Holiday flight cost?

[eyeheartgoofy]

As a general rule, do you think it is more expensive to fly over the Christmas/New Years holiday or Spring Break (week before/after Easter)? I don't fly much and have never flown over the holidays, so I have no clue. Thanks.

 

[CherCrazy]

Former travel agent here....at your service.

The airlines sell a portion of the available seats at a discount for most flights. The trick is to book your reservation before the best discount sells out. Most people book for the holidays at the 11 month window with the airlines. Both holidays are extremely popular, so you really can't say that one is more expensive than the other. It all just depends on when you book.

For example they may sell their seats in this manner...
1st 20 passengers $100
2nd 20 passengers $125
3rd 20 passengers $150
4th 30 passengers $200
remaining passengers $300

Obviously, the first 20 people to reserve will pay the cheapest fare. Sometimes the airlines will do what is called a "blackout" which means that they won't sell the cheapest fares on that day. Those days may also occur over Easter or Xmas equally. So, they may not sell the first two lower fares, but the higher fare levels may be available.

 

[eyeheartgoofy]

Oh, thanks for sharing your expertise with me! Why do people book at 11 months - is that the soonest the airlines allow bookings? Again, I am not very well versed in the art of air travel.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Yes, most airlines allow booking 331 days in advance, and people with definite plans jump on that to get the flights they want. But if you read a number of threads here, you'll see that most of those airlines have a 'habit' of changing or cancelling flights in the interim, and assigning passengers to other of their flights. OTOH, some of the discounted airlines don't open up ticket sales until a few months in advance, then do few, if any, schedule changes.