It’s October, which means that the holidays are right around the corner, and with them will inevitably come an increase in flight prices. The good news is that some good deals are still to be found. With a bit of strategy and luck, there’s still hope for a holiday getaway that isn’t overpriced.
“Overall, flight prices coming out of summer are the lowest we’ve seen in years,” Scott Keyes, founder and chief flight expert at flight deal track site Going, said in the company’s 2024 holiday travel release. “It’s important to understand cheap flights as a matter of probabilities. Each day presents a certain likelihood that a great deal may arise.”
It goes without saying that the closer we get to the holidays, the harder it’s going to be to find affordable airfares. So, consider this your PSA: The time to book your holiday travel is ASAP.
According to a recent holiday travel report from Google Flights, the average price of airline tickets tends to be at its lowest for domestic Thanksgiving trips 45 days before departure. With Thanksgiving landing on November 28 this year, the best day to book U.S. flights for Thanksgiving travel is October 14. Google notes that the low-price booking range for domestic Thanksgiving travel is between 26 and 59 days prior to departure.
As for Christmas travel, according to Google, prices have historically been lowest 58 days before departure, meaning the ideal timeframe for booking Christmas flights is in late October. The low-price booking range for Christmas travel is between 36 and 72 days out.
That number more or less jibes with travel booking site Hopper’s 2024 Holiday Travel Outlook, which concludes that you’ll find the best holiday travel airfares if you book by October 14.
“Airfare will drop from now until the end of September, then remain low and volatile in October before rising in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving and Christmas. Over the next few weeks while prices are volatile, travelers who are proactively monitoring prices could get notified of great, time-sensitive deals,” Hopper reports.
Unfortunately, regardless of when you book, you’ll likely experience a bit of sticker shock: Thanksgiving flights on average are up about 10 percent compared to this time last year, and Christmas flights are up 4 percent on average from this time last year. But Hopper predicts prices will fall “about $40 on average until they reach their lowest point in early October.”
The bottom line, according to Expedia Group travel expert Melanie Fish, is that “the closer it gets to your travel date, the more the odds of snagging a good deal decrease. If you haven’t already booked, do it soon.”
Going advises travelers to book holiday flights at least 21 days in advance: “Many airlines require a 21-day advance purchase requirement for the lowest fares. If booking occurs 20 days before the flight, the previous cheapest fare will expire, and the new lowest fare could be $100 to $200 higher.”
Still need to book your holiday travel? Here’s your guide you to nabbing a deal during the 2024 holiday season.
Tips for scoring holiday travel deals in 2024
Go where others aren’t
As a general rule of thumb, the more popular a holiday destination is, the more expensive it is to get there.
Vacation rental platform Airbnb noted that it’s still seeing ample availability at several off-the-beaten-path destinations during the holiday season, including Helena, Montana; ski resort Brian Head, Utah; Daytona Beach, Florida; Reno, Nevada; and Grand Junction, Colorado.
Consider European destinations that are summer hot spots but that actually shine during the winter as well, such as Provence, France, and the Greek island of Crete.
And don’t be deterred from sought-after cities known for their festive atmosphere. Going reports that it is seeing last-minute deals on flights from New York City to Amsterdam (starting at $397); Los Angeles to Rome (from $556); and Chicago to Salt Lake City (starting at $179).
Popular holiday travel destinations to where Hopper is seeing 2024 airfares below what they were last year include Tokyo (down 9 percent for Thanksgiving), London (has dipped between 7 and 10 percent for the holidays), Paris (down 16 percent for flights around Christmas), and Miami (9 percent lower this Christmas).
Try looking at two one-way flights
Flight aggregators, such as Google Flights, will only display round-trip flights from a single airline or two one-way flights from partner airlines. For example, it might suggest an itinerary where the outbound flight is on Alaska Airlines and the return is on American Airlines because they are both part of the oneworld Alliance. However, Google Flights won’t provide an itinerary that combines Delta and United because they are competitors. Try booking your trip separately on different airlines to see if you can find a cheaper overall price.
Explore alternative airports
Sometimes, flying out of an airport farther from home than a closer hub is worth the savings.
“For example, you live outside of Philadelphia and would love to take that trip to Paris with your partner over the winter holidays, but tickets are currently out of budget,” explains Katy Nastro, spokesperson for Going. “The tickets from Philly are currently well over $900 round-trip, but if you drove just an hour and a half away to Newark, your ticket cost for the same trip might be almost $200 less.”
Consider when you travel
You could save a considerable amount of money by tweaking your travel dates.
According to Hayley Berg, lead economist at Hopper, travelers can save the most if they fly the Monday of Thanksgiving week and return any weekday the following week. (Two years ago, my family and I traveled on Thanksgiving proper and returned the following Wednesday, opting to take a few days off after Thanksgiving weekend rather than before. Not only were flights a third of the price, but the holiday crowds had blissfully disappeared by the time we flew home.)
Hopper estimates that travelers can save about 23 percent per ticket by departing on the Thursday before Thanksgiving (November 21) or the Monday of Thanksgiving week (November 25) rather than taking a weekend flight.
As for Christmas, Hopper advises looking into departures the week before Christmas or heading out on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day for maximum savings.
If you are bound by specific dates, you might get a better flight deal if you travel a few hours later, like on a red-eye flight that departs shortly after midnight on the day you need to be home. Nastro noted that red-eyes are typically cheaper as there’s less demand for them.
Consider using points or miles for last-minute economy tickets
To ease the strain on your wallet, see if you can book the flight with points or miles. When last-minute cash prices are high, you often can get the best redemption value for points and miles.
“A lot of people hoard their points and miles for fancier front-of-plane seats, but if those currencies allow you to take a flight you might not have had the opportunity [to take] otherwise to spend time with loved ones, it might be worth cashing some in for a winter holiday economy flight,” Nastro says.
Be flexible
If you need to travel during the winter holidays, the above tips are paramount for snagging a more affordable ticket. But if you just want to travel, then flexibility on when and where could be helpful in scoring a deal.
“Let the deal answer the question of ‘Where to?’” Nastro says. “Being open to destinations can allow you to not only find a fantastic price on airfare but also open your world to experiences that you might not have considered but are just as enjoyable as the old standbys.”
One way to find cheaper flights is to play with Google Flight’s Explore tool. You can input your departure city, preferred travel dates, and click “Explore.” You’ll then be brought to a page listing the spread of the cheapest flights to destinations throughout the world.
Bailey Berg contributed reporting. This story was first published in October 2023 and was updated on October 2, 2024, to include current information.
