Christmas Flights - Travel Deals

For the last week we’ve been looking at some of the things that can make your Christmas travel experience easier to deal with - whether it’s helping you find any of the airfare bargains that might be out there, pointing out which are the best or worst days to fly over the holidays, or giving you some tips to help you survive the crowded airports.

Each article had valuable information, and while reading any one of them would be helpful, we wanted to make sure you didn’t miss any of them. So we’re compiling them all in one article here - sort of a table of contents. From the links below you’ll be able to get to all our Christmas travel tips articles, and a few that are handy year-round.

And if you’re looking for more holiday travel tips, don’t miss our collection of articles to help you find Thanksgiving travel deals, too!

How to Find Cheap Christmas Airfare

Finding a good deal on airfare is always cause for celebration, but when you’re already trying to figure out if you can afford to buy gifts for all 13 cousins and their umpteen gazillion kids? Yeah, saving a few bucks on your flight is even better news then.

Unfortunately, there’s a big block of the calendar in December when flying is just going to be more expensive than it is at other times of the year (especially in winter) - the airlines know you have to fly, so it’s understandable that they’d raise the prices. But there are ways to find cheaper flights, and we’ve got them outlined in this article.

>> Read about how to find cheap airfare at Christmas

Worst and Best Days to Travel at Christmas

Although the calendar isn’t as specific around Christmas travel as it is around Thanksgiving travel, there are still days when it’s better to fly than others. And by “better,” I mean the days when the airport is going to be a little less crowded and airline tickets are going to cost a little less, both of which qualify as “better” in my book.

Again, the drop in price from the worst to the best days to travel at Thanksgiving is probably going to be more significant than the days around Christmas, but every little bit helps, right?

>> Read more about which ones are the best and worst days to fly at Christmas

Christmas Travel Tips for the Airport

Flying at any point over the Christmas holiday can be a royal pain - the airports are overcrowded and weather delays are more common. And although some of the tips we brought you about surviving the airport at Thanksgiving are the same ones that hold true at Christmas, there are circumstances at Christmas that make things like traveling carry-on only significantly more challenging (if not impossible).

So, here’s a list of tips for surviving the airport at Christmas, taking those special situations into consideration. There are some things in here you should probably do on every trip to the airport, but they’re even more important during the busy holiday season.

>> Read more about Christmas travel airport tips

Alternative Airports to Major U.S. Hubs

When you’re looking for an airfare bargain, every door is worth opening - so don’t rule out flying into or out of an airport that isn’t the main airport for that city. Many cities around the country (especially the bigger hub airports) have multiple airports that actually serve them. Including these other nearby airports in your search for airline tickets could help you find a great deal.

In particular, these other airports are sometimes cheaper to use because they’re the ones that the discount airlines fly in and out of. Just as long as there’s adequate public transportation (or you have your transportation already sorted out), a secondary airport could be your ticket to a cheaper ticket.

>> Read more about the alternate airports to big U.S. hubs

Budget Airlines in the U.S.

Along with the big airlines that most of us are familiar with - carriers like American Airlines, United, or Continental - there are several discount airlines operating in the United States that could make a huge difference on the amount you pay for your airline ticket, whether it’s Christmas or not. These airlines might fly into some of those alternate airports discussed in the article linked above, and they may only serve a portion of the country, but it’s worth looking at them to see if they could save you some money.

It’s also important to note that some of these budget carriers don’t let their fares show up in search results of the big booking engines, so unless you visit their sites specifically you could miss out on them entirely.

>> Read more about the discount airlines in the U.S.

Budget Airlines in Canada

We haven’t forgotten our northern neighbors, and neither have the budget airlines! In truth, there aren’t as many big discount carriers in Canada as there are in the U.S., but there are a few worth noting. Also, some of the small regional airlines that only serve certain parts of the country (hence the name “regional”) may have lower prices on flights to and from where you’re going. In any case, it’s always worth checking.

>> Read more about discount airlines in Canada

photo by scottfeldstein

Those of us who aren’t lucky enough to live within driving distance of the place where we’ll spend Christmas will likely be passing through one or more airports this holiday season (if you see me, stop and say hi, wouldja?). Airports at Christmas aren’t necessarily as busy as they are at Thanksgiving, but it’s hard to tell when you’re stuck in the long lines at check-in or security. Yeah, the holidays may be all merry and bright, but getting there usually isn’t.

Last week we went over some of the tips for Thanksgiving travel, and the tips we’ll outline in this article for Christmastime travel are going to be similar. There are, however, a few things that you need to keep in mind at Christmas that probably weren’t on your radar at Thanksgiving.

And despite the legendary crowdedness of airports at Thanksgiving, when you throw in potentially worse weather into the mix at Christmas you’ve got even more reason to be prepared before you head for the airport - just in case you’ll be there longer than you really want to be.

Here are our Christmas travel tips.

For most people, Christmas is all about family and spending quality time with people you love (and may not get to see much during the rest of the year). It’s a pity, then, that getting home for the holidays without spending a fortune can be such a royal pain in the you-know-what.

Finding cheap Christmas airfare is definitely a challenge, as anyone who’s started looking can attest to. You plug in your travel dates and get hit with huge ticket prices. You think you can use the old trick of shifting your trip by one or two days in either direction and you still run into the same high prices. It’s frustrating. Oh, and don’t count on using those precious frequent flyer miles you’ve accumulated, either, because the Christmas holidays are typically part of an airline’s blackout dates.

But even though you may not find a super bargain-basement price on an airline ticket over Christmas, there are still some things you can do to avoid paying more than you need to for your flight.

Last week we looked at the difficulties surrounding getting a good deal on airfare Thanksgiving, so this week we’re moving onto the other big holiday coming up for many - Christmas. With this first installment, we’re going to go over the best and worst days to travel at Christmas.

Luckily for anyone who has to fly over Christmas, the crush at the airport isn’t as bad as it is at Thanksgiving. Most people get more time off (or just take more time off) over Christmas than the usual couple days they get over Thanksgiving, so there isn’t that one day at the airport when everybody and their brother is trying to get on a plane in order to get somewhere in time for the big turkey feast.

At Christmas, there are certainly days which are busier than others - and the whole couple of weeks around Christmas, which airlines routinely include in their blackout dates every year, tend to also be when ticket prices spike. So even though it’s not as critical to figure out which days are the worst or best days to fly at Christmas, it certainly doesn’t hurt to consult a calendar before you book your trip.

Remember last year when you waited until the last possible second to purchase your tickets for your Thanksgiving and Christmas travel? As your bank account wept, you made a promise to not wait as long next year. You swore that you would get your tickets early so that you wouldn’t have to mortgage the house just to afford a trip during the holidays. You even put a reminder on your Outlook calendar so that you would buy your winter tickets during the summer months.

It is time to put your words into action. Sure the calendar might read August, but it is a good time to start thinking about Thanksgiving and Christmas. If you book your flights and accommodations right now, you might actually have enough money left over to buy your family presents. Family members like presents. Or so I have been told. I usually wait until the last minute too and end up giving out airplane peanuts as presents. If you give out airplane peanuts you will earn a reputation as being a Grinch. It is not fun being a Grinch.

Not this year. This is the year when the holiday plans will be sorted out early and at a reasonable price…