Spend an arm and a leg on flights to visit friends and loved ones for Thanksgiving and Christmas and the turkey dinner and pecan pie could leave a bitter taste.
To help sweeten the deal, research has revealed the cheapest days to fly for both holiday periods — and a secret best week for traveling abroad.
However, if you want the best prices, you’ll need to get moving now on booking tickets.
A study by flight-deal-finder Going indicates that flying on the holiday itself will give you the best bang for your buck in 2025, with savings of between 15 and 30 percent.
Though it does depend on the region you’re jetting off to.
Thanksgiving
For Thanksgiving (November 27), the cheapest date for flights to the Midwest, including Illinois and Ohio, is on the 27th, with savings of 15.3 percent. The second-cheapest date for that region is November 24, with savings of 13 percent.
November 27 is also the cheapest date for the Northeast (including New York, Maine and New Hampshire) and Southeast (including Florida and South Carolina), with savings of 16.5 percent and 16.7 percent respectively. Likewise, November 24 is the second-cheapest day to fly to both areas, with savings of 6.9 percent and 13.4 percent respectively.
For travel to the Southwest (including Texas and Arizona), November 24 is the cheapest Thanksgiving date to fly, with flights up to 19.9 percent cheaper on this day. The second-cheapest day is November 27, with airfares down 12.3 percent.
The cheapest day to fly to the West Coast (including California, Oregon and Nevada) is markedly different — November 17, when flyers can save up to 15.4 percent. The second-cheapest day is November 26, with fares up to 4.6 percent cheaper.
For Thanksgiving, the most expensive departure dates are the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, November 26, with average one-way fares of $756. For return trips, travelers should avoid the Sunday after Thanksgiving, November 30, when fares average $850.
The research by Going also shows that fares overseas quietly drop the week of Thanksgiving, making it one of the best times to travel abroad for Americans.
Going noticed that fares are down 10 to 30 percent on average to destinations across Western Europe, Canada and Western Asia.
Recent Going roundtrip deals for the week of Thanksgiving include New York–London or Stockholm: $394 (51 percent off); Los Angeles–Lisbon: $494 (45 percent off); Cleveland or Hartford–Dublin: $438 and $409 (50 to 53 percent off); and Daytona Beach–Paris: $522 (49 percent off).
Christmas
In terms of Christmas savings, for those flying to the Midwest or Northeast, the cheapest day to jet off for both areas is December 25, with fares down by up to 30.1 percent and 27.8 percent respectively. The second cheapest day to fly to these areas is also the same — December 24, with savings of 24.8 percent and 25.5 percent respectively.
December 24 is the cheapest day to fly to the Southeast (27.1 percent cheaper), Southwest (18.8 percent) and West Coast (20.1 percent), while the second-cheapest day for the Southeast is December 23 (20.7 percent); for the Southwest it’s December 25 (15.3 percent) and for the West Coast it’s December 23 (17.2 percent).
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The most expensive departure dates are the Saturday before Christmas, December 20, at $905; while for return trips, travelers should avoid the Saturday after Christmas, December 27, when fares average $850.
Going said that Americans are searching earlier this year for both Thanksgiving and Christmas flights — 15 days earlier on average for each holiday — and warned that travelers should book their Thanksgiving flights by the end of September to get the best deal, and Christmas and overseas flights by early October.
Going travel expert Katy Nastro commented: “Flying on the holiday itself continues to be the best bang for your buck when it comes to holiday travel. However, it’s not the only option for savings. Depending on where flyers are heading this year, just shifting their dates by as little as one day before the holiday can help save up to 19 percent, which can add up for families.
“If travelers are heading further afield or want to squeeze a bit more time from the holiday, we suggest targeting the second-best days, which can still offer savings.”
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