Bad News About Holiday Airfares

2022 Will See the Highest Airfares in Five Years

Thanks to increased fuel costs, reduced airline capacity, and increased consumer demand, 2022 will see the highest airfares in more than five years.

If you’re flying during the Thanksgiving holiday, expect to pay 43% more than last year.

If you’re flying during the Christmas holiday, expect to pay 39% more than last year.

Yikes! This is the last thing we want to hear after dealing with Covid lockdowns and sky high inflation. But take heart, there are ways to significantly reduce your costs.

Five Ways to Find the Best Holiday Airfares

Book as early as possible. The closer it gets to the holidays, the higher airfares will go. This is especially true for international flights. SO BOOK RIGHT NOW or at least start looking and set up price fare alerts. Prices start to rise mid-October and will steadily climb higher and higher.
Book a refundable ticket. Yes, non-refundable tickets are cheaper but not if you have to eat the ticket due to a family emergency, illness, work situation, or any change of circumstance.
Book on select days. If you fly out early on Thanksgiving or the day before you will typically pay $100 less than if you fly out earlier in the week. The same is true for the return flight. If you fly home on the Monday after Thanksgiving rather than on the Friday, Saturday, or Sunday after Thanksgiving, you will save an average of $150. The most expensive days to fly for Christmas are December 22-24. The cheapest fares tend to be the Monday before Christmas, which is December 19 this year. Savings equal an average of $121.
Search bargain travel sites and aggregators for cheapest airfares. The best sites are Hopper, Booking.com, Priceline, Kayak, Skiplagged, Momando, Skyscanner, Expedia, and CheapOAir.
Expand your search to include nearby airports and different times of day to find the best airfares. Be flexible.