How to save an average of $130 on Thanksgiving flights
Want to save on airline tickets for Thanksgiving flights? Easy. Buy them now.
Prices can rise $5 a day
Each day you delay your purchase in October, prices can rise on average about $5 a day. If you procrastinate through the rest of this month, that's about $130 extra.
This daily price-bump is an average; you might pay more or less. Here's an example of airfare prices for round-trip non-stops between Los Angeles and New York at Thanksgiving:
- Cheapest price found Oct. 4: $737
- Cheapest price found Oct. 5: $746
Don't fly popular days
Another point to make: Don't fly the popular days, because they are the most expensive. The worst days to fly are usually the Wednesday before the holiday and the Sunday after. Prices in the above L.A.-N.Y. example follow that itinerary but you can save a bundle by changing it one day in both directions:
- Wednesday to Sunday flights: $746
- Tuesday to Monday flights: $643
Cheapest day to fly at Thanksgiving
The cheapest day to fly? It’s almost always the holiday itself, this year on Nov. 26.
- Thursday to Sunday flights: $637
- Thursday to Monday flights: $510
Other cheap days to fly are the Monday and Tuesday before and after Thanksgiving, as well as the Saturday after. But above all, if you've been sitting around thinking about Turkey Day travel instead of doing anything about it, get moving. Five dollars a day may not seem like much but it can add up fast.
FareCompare CEO Rick Seaney is an airline industry insider and top media air travel resource. Follow Rick (@rickseaney) and never overpay for airfare again.