Holiday Airline Fares? Not Cheap
Bad Airline News for Seniors Who Have Not Booked Yet
Seniors will have to pay more this year to visit the grandchildren at Thanksgiving and Christmas as major U.S. airlines reduce number of seats, raise prices
Travelers better be prepared to pay more this Thanksgiving or Christmas for airline tickets for those important trips to visit their families. Seniors who buy tickets for grandchildren to visit them are going to have to reach deeper into their wallets.
According to the Wall Street Journal, "smart consumers bought early for Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday trips this year. Now, prices are up, and the number of open seats is down.
"Spurred by higher fuel prices, many airlines have boosted fares in recent weeks. And with some big airlines still cutting domestic capacity and demand for tickets running high, especially to beach destinations, the availability of cheap holiday seats has dwindled, experts say."
For both holiday periods, the Web site farecast.com says: "By now, the best prices have likely come and gone, particularly if you’ve got an eye for the busy weekend departure. If you haven’t bought your ticket by now, the odds are that you will end up paying more than you needed to, though there are still spot sales to be taken advantage of."
For Christmas, "avoiding the Saturday December 22 departure will result in the biggest savings. says Farecast, which urges travelers to use the tools on its Web site to compare the cost of flying on different days.
Farecast adds that "Christmas travel is quite a bit more expensive this year as compared to 2006. The exact value of the year-over-year increase varies from day to day, but it has mostly been in the 8-12% range."
Farecast also says that "travelers who extend their trip past Thanksgiving weekend to return on Monday or Tuesday can save $60-$100 per ticket."
According to Sabre, an airfare specialist company based in Texas, the number of Thanksgiving bookings is down 5.7 percent nationwide from last year.
The best solution for both holiday periods is to be willing to fly a little earlier or later than you might otherwise do.
The Dallas Morning News quotes Kevin B. Kalley, managing editor for Arlington-based Bestfares .com, as saying that "travel between Nov. 16 and Nov. 26 is perennially the busiest of the year. Unlike the Christmas holiday, when travel plans are spread around several days, most Thanksgiving travelers want to fly the Wednesday before the holiday and return the following Sunday.
"Those will always be the toughest days" to find a deal, Mr. Kalley said.
Seniors who wish to make holiday plans might also consider a long drive instead of a flight, or making visits for only one holiday period rather than for both.
