Thanksgiving and Christmas airfares are hitting 10-year highs, with domestic trips up sharply as high jet fuel costs and fewer budget carriers squeeze family travel budgets.
Families planning Thanksgiving and Christmas trips are running into sticker shock. Domestic airfares for both holidays are at 10-year highs, and the window to lock in lower prices is already tighter than it was a year ago.
ABC News reported the squeeze with data from travel site Hopper and search engine Kayak, plus guidance from aviation correspondent Katy Nastro of flight-tracking site Flighty. The pattern is clear: peak-week demand is high, low-cost pressure is thinner, and waiting rarely helps.
Hopper put the average domestic round trip for Thanksgiving near $402, up 31% from last year. Christmas domestic round trips are averaging $452, up 23%. Hotel rates for Thanksgiving are holding near $170 a night, roughly flat with last year, while Christmas hotel stays average $197 a night, up 18%.
That mix leaves air travel as the bigger hit for household budgets this season. It also tracks with what major carriers have already signaled about elevated ticket prices lasting well beyond a single holiday cycle, including United Airlines CEO projections on climbing fares.
Nastro told ABC that flyers face more than higher sticker prices. They also face fewer affordable choices.
"Flyers are going to not just combat higher prices this year, but also the reality of fewer affordable options,"
Spirit Airlines shut down operations in May. Nastro said the carrier had helped pull fares down by roughly 15% in each market it served, even though it covered only a fraction of domestic flying.
"Even with Spirit only serving a fraction of the domestic market, it still means there is one fewer budget airlines to put pressure on the larger carriers,"
High jet fuel costs remain part of the same story. When fuel stays expensive and a discounter exits, large carriers face less pressure to cut holiday fares. Similar cost warnings have already shown up in coverage of Avelo Airlines’ fuel-cost alarms.
Hopper’s advice is blunt on timing. Book in the next few weeks, and aim to finish before Halloween, to chase the lowest prices still available. Travelers are already booking earlier than they were at this point last year.
Flexible dates still matter more than almost any other lever.
For Thanksgiving, Hopper flagged Monday, Nov. 23, as the most affordable departure day, with airfare averaging around $370, about $50 less than flights leaving Wednesday, the most popular and expensive outbound day. Thanksgiving Day itself averages about $371.
The return leg is where prices spike hardest. Sunday, Nov. 29, can run as high as $604 on average for a round trip. Black Friday returns average $420. Monday or Tuesday after Thanksgiving lands near $350 and can save as much as $250 versus the expensive Sunday return.
Christmas follows the same logic. Hopper listed Dec. 18 through Dec. 20 as the priciest stretch, with tickets averaging just below $500. Leaving Monday or Tuesday before the holiday averages around $440. Kayak said departing Dec. 21 or Dec. 22 could cut flight costs by about 18%.
On the way home, Hopper warned against Sunday, Dec. 27, when prices jump 20%. The better return window is midweek after Christmas and before Jan. 2. By Jan. 2, average fares start surging over $560. Kayak pointed to Dec. 31 as a stronger deal day for international travelers.
Those date gaps are one of the few remaining tools ordinary travelers still control while carriers keep telling Wall Street that higher airfares are here to stay.
Where you fly can matter as much as when you fly.
Kayak’s domestic “hacker fare” list for the holidays included lower average round trips to Punta Gorda, Florida, at $307; Asheville, North Carolina, at $344; Atlanta at $365; and Chicago at $381. Boston, Denver, Miami, and Orlando also appear among the markets travelers are using to hunt lower one-way combinations.
Nastro’s broader point was to favor major hub cities when possible. Bigger hubs usually mean more flight options and more room to rebook when schedules break. That is practical advice in a season when weather and crowding routinely scramble itineraries.
International routes are not immune. Hopper said Christmas fares to Mexico and Central America are up 23%, with Europe up 15%. Middle East, Asia, and Oceania fares look similar to 2025 levels, or slightly lower. Kayak put average holiday round trips to Toronto at $486, with Montreal and Calgary under $570 and Mexico City around $600.
Nastro went further for travelers taking only one big trip.
"If you're only taking one trip, it may be worth looking abroad,"
"In some cases, a Thanksgiving flight to Paris at $595 could be more memorable than a rinse and repeat flight to Salt Lake City for $526."
That is not a promise every route will be cheaper. It is a reminder that domestic peak pricing can erase the old assumption that staying inside the United States is automatically the budget move.
Price is only half the fight. Getting home on time is the other half.
Hopper said flights departing after 9 a.m. are twice as likely to be delayed as flights scheduled between 5 a.m. and 8 a.m. Morning departures also leave more same-day options if a plane turns late or a connection breaks.
Hopper also urged travelers to build slack into connections, consider travel insurance or flexible fares, and watch airline apps for gate and status changes. During storms or weather advisories, many airlines issue travel waivers that let passengers rebook without extra fees. Some offer travel credits instead.
Department of Transportation guidelines add a basic consumer backstop: if an airline cancels a flight and the customer chooses not to travel, the traveler is entitled to a refund regardless of the reason. That rule does not make a canceled holiday easy. It does mean passengers are not required to accept a voucher when the airline is the one that scrubs the flight.
Hotels offer one late-breaking hedge. Hopper said major-city hotel prices can drop in the last 24 to 48 hours before the holiday if rooms remain unsold. That is a gamble, not a plan. For most families, locking lodging earlier still beats hoping for a last-minute break while airfare stays elevated.
The same cost stack, fuel, peak demand, and thinner low-fare competition, already showed up in summer travel, including Labor Day airfare and hotel increases. The holiday peak is now amplifying it.
Book early, shift off the crush days, favor hubs when you can, and treat Sunday returns as a luxury tax. In a market with fewer discounters and stubborn fuel costs, the travelers who keep the most money are the ones who refuse to fly on the industry’s preferred schedule.