By Mia Taylor
TravelPulse
Holiday travel is often full of headaches thanks to the crowds, the potential for weather delays, the higher prices, and the rush to secure reservations before everything is sold out.
To help make the process a tad less painful, KAYAK has just released its 2026 Holiday Travel Check-In, which is packed with useful booking information covering the Thanksgiving and Christmas season.
The report draws on historical fare trends in order to identify the smartest windows to book and fly, along with highlighting long-haul trips that cost less than they did last year.
And just in case you’re wondering, holiday travelers who haven’t booked their tickets yet are still in good shape. It’s still possible to score your ticket and the KAYAK data maps out when to do that.
Key Holiday Travel Tips
Let’s start with a few of the holiday report’s main takeaways, shall we?
Thanksgiving fares have a sweet spot. While Thanksgiving is rapidly approaching, fares for travel could still decline, according to KAYAK. It seems domestic Thanksgiving fares historically bottom out around five weeks before the holiday, then rise sharply within two weeks of departure. Waiting until the final two weeks before Thanksgiving, on the other hand, can get expensive fast. Last year, fares rose as much as 16 percent the week before Thanksgiving and 21 percent during Thanksgiving week.
Thanksgiving Day is the underrated deal. Sure, you may be late for the big meal, but if that’s not an issue for you, then flying on Thanksgiving Day itself can save you as much as 19 percent domestically and 49 percent internationally compared with Friday, Nov. 20, the most expensive day to fly. Christmas has a sweet spot too. Fares for Christmas travel have historically dipped from mid-November through early December. Waiting to fly until Christmas week, instead of the week before, can knock up to 18 percent off domestic fares and 34 percent off international.
Bucket list trips may cost less than last year. If you’re not focused on visiting family or friends, the holidays may be a good time for checking off a bucket list destination. Fares to Cusco, for instance, are down 20 percent year over year, with Phuket down 16 percent and Fiji down 13 percent.
Two one-way tickets can beat a round trip. Don’t forget this important money-saving hack: Booking two separate one-way flights can save up to 30 percent on international trips and 29 percent on domestic ones, with St. Maarten (30 percent) and Washington, D.C. (29 percent) showing the biggest savings.
Important Dates to Remember
In case it’s not already clear, the day you fly matters. And with domestic airfare already steep thanks to the U.S.-Israel attack on Iran, shifting your departure by even just a few days can be a great hack.
Let’s look at Thanksgiving first.
Score the best value by departing on November 23 for domestic flights. On that day the average airfare will be about $420, which represents an 18 percent savings over the priciest day to fly for Thanksgiving 2026. (You’ll want to avoid November 20, which will be the most expensive day of the season.)
If you’re flying internationally, the best day to fly is November 25, when the average ticket will cost $639, which is a whopping 37 percent cheaper than the most expensive day of the Thanksgiving rush. Even for international flights, Nov. 20 still takes the crown for the costliest day to fly.
Turning our attention to Christmas travel, plan to fly on Dec. 21 or Dec. 22 to save the most cash for domestic flights. Tickets average about $469 and $466, respectively, for the two days, which is 18 percent cheaper than the priciest day to fly (Dec. 19).
If international travel is on your agenda for Christmas, look for options on Dec. 23 and Dec. 24, both of which have a high promise to be cheaper at $1063 and $1024, respectively. Those prices are 31 percent to 34 percent cheeper than the most expensive day of the Christmas travel rush, which is Dec. 19.
Copyright 2026 Northstar Travel Media, LLC. Visit at travelpulse.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
