Yahoo Finance Airports to avoid and more tips for holiday travel survival
The holiday season is supposed to be a time for family gatherings, office parties and, of course, hellish travel. While airports and airlines struggle to keep things moving smoothly, delays and cancellations will no doubt create headaches for thousands of travelers. From picking the right day to fly to checking in online, here are tips to ensure your holiday travels go off without a hitch.
Travel tips
-Check in online 24 hours before your flight. Print your boarding pass at home or have it sent to your email or mobile phone. This way you can skip the check-in counter and kiosks and walk directly to airport security. This may sound like a no-brainer, but it’s shocking how many people still don’t do this.
– Baggage is the biggest thing that will hold you up at an airport, so avoid checking luggage if you can. If you’re worried about making room for all of your gifts, ship them ahead of time to your final destination.
-Download an app like GateGuru that provides gate information for every airport. If you have a connecting flight, this will let you see the layout of the airport and where your terminal is located.
– Airport security lines are notoriously long during the holidays. While some argue that too many people have TSA precheck, it’s still the fastest way to get through security. It is guaranteed to be shorter than the general line, and you won’t have to remove your laptop, shoes or toiletries. Precheck costs $85 and applicants are generally approved within a few days, so you still have time to sign up before the holiday rush.
THANKSGIVING (Thursday, Nov. 24)
Before you book
Picking the right day to fly might be one of the best ways to avoid holiday travel setbacks.
Reward Expert, a site that helps travelers use airline miles and points, analyzed travel data from 2011 to 2015 and determined that this year, Nov. 21 is the best day to fly before Thanksgiving if you want to minimize your chance at getting delayed. On the flipside, Nov. 22 is expected to be one of the worst and busiest days to travel. For your return home after Thanksgiving, consider traveling on Nov. 25 because a lot of people will be waiting in line at retail stores for Black Friday deals.
Dodging notoriously busy airports is also a great way to avoid travel headaches. According to Reward Experts, San Francisco International Airport (SFO) has the worst on-time record, with only 75.4% of its flights arriving on time for Thanksgiving travel. Other airports struggling with performance are William P. Hobby (HOU) in Houston with 79.2%, Oakland (OAK) with 79.3%, Chicago Midway (MDW) with 79.6%, and Chicago O’Hare (ORD) which has 79.6% of its flights arriving on time.
Airfare
If you haven’t booked your flights for Thanksgiving, your procrastination might save you money. According to Skyscanner, travelers who book airfare during the week of Oct. 31 can expect to save 7.73%. In other words, book your Thanksgiving airfare before Halloween and you’ll secure a decent price.
Speaking of price, airfare booking app Hopper reports that the average domestic round-trip for a Thanksgiving flight is currently around $312. At this time last year, the cost of a round-trip ticket was $340. If you wait to book your flight until November, it will cost you about $1.50 per day you wait, and then prices start rising about $6 per day in the last 10 days before departure.
CHRISTMAS (Sunday, Dec. 25)
Before you book
Demand is always high at Christmas, so airfare is always more expensive. Still, there are a few strategies to help you save. First, Hopper predicts that the best day to fly before Christmas is Dec. 20, when airport crowds will be relatively small. If you can hang out until after New Year’s Eve, Hopper says the cheapest day to fly back is Jan. 5.
If your schedule is flexible, it goes without saying that you can save money if you fly on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, or New Year’s Eve.
Airfare
When it comes to price, what day you buy your tickets is almost as important as when you travel.
According to Skyscanner, the week of Nov. 21 is the best time to buy your Christmas ticket if you haven’t booked already. Buying during this time could save you up to 6.41% on your ticket. While prices are expected to be about 4.3% cheaper than last year, Hopper says the average prices for a round-trip ticket in December will hover around $338. As Christmas approaches, airfare is expected to rise about $1.50 a day.
Brittany is a writer at Yahoo Finance.
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