Best days for holiday travel similar to airline tickets: it depends
So you want to know the best days to travel during the holiday season? Just about everyone does but the answer’s not as easy as you might think.
But there are hints.
Priceline.com publishes an annual chart of the variations in cost of holiday travel over the full period, based on costs of travel booked through its site.
This year, Christmas and New Year's both fall on Sundays, so most travelers will have the following Mondays as holidays. Priceline gives these results:
- Best dates to travel: Dec 12, 13, 14, 17, 20, 24, 27, 28, 31.
- Fair dates to travel: Dec 15, 16, 18, 19, 21, 25, 30, Jan 1, 2.
- Worst dates to Travel: Dec 22, 23, 26, 29.
For the most part, these conform to conventional wisdom.
“Fares are highest the Thursday and Friday before and the Monday after the Christmas weekend, and the Thursday before the New Year's weekend. Pre-weekend Thursdays tend to be worse than Fridays,” said Smart Travel.
Priceline's data is based on average fares across a large number of air routes. Averages do not necessarily reflect conditions on any individual trip, however, to further add to the complexity.
Keep in mind, too, that these fare differences are a moving target, and the results of such comparisons may well be different if you check in a week or a month.
By David Wilkening
David
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
Phocuswright reveals the world's largest travel markets in volume in 2025
Higher departure tax and visa cost, e-arrival card: Japan unleashes the fiscal weapon against tourists
Cyclone in Sri Lanka had limited effect on tourism in contrary to media reports
Singapore to forbid entry to undesirable travelers with new no-boarding directive
Euromonitor International unveils world’s top 100 city destinations for 2025