After a summer of expensive flights, many Americans are wondering just how much heading home for the holidays will cost. The travel site hOpper reports Thanksgiving and Christmas airfares will be their highest in five years.
But there are ways to save. Expedia revealed its annual air travel hacks report.
Among the tips: the best day to fly for Thanksgiving is the Friday before or on Thanksgiving Day. For Christmas, it’s the weekend before.
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Another tip from Expedia — buy your airfare on Sundays. That will save you about 5% on domestic flights and 15% on international flights.
To avoid delays and cancelations you want to book a flight earlier in the day. According to Expedia, a flight that leaves after 3:00 p.m. is 50% more likely to be canceled.
And with the exceptions of holiday travel, Expedia says book domestic flights one month out and international flights six months out to get the best deals.
If you want to book a ticket using frequent flyer miles, however, CBS News travel analyst Peter Greenberg says you may need to book nearly a year in advance. That’s because there’s an estimated 32 trillion unredeemed frequent flier miles and planes are so full right now, the airlines don’t want to displace revenue paying passengers with travelers who want to redeem their miles.
