MONEY & LIFE

How To Save Money on Holiday Flights

By: James Flippin · November 02, 2022 · Reading Time: 3 minutes

Days To Avoid Traveling

With the holiday season now just weeks ahead, you may be looking to book a flight home. You also may have noticed the price of flights is nothing to celebrate.

When many people travel at once, prices rise. According to industry experts, the busiest travel days around Thanksgiving (Thursday, November 24th) are the Tuesday and Wednesday before the holiday. Thursday (17th) and Friday (18th) the week before are also hectic. And the most common day to fly back home is the Sunday after Thanksgiving.

If you want to get the cheapest flight prices, it’s likely best to avoid flying on any of these days.

How Can You Save?

If you can stretch your schedule around the holiday, you may be able to stretch your money, too.

Broadly speaking, the earlier you travel, the better. It’s around $80 cheaper to fly on the Monday before Thanksgiving as opposed to Wednesday, on average. However, weekends should be avoided too – it’s 27% more expensive to fly out one day earlier, on Sunday. This is particularly true if you’re traveling with a family and need to book multiple tickets.

On top of the cost savings, extending your trip means spending more time with your family. After a few years of socially-distanced holidays, an extra-long Thanksgiving trip could be a win-win.

Leveraging Your Laptop

Prior to 2020, most employees were expected to be in the office the Monday after the holiday. Post-pandemic, many employers are offering flexible remote or hybrid schedules. By working remotely, paid time off can be preserved, allowing for more time spent with family, and more money saved.

If hybrid work isn’t an option, there is one more strategy to look into, if it makes sense for your financial situation. Many credit cards offer significant sign-up bonuses of several thousand travel miles. For those looking to open a new credit card, it could help individuals make money back on a pricey flight – if not land one for free.

At the end of the day, it’s all about finding the travel schedule that works best for you, your family, and your pockets.

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