Haven’t booked your flight for Christmas or New Year’s? Time’s wasting and fare prices are rising, but one travel expert says that if you make your move this week, you might luck out.
Phil Dengler, co-owner of The Vacationer, a resource for all things travel, says you won’t be alone. In fact, his Christmas Travel Survey numbers-crunching shows that 131 million American adults plan to travel for the holiday.
Picking the right day is tantamount to success, Dengler told ConsumerAffairs. He says the worst and busiest travel days for Christmas 2023 are expected to be:
Thursday, December 21
Friday, December 22
Saturday, December 23
Tuesday, December 26
Wednesday, December 27
The best travel days for Christmas? “The goal is to fly as far in advance of Christmas as possible as well as waiting a few days after to fly home,” Dengler said, then layed out what his team considers the best options.
Monday, December 18
Tuesday, December 19
Wednesday, December 20
Christmas Eve or Christmas Day (flights on both days are generally cheap)
Thursday, December 28
Friday, December 29
And New Year’s?
“We recommend flying out for New Year’s on Thursday, December 28 or Friday, December 29. Fly home on Wednesday, January 3 or Thursday, January 4,” Dengler suggests. “While it is not ideal, flying out on the night of New Year’s Eve or the morning of New Year’s Day is generally cheap. Avoid flying out on Saturday, December 30 and the morning of December 31.”
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Holiday flight tips
ConsumerAffairs asked Dengler to jot down for us what advice he would give to anyone who wants to stay clear of the usual cornucopia of travel hassles.
“I recommend Google Flights to find the cheapest holiday flight deals. It offers powerful filtering options to find the cheapest prices from a variety of airlines and airports,” he said.
“Consider flying from a nearby airport if it is cheaper than your home airport. Also, consider flying into an airport a little further from your destination that may be within driving distance.”
If you’re reading between the lines, you picked up on Dengler’s feeling that flexibility is the chief component to finding any great flight deal, and this is especially true for holiday travel.
Book direct to avoid hassle if your flight is canceled or delayed. Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) such as Expedia and Priceline sometimes offer lower flight prices than booking directly with an airline, but there are some drawbacks.
If you need to change or cancel your itinerary after booking with an OTA, you contact them and not the airline and customer service could be strained with more and more companies cutting back phone support and using artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots to do their communication.
Dengler said that customer service immediacy becomes a huge problem if your flight is delayed or canceled because every second counts when you’re stuck at an airport trying to get all the ducks back in a row again. “I recommend booking directly so you can avoid the middleman and talk directly to the airline to inquire about rebooking a new flight or canceling your existing itinerary,” he said.
The early bird gets the best travel experience
Book a very early morning flight. Yes, it’s a pain to get up at 4 a.m. and drag yourself to the airport, but flying out early is usually cheaper, and very early morning flights tend to experience fewer delays and cancellations, which is not something you want to deal with during the holidays. Dengler says to aim for flights at 8 a.m. or earlier if you can swing it.
Do not check a bag. If you haven’t read ConsumerAffairs' piece on baggage being a hot mess, do so now. The situation was bad a month ago and it’ll be even worse over the holidays.
“If possible, do not check a bag if you are flying during the 2023 holiday season,” Dengler said. “With a record number of travelers expected, baggage drop lines are going to be very long. Additionally, airlines lost and misplaced a lot of bags last year.”
Photo Credit: Consumer Affairs News Department Images
Posted: 2023-11-30 19:29:48