In about three weeks, like clockwork, we're going to start to hear from panicked travelers asking us to help save them from sky-high fares over the Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's holidays. So, let's get ahead of this right now: You're not going to find better holiday airfare prices than you will right now, so it's time to start booking.
Consider this your final warning and send it to your procrastinating friends and family.
Waiting too long could be a very costly mistake. With Thanksgiving coming up in a little over a month, this time of year routinely becomes one of the busiest stretches of travel. And all that travel demand is a recipe for sky-high prices.
Just like there's no best day to book flights, there's no ironclad rule for how far in advance you should book – no matter when or where you're traveling. Flight pricing is unpredictable, and it's possible that you might see prices drop as December draws near … but the odds are much greater that you wind up paying far more by waiting.
Google Flights crunched the numbers and found that if you're looking to fly domestically over Christmas, you'll likely find the lowest flight prices booking between 54 and 78 days before travel – that means the best deals are all gone by about Nov. 1. We're currently in the sweet spot to find the best deals for flights around Christmas – and you'll want to book long before early December.
As for Thanksgiving flights, we're nearing the end of viability to find anything remotely affordable. Typically, the sweet spot for Thanksgiving flight deals runs from Oct. 1 to right about now – so run, don't walk!
Even if you're not ready to book just yet, go set a Google Flights Price Alert for your holiday travel plans so you get an alert when prices drop or increase. That could give you a critical heads-up on when it's time to book flights.
Thrifty Tip: Whenever you buy, book at least a standard economy ticket – not a basic economy fare. That way, if prices do decrease after your purchase, you can rebook your flights and pocket the difference as an airline voucher.
Holiday Flight Deals Better than Ever This Year
If you want to fly over the holidays: You're in luck.
Cheap or cheaper holiday season flights have been much easier to find this year. Why? For one, flight prices are down across the board.
But most importantly, Christmas Eve and Christmas and New Year's Eve and New Year's Day both fall on Wednesdays and Thursdays this year. Tuesday-Thursday is usually always the cheapest time of week to fly anyway, but if you're willing to fly on the holidays themselves or right before and after, you can stand to save a ton, too.
The end result of that has been maybe the best run of holiday flight deals we've ever seen at Thrifty Traveler Premium … ever. These deals have come in two categories in particular: Domestic flights in the U.S. and business class flights overseas. Here are a few examples:
Just a few weeks ago, we rounded up the best deals we could find to Las Vegas (LAS), but what we didn't expect was to find tons of dates over Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's. It was just the latest deal in what had, by that point, become a trend.
Just a few days earlier, we found the same action to Colorado with many of these cheapest fares on flights to Denver (DEN).
While not all of the cities on those lists had good holiday availability, and the fares listed there may have changed by now, we've seen a steady drum beat of cheap fares home for the holidays. This flight deal flying Southwest Airlines to Chicago (MDW) started the party, though.
As a Minneapolis resident with family in Chicago, I've got several family members booked on these fares for the holiday season for cheaper than the two tanks of gas it would be to make the six-hour drive.
And Business Class Flights, too!
Like I already mentioned, the other best value in holiday travel is going to be at the front of the plane, because we've found holiday availability flying lie-flat across the Atlantic recently, too. The reason is simple: Business class flights tend to get cheaper when business travelers aren't traveling … like during the holidays.
So, this isn't actually that rare. But it is a savvy move to hunt down business class flights when everyone else is searching economy. Here's an example.
This Marrakech, Morocco (RAK) alert we sent was so rare that we gave it our patented “Unicorn Alert” moniker. With fares from all over the U.S. to RAK for just 200,000 Delta SkyMiles roundtrip (or less if you've got a Delta SkyMiles Card), you could get to Morocco during the winter holidays for some of the best rates all year!
Delta also ran a quick sale on flights to Dublin (DUB) – selling its Delta One seats on those flights for just 188,000 SkyMiles roundtrip over the holiday season, too!
Competing with Delta on the way to Dublin is Aer Lingus – the Irish airline with a fancy business class of its own.
Just 45,000 Alaska miles could be enough for you to book these seats across the pond in this case – a stellar deal to get you to Dublin or Shannon (SNN) over the holiday season!
Other Tips to Save on Holiday Flights
Beyond booking before prices shoot up, we've got a few easy-to-understand tips you can follow to save – and save big – on flights over the holidays.
Shift Your Travel Dates (A Bit)
We have a rule here at Thrifty Traveler to save on airfare. It's called The Flight First Rule.
And it's exactly what it sounds like: Rather than locking in your travel dates now and going to book, start by searching for flights, letting the price guide you to the cheapest dates possible. It's absolutely critical around busy travel holidays like Christmas.
We know you want to fly out on Dec. 22 or 23 and return for work on the 26th … but so does everyone else. And the airlines know that. They're some of the busiest travel days of the entire year, so those itineraries around Christmas are almost always the most expensive fares you'll find in December – or the entire year, for that matter.
For example, travelers looking to fly from Denver (DEN) to Chicago (ORD/MDW) on Tuesday, Dec. 23 and return on Sunday, Dec. 28 can currently expect to pay almost $364 roundtrip in basic economy.
But my massaging your dates a little bit, you can do better. And if you're willing to fly on the holidays themselves (in this case Christmas morning and New Year's Day), you can cut the cost of your trip in half on the exact same routes.
This may well not work for everyone's work and personal schedule, but it showcases the power of flexibility when flying around the holidays.
Use Google Flights
Forget Expedia, Kayak, Skyscanner, and Hopper. No matter when or where you're traveling, Google Flights is the best search platform out there. But for expensive holiday travel, its powerful features to help you find the cheapest fare make Google Flights invaluable.
- Its easy-to-navigate interface includes a calendar function, showing dates in green that offer the cheapest fares.
- Google Flights will even give you a pop-up alert if shifting your dates will save you money.
- You can quickly filter by airline, flight times, nonstops or one-stops, and more to see only the flights you want
- Google Flights Price Alerts can help you track prices on your route, booking when prices drop.
- Google allows you to search to and from up to seven airports at once, casting a wide net to find the best deals
- Flying in or out of cities with multiple airports like New York, Washington, D.C., or Chicago? Just type in the city name and Google Flights will display results from all of them.
Read our full guide with everything you need to know about using Google Flights!
Bottom Line
Waiting to book a flight home for the holidays is not a sound strategy.
Could prices drop over the next few weeks? Sure, in theory. But they're far, far more likely to go up (and up) as the holidays draw closer, with travelers hitting the skies in record numbers. That means you should look for – and book – your flights now … and rebook if prices suddenly drop.
