Am I crazy to consider flying the Sunday after Thanksgiving?

[NaughtyQueen]

I'm back and forth about which day to start my trip for the first week of December this year. Really the itinerary that works best and seems to fall into place for me is one that starts Sunday 11/30. That means flying into MCO from Chicago the Sunday after Thanksgiving (aka one of the busiest travel days of the year). Has anyone flown this day? Just how bad is it? We'd be leaving Chicago at 8:10am and arriving in Orlando at 11:55am.

 

[bsiev1977]

I'm back and forth about which day to start my trip for the first week of December this year. Really the itinerary that works best and seems to fall into place for me is one that starts Sunday 11/30. That means flying into MCO from Chicago the Sunday after Thanksgiving (aka one of the busiest travel days of the year). Has anyone flown this day? Just how bad is it? We'd be leaving Chicago at 8:10am and arriving in Orlando at 11:55am.

While I've never flown that holiday weekend, I'd say it sounds very doable. As long as weather is not a factor, your relatively early flight time should minimize the chance of delay.

I would recommend getting to the airport as early as possible, so you don't get stuck in long security lines.

 

[Pooh2]

We flew back from Orlando the Saturday after Thanksgiving last year. Our flight was early (7am) but no issues at all.

 

[jdb in AZ]

Our DD was recently "invited" (summoned) to spend Thanksgiving with her in-laws. They're helping with the expense, but she wasn't able to find a decent return trip til the Tuesday after Thanksgiving.

If you can find a decent air fare for Saturday, go for it. The biggest travel day is the day before Thanksgiving -- the flight attendants call it Black Wednesday. Return flights are spread out more, so it isn't as hectic, unless you run into bad weather.

The early-morning flight is a good idea, since they tend to be more on-time. As later flights get backed up, it's a domino effect, so the last flight of the day is apt to be more behind schedule than the morning flights.

 

[jimandami]

We wanted to fly in the Sunday after last year, but all the flights were CRAZY expensive or booked. On SW, the Wanna Get Away fares were literally booked within hours, so we ended up flying in Sat night instead...yep, staying an extra night actually saved us money! Anyway, we didn't have any problems at the airport or with our flight.

 

[lylone]

We normally fly out of ATL the Sunday after Thanksgiving to travel to MCO for a Disney trip. We usually take morning, early afternoon flights and getting through security and all wasn't all bad. Last year, we walked right through, but our flight was at 9a. I would think you would see more people if you took a late afternoon/evening flight.

 

[CarolMN]

We often plan to fly on the Sunday after Thanksgiving (out of MSP), and them I choke over the airfare. So we usually end up going either the Saturday or Friday after instead.

If you can get a decent airfare for the Sunday - I say go for it!

P.S. I love being at WDW the week after Thanksgiving!

 

[TJA]

Since I believe fares have been out for a while for the Sunday you want, I'm not sure how low fares will be unless the flights have a lot of available seats....

I usually just check a bunch of different airlines to see what the fares are and go from there. If the cost is do-able, then I book it. But if the cost is just way too crazy, then I try to move my days around a bit.

I don't think you're crazy to want to travel that day, by the way. We normally travel around the Easter holiday because it's the best time for us to get away.

 

[Tony NY]

NaughtyQueen your not crazy I flown on thanksgiving night to Disney world it was so awesome I went throw TSA in five min ... the airfare was awesome I paid $59.00 on jetblue three years ago ... I say any time you can save money is a good thing

 

[LBIJim]

Hundreds of thousands of people fly that day, most of them without any problems. Just allow yourself plenty of time for any possible delays getting to the airport, security, etc.