Thanksgiving airfares are scaring me! HELP!!

[ShellyMouse]

hi, we have never flown to disney over a holiday. when living in michigan, we always drove.
well, we are planning a birthday trip for dd over thanksgiving weekend (11-24 to 11-28, denver to orlando)....
airfares are crazy to me. all i can find so far is $475-500 person
so, my question is: whats the best airfare you have gotten over a holiday, and how did you get it? i need some tips here big time....

thanks a ton
~shelly

 

[zulaya]

It's a holiday, a major holiday. You are flying on prime days. Supply and demand is going to play a huge part here.

Consider coming home on the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend instead of Sunday. That may save you some money because the demand will probably be less.

Watch the fares. If you see a dip and it's a price you can live with, jump on it.

If the airline you are flying allows you to see the seating chart this far out, what the capacity to see if they flights are filling. The fuller the plane gets, the less likely price discount will be to come out.

 

[pam931]

Also, remember that Southwest is now a major player at DIA, so you might want to wait until they release their Nov. fares, but it's going to be a while. Meanwhile, I'd keep checking and if you find something you can live with, buy it.

 

[ancestry]

It is a major holiday and a major TRAVEL holiday at that. Chances are that air fare is never going to be low or greatly discounted. I agree with the previous poster who said that you should book as soon as you can afford to do so. Chances are the prices will only go up!

 

[Hannathy]

The only time I have ever got a deal over Thanksgiving was one time very close to the Holiday like maybe a week ahead, if not days. I guess They hadn't sold out and they offered some seats at the last minute for a good price. But it was flying on Thanksgiving and coming back Mon. or Tues, can't remember. But if you are planning a trip you can't wait.

They don't call it peak for nothing! You only get good rates when they can't sell the seats and they have no problems over a holiday.

 

[clanmcculloch]

When I was looking to book over Christmas break last year, I watched the SWA release date for my dates very closely. I was one of those crazy people checking online the day the fares were released. I did manage to get a pretty good rate. Be prepared to book VERY quickly if you do this because if you pause to think about it or compare to other airlines at that point, you'll likely lose out on the lowest fares. Make sure to do all your price comparing the day before so you know exactly what else is available. Of course other airlines do seem to change their fares on SWA release dates (hmmmm..... I wonder why?) so you might be able to score a good deal with another airline that day as well but I love SWA so I don't worry about that.

 

[ScubaCat]

It is a major holiday and a major TRAVEL holiday at that. Chances are that air fare is never going to be low or greatly discounted. I agree with the previous poster who said that you should book as soon as you can afford to do so. Chances are the prices will only go up!

That's just what the news media reports. The capacity is actually higher on Fridays and Sundays throughout the summer. Nevertheless, the sale prices are usually blacked out on those dates. Best wait for Southwest to release their fares (which will drive the competition down at least within reality) and then just lock in.

 

[stitch34]

We went last year - best price we found was starting our trip on Thanksgiving Day. Ended up being a great day to travel, airport not too crowded. The day or two before, very crowded! Also, TG day itself was just a better price.
Sunday is a huge travel day - anyway to leave for home on Monday? I'd say do the 25th to 29th could be more reasonable price-wise?

I booked on AT last year and got $59 flight on TGiving day from Philly - can't remember when I booked it....I'm thinking early summer I booked it?
Booked SW for return trip... but the day their flights were released for that time period, I remember all their prices for TG day and around there being higher than i expected.

 

[yankin]

Uh..big tip...dont fly durring the holidays!