10 Tips for Holiday Travel

In general, holiday travel is considerably more expensive than everyday fares, and the most convenient and preferred travel days are also the priciest. While there are no “cheap” days to fly during the holidays, there certainly are specific days that ease the ouch on the wallet.

With Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day all taking place on Thursdays this season, the busiest travel days are sure to be the Wednesdays leading up to each holiday, followed by the Sundays after them. For more reasonable fares, depart from your vacation spot on the Friday or Saturday after the holiday. Of course, the further from the holiday you travel, the cheaper fares will be.

Alternatively, you could travel on the holiday itself. Historically, day-of flights are the cheapest compared to the dates surrounding major holidays, so flexibility pays—or saves in this case.

Start a new tradition and celebrate a couple of weeks before or after the actual holiday. While this may not be feasible for wee ones that still believe in Santa or for holidays like New Year’s Eve, this strategy has the potential to save you a ton on travel (think of all the discounted gift wrap—booyah!).

Regardless of your preferred mode of travel, it’s crucial to compare rates for airfare, car rentals, and accommodations.

Factor airline fees into the price for your flight. Aside from the base cost of the flight itself, expect to also be hit with bag fees ranging from $15 to $100—and that’s just for the first bag. Excess bag fees (for multiple, over-sized and overweight bags) are considerably more and go as high as $200 each.

Pro tip: Allegiant, Frontier, and Spirit Airlines charge as much as $60, $5, and $79 for the first bag, respectively, when you check your bags at the airport instead of online. The fees vary for second and excess bags.

Also, Spirit Airlines is doing the unseasonal thing of upping its bag fees by $2 during the holiday season from December 18 through January 5.

Secondary or alternate airports are usually located on the outskirts of the city they serve but can be a great option for considerably cheaper air routes. For example, the second-largest airport in Chicago, Midway, is a short 10 miles from the city center and serves major carriers AirTran, Delta, Frontier, Porter, and Southwest. Other alternate airports include Oakland for San Francisco, White Plains for JFK or LaGuardia, Ft. Lauderdale for Miami, Long Beach or Santa Ana for Los Angeles’ LAX, and so on.

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