Holiday Travel - Travel Deals

So you’re planning to fly somewhere over Labor Day weekend? The good news is that getting through the airport won’t be as much of a headache as it can be (and usually is) around Thanksgiving or Christmas. The bad news is that the airport is still going to be busier than normal, and planes are still going to be full. Which all adds up to one thing - it’s a very good idea to be prepared to handle a busy airport, even if said airport doesn’t materialize.

Because the worst case scenario then is that you’re over-prepared and have a little more time to kill at the airport. Which is a helluva lot better than being under-prepared and missing your flight.

Labor Day weekend in the United States generally means backyard barbecues or summer picnics, and usually it’s a big gathering of family or friends (or both). Most of the time, it just means a road trip to wherever the festivities are taking place, but the idea of getting a great deal on a plane ticket over Labor Day might just make you rethink the ho-hum barbecue route.

(That is, of course, not meant to be a slight against your family’s barbecue routine. I’m sure your dad’s grill skills are legendary, and your Aunt Clara’s potato salad enough reason to make the trip, but if they’ve done the same backyard party every year then they’ll be doing it next year, too, right? You can escape for one year. I promise.)

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?

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…

I always like an airline that has a sense of humor and therefore I am inclined to like Spirit Airlines. Not only are their flights among the cheapest in the business but they also have fun on their Web site. If you check out their special holiday fares, you will see that they offer discounted flights on some of the biggest holidays of the year including Ocho de Mayo, the First Tuesday in June and Last Day of the Mullet.

Do you know how hard it is to find cheap fares on the Last Day of the Mullet? It is next to impossible.

I like there, ahem, Spirit.

The rest of Spirit’s site has an informal feel that kind of sets the tone for your flight on their planes. Informal is good, in my opinion. And so are cheap airplane tickets, which they have in abundance too. They also offer vacation packages to places in the Caribbean that are more than worth checking out. My only complaint is that they don’t have more of a presence on the west coast. I don’t know what I am going to do for the Day After The 135th Day Of The Year holiday.

Before I discovered the joys of watching bikinis walk by while sipping on a beer at the beach, I used to love taking Spring Break trips with my family. We would all joyfully pack our swimsuits and sunscreen and head for warmer climes in Florida. After about 20 minutes of playing in a hotel pool, my pasty white northern winter skin would be a stunning shade of red. I would spend the rest of the vacation alternatively lamenting the fact that I had to wear a t-shirt while swimming and picking dead skin off my body when on land.

Those are the memories of a traveler. I have many more memories from those Spring Break and Easter trips and for that I am most thankful for my parents. Sometimes it is hard to get the time off from work to travel or to find the money to do so, but my parents were able to pull things together even if it only meant leaving the snow and the cold for a few days.

Travel over Easter and Spring Break is not always very cheap and this year is likely to be no exception. There are, however, still some deals on Spring Break and Easter airfares out there that won’t leave you feeling like a 10-year-old with burned, peeling skin, but you have to act fast to get them.

We all know that the holiday season is a crazy time to travel. The airlines jack up their prices and the airports start to resemble an art farm. Sometimes we are simply at the mercy of the calendar and have to endure the holiday crunch.

If that isn’t the case for you this year, but you still have the time and the desire to travel, you might be in luck. The airlines are slashing their ticket prices big time for the travel period in between Thanksgiving and December 12. Think about it. Instead of battling the crowds and breaking your bank to take a holiday when everyone else does, you can simply wait a few days and travel without the hassles for significantly less money. Makes sense to me.

For more great airfares, check out the Booking Wiz.