Holiday Flight Season Kicks Off with Fares about 10 Percent Higher

Holiday Flight Season Kicks Off with Fares about 10 Percent Higher
By Kate Rice

This past Dec. 16 marked the start of the holiday flight season, and prices are up about 10 percent compared to 2010, according to Rick Seaney, CEO and co-founder of FareCompare.com. “It’s very similar to Thanksgiving this year where airlines showed strong revenue,” Seaney said. Simply put, if you still haven’t bought your plane tickets for Christmas or New Year’s, buy them now.

If you haven’t bought tickets you’ve got to be flexible, smart and prepared for what Seaney calls “a better bad deal.” Knowing when to fly and being flexible will be the key for finding last-minute deals for the holiday season.

An internal FareCompare study of holiday ticket prices between the top 40 cities in the U.S. for holiday departures (purchased on Dec. 13) shows that Christmas Eve, Dec. 24, is the cheapest day to fly, and flying on Christmas Day, Dec. 25, will yield a decent deal with the possibility of an empty middle seat, since fewer people fly on the holiday itself. For a return trip, leave the Tuesday after Christmas, Dec. 27, to get the best deal.