Holiday airfare around Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s is notoriously expensive due to high demand and limited seat availability. However, with strategic timing and an understanding of airfare trends, you can still secure reasonable fares—even on peak travel dates.
I’ve been outflanking expensive holiday flights, and I know that you can too. Today, we’re going to share the best tips for you to fly during the holidays without breaking the bank.
As you likely already know, airlines operate on dynamic pricing models and adjust fares based on real-time demand, seat inventory and booking patterns. For most of the year, fares fluctuate in a fare “curve,” starting high, dropping during the booking window sweet spot and then rising sharply as the departure date approaches.
However, holiday travel breaks the rules. Airlines know that travelers have fixed date constraints. Most people must fly a few days before the holiday and return shortly after. This removes flexibility and allows airlines to hold fares higher, with fewer promotional drops.
That said, there are still windows when airlines release lower fare buckets, and catching these windows can make a significant difference in price.
While there’s no formal rule, here’s what I’ve found in my experience.
For international holiday flights, the sweet spot stretches earlier. You’re often best booking 90 to 120+ days out, especially for Europe and Asia holiday travel.
As for domestic holiday flights, we recommend booking 60 to 90 days in advance.
While rare during peak holiday periods, airlines occasionally release unsold inventory at lower price brackets to stimulate bookings, especially in mid-October. These fare drops typically last 12 to 48 hours and are most common:
To capture these rare dips, you can set dynamic price alerts using tools like:
Rather than focusing on a single airline, we suggest tracking specific routes and letting aggregated pricing guide your decision. Review fare history charts to distinguish between normal fare volatility and significant price shifts, which typically signal a true purchasing window.
Holiday fare inflation hits major hubs like LAX, JFK, ORD and SFO especially hard. To dodge this premium, you can look at secondary airports (e.g., Long Beach instead of LAX, BWI instead of DCA/IAD, Oakland instead of SFO).
For example, on this search from January 2, the least expensive standard economy fare is $124 from Seattle (SEA) to San Francisco (SFO).
But by adding in San Jose (SJC) and Oakland (OAK), you can find flights from $84.
You can also use split ticketing or hidden-city ticketing strategies cautiously — tools like Skiplagged can expose pricing anomalies where a connecting flight is cheaper than a direct one. That’s evident in this search from San Diego (SAN) to Washington’s Dulles Airport (IAD), where a Skiplagged itinerary terminating in Orlando (MCO) saves $53.
Holiday periods are prime redemption windows, especially when fares inflate. Programs like Southwest Rapid Rewards, United MileagePlus and American AAdvantage use dynamic pricing, meaning redemptions fluctuate with cash fares.
However, fixed-value programs, such as Turkish Miles & Smiles or Avianca LifeMiles, can sometimes offer outsized value on United domestic flights during the holidays.
If you’re going to book award flights, do it as early as schedules open (typically 330 to 360 days out) for the best chance at saver-level awards.
The holidays are the single most expensive time to fly, but you can lock in fares during the pre-peak booking window. When you book two to three months out, with careful attention to travel date flexibility, you can save hundreds per ticket. When you combine that with real-time alerts, strategic off-peak flying and the smart use of points and secondary airports, you’ll be booking like a travel analyst, not a last-minute traveler.
You can change your preferences or opt out at any time by clicking on one of the hyperlinks available at the bottom of each newsletter.
If you are already a subscriber and would like to unsubscribe, you can click on the link at the bottom of any of our e-mails.
