cherokee: Requires a bit more choreography with five people and full luggage but it's still clean and quiet.
- Ram 1500 Crew Cab: Someone is climbing into the bed to stack bags, and that someone is probably you.
BHM also keeps a cell phone lot at 5600 Airline Drive. For a larger group, that's your staging move. Wait there, get the "bags are off the carousel" text, then pull to the lower-level curbside right as the group walks out. Any of these three works with that strategy. The Pacifica makes it painless.
Picking by Need: Which One Is Actually Yours?
The matrix table does its job, but the plain-language version is easier to act on.
Take the Chrysler Pacifica if: Your holiday group runs five people or more, or your cargo needs change trip to trip. The Stow 'n Go system takes you from full eight-passenger mode to rolling cargo bay without pulling a single seat. For a Birmingham family doing two or three BHM runs between Thanksgiving and New Year's with a different group size each time, the Pacifica is simply more adaptable. The downside we won't dress up is that it's a minivan, and some buyers simply won't go there. Fair enough.
Take the Jeep Grand Cherokee if: You want the right balance for most real-world holiday situations. Five seats, real cargo room, available all-wheel drive for Birmingham's occasional winter ice events, and a towing rating that handles a loaded trailer if the plans get more ambitious. The Grand Cherokee is also the most capable of the three in rough conditions. The tradeoff is a hard ceiling at five people, so if cousin Marcus shows up with a friend, you're making two trips, simple as that.
Take the Ram 1500 Crew Cab if: Your airport run is for one or two people bringing a lot of gear. Hunting equipment, skis, a large cooler, construction tools for a job site on the way home, the Ram 1500's short-bed Crew Cab carries 53.9 cubic feet in the open bed, and the cab is plenty comfortable for five. What you give up is weather protection on the cargo (a tonneau cover solves most of that) and any flexibility past five seated passengers.
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One more practical point is worth flagging for BHM over the holidays. The airport sits off I-20/I-59 near downtown Birmingham. Coming from the southern suburbs, you're running a stretch of elevated interstate that can get slick in a cold rain or the occasional ice event that hits the Birmingham area in December and January. The Grand Cherokee with available 4WD or the Pacifica with available AWD both give you confidence that the Ram 1500, even in 4x4 trim, doesn't need to match for a surface-level airport haul.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I fit six checked bags in a 2026 Jeep Grand Cherokee with four passengers?
It's tight. The 2026 Jeep Grand Cherokee offers 37.7 cubic feet of cargo space behind the second row with all passengers seated, per Jeep. That's roughly four large rolling suitcases, depending on their dimensions. Six checked bags with four adults aboard is an ask the Grand Cherokee doesn't comfortably fill. You'd either need to stack on top of each other or ask a passenger to manage one at their feet. If you're regularly moving that volume, the 2026 Chrysler Pacifica's Stow 'n Go third row gives you significantly more flexibility.
Is a Ram 1500 Crew Cab actually practical for a BHM airport pickup?
For small groups, yes. The 2026 Ram 1500 Crew Cab seats five and offers a genuinely comfortable cabin with class-leading rear legroom. The challenge is that your luggage rides in the open bed. A tonneau cover addresses the weather exposure, and for a one or two-person pickup the bed volume (53.9 cubic feet in the short-bed configuration) handles almost any quantity of luggage. For a larger holiday group, the Ram 1500 is better suited as the second vehicle in a two-car convoy than as the solo airport hauler.