Thanksgiving - Travel Deals

Thanksgiving is all about family, feasting, and friends - and, unfortunately, ferociously long lines at the airport. It’s notoriously the busiest travel time in the United States, which can lead to increased delays, more flight cancellations, and higher ticket prices. It’s hard to avoid some of the troubles that can come along if you have to travel over Thanksgiving, but there are definitely some things within your control - including traveling on days that aren’t as nightmarishly busy.

In recent articles on this site we’ve explored some of the aspects that make traveling at Thanksgiving so bad, and what you can do to make them less bad. Here’s a round-up of what we discovered, with links to each article for more in-depth information.

Traveling at Thanksgiving can be one of the most stressful things you’ll do all year, but if you end up paying too much for your ticket that’s just adding insult to injury. There’s not necessarily much you can do to make the airport less crowded or the weather any more pleasant for flying, but there’s definitely something you can do to make sure you’re getting the best deal possible on your ticket.

A few somethings, in fact.

In this article we’ll look at the best ways to find cheap airfare for Thanksgiving travel, some of which are tips that will apply to non-holiday travel and some of which really are targeted to these overly busy times at the airport. For starters, you should pat yourself on the back for taking the first step in getting a deal on Thanksgiving airfare - you’re doing the research. Well done.

Now take that forward momentum further with these tips, too.

Let’s just say you didn’t read up on the best days to travel at Thanksgiving in time for this year’s pilgrimage back to the homestead and you’re stuck at the airport on a day when it seems like all of humanity is sharing the terminal with you. Or, even worse, you did plan ahead but the airport’s a zoo anyway and people are getting bumped from flights right and left.

Rather than giving into the bedlam, rushing the check-in counter, and threatening bodily harm to everyone around you, you can stay a bit more relaxed in these situations if you’re armed with the necessary tools to help you survive the chaos that is Thanksgiving holiday travel at the airport.

Of course, if you’re one of those people who’s hoping to be bumped so you’ve got an excuse for not seeing your in-laws over Thanksgiving (or just to get a free flight or whatever the airline’s handing out as a reward to people who give up their seats), then feel free to ignore all of these tips. Just don’t say we didn’t warn you.

>> And because we know saving money is high on your list of things that prevent stress, here’s how to get a cheap ticket at Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving Holiday Airport Tips

Anyone who has paid attention to the news in November each year knows that Thanksgiving is, by a long shot, the busiest time to travel in the United States. Every local TV station has its own crew at the airport on the day before Thanksgiving, hoping they’ll catch some irate traveler on camera who’s just been bumped from their third flight. But despite knowing it’s one of the worst times to travel each year, thousands of us still file into airports across the country and cross our fingers.

If you’re one of the people who absolutely can’t get out of flying home for Thanksgiving, then the next best option is to minimize your travel stress levels by avoiding the busiest travel days. This may mean you’ll need to take an extra day of vacation from work, but it’s worth it if you can spare the time. Because let’s face it, wouldn’t you rather be sitting in front of the TV eating leftover turkey and stuffing with your family than sitting in an uncomfortable airport chair waiting for an opening on the stand-by list?

Happy Halloween. The end of October means that the holiday travel season is almost officially here. As you probably know by now, a lot of people choose to cram themselves on airplanes and hurtle through the air at 50,000 feet all in the name of Thanksgiving and Christmas. The holiday travel crowds are expected to be busier than ever this season and the smart traveler will do their part to avoid the 10 busiest airports during Thanksgiving.

If you have plans to travel to any of the locations below during the holidays, you might want to look into flying into smaller airports that are located nearby. It might add a bit to your costs, but sometimes paying a bit more is worth it if you can avoid the hassles of long airport lines and delayed flights that lead to missed connecting flights.

Top 10 Busiest US Airports during Thanksgiving

1 Chicago, IL - Chicago O’Hare (ORD)

2 Los Angeles, CA - Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)

3 Newark, NJ - Newark International Airport (EWR)

4 Boston, MA - Logan International Airport (BOS)

5 Denver, CO - Denver International Airport (DEN)

6 New York, NY - La Guardia Airport (LGA)

7 Orlando, FL - Orlando International Airport (MCO)

8 Atlanta, GA - Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport (ATL)

9 San Francisco, CA - San Francisco International Airport (SFO)

10 Phoenix, AZ - Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)

Traveling during the holidays can be rough, especially on the wallet. Unless you are willing to press your luck (no whammies, no whammies, stop!) and wait until the last minute to find a deal, you probably should arrange your flight right about now. The deals out that aren’t fabulous, but considering it is a holiday and everyone and their mother will be traveling that weekend, the prices could be worse. In fact, they will get worse the longer you wait so get it done now so you can suck down some turkey without feeling like you lost on a game show.

Nothing is more American than Thanksgiving. The pilgrims, the Indians, the turkeys and pumpkin pie…Thanksgiving is a time for gluttony and a time to be thankful for football on television. If you are the adventurous type, and I suspect you are, Thanksgiving in another country can be a whole heck of a lot of fun. For one thing, no one else will be celebrating it so that makes you special. For another, you probably get days off at work so you won’t have to take too much vacation time. Plus, you won’t have to listen to your boring aunt tell the same stories over and over and over again, unless you choose to bring her along.

Cheapflights is offering up some sweet deals for trips to Europe for Thanksgiving this year. Whether you want to go to Prague, Rome or even London, you can have yourself a memorable American holiday in another country.

For the best deals on flights to Europe you can always find them here.