We are now in the prime booking window for Christmas flights.
As we often report, the best time to book cheap flights is one to two months in advance of travel. We are now just over a month ahead of booking for Christmas, so airfares should be at their cheapest around this time.
If you wait too long, prices will spike as we approach Christmas — so consider this your fair warning to get booking.
Unfortunately, our latest data analysis of 2025 holiday prices for flights shows that fares are up overall year over year, although fortunately, they aren't as drastically up as we saw back in October. But prices will only rise after mid-November for Christmas flights.
Our advice for finding the cheapest prices ahead of time is to monitor the search starting three months before the dates you want to travel. (Though, obviously, you should jump on any deals you find before that.)
That lines up with what Google reports, too:
- Average prices for Thanksgiving trips tend to be lowest 35 days before departure.
- Average prices for Christmas and New Year's trips tend to be lowest 51 days before departure.
I'm a huge fan of Google Flights because you can set alerts for particular destinations.
Remember, too, that if you book now, you can get a trip credit for the fare difference if the price drops — as long as you don't book basic economy fares. That's why TPG always recommends booking standard economy fares, rather than basic economy.
Related: Airlines that offer you a credit if the price of airfare drops
Pricing trends for 2025 holidays
Our final report on holiday airfare trends is not what we were hoping to share. As mentioned, new data from our friends at Points Path shows fares are higher year over year for both Thanksgiving and Christmas trips, aside from a few specific cabins and dates.
Points Path is a free web browser extension that shows points and miles award prices in Google Flights, along with cash fares. Points Path uses reams of search data to better understand how airlines are currently pricing flights.
Related: How to use the Points Path extension to compare cash and award rates in Google Flights
Thanksgiving prices
We looked at more than 100,000 flights with economy fares during Thanksgiving week, along with search data for international coach and premium cabins. The data was collected as of Oct. 19.
Overall, coach prices within the U.S. are up by about 3.4% YOY to just under $586 for the Thanksgiving holiday.
For domestic fares, business-class and premium economy prices are down 1%-5%, though average fares for first class are up by a whopping 12%.
International prices for coach tickets are up about 3% YOY, though we are seeing steep drops of between 6% and 35% in international premium economy, business- and first-class cabins.
There’s your good news for Thanksgiving if you want to splurge on premium cabins internationally.
Christmas prices
Prices for Christmas flights show similar trends, with domestic economy flights averaging $639 compared to $633 in 2024. Fares in coach are about 1% higher year over year.
Domestic flights in premium cabins show even steeper YOY price increases of 8% to 16%. International fares are generally down so far, averaging $1,258 for coach tickets.
Unfortunately, the YOY decline in airfare we saw earlier this year hasn't lasted into the holidays. Prices are overall higher, especially for domestic fares.
Still, fares aren't likely to get much lower than they are now, so it's time to book.
Other tips for cheap holiday flights
There are other ways you can try to trim the cost of your holiday flights.
Points and miles come in particularly handy at times when prices are high. Therefore, you'll likely maximize their value the most around peak travel times like the holidays.
Whether you're using cash or points, always try to time your travel to line up with non-peak days and times. If you can fly midweek, for example, perhaps a week before Christmas or after New Year's Day, you'll likely score a much better deal than flying in exactly in time for the holiday. (Alternatively, if you can fly on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day itself, you'll also likely benefit.)
Similarly, red-eye flights and those at the crack of dawn are usually cheaper than flights during prime airport hours — and, given the recent chaos at domestic airports, they might also save you a bit of headache when navigating through security.
Finally, set Google Flights alerts and monitor prices in the next few weeks.
Bottom line
Points Path and TPG find that fares for the 2025 holidays are generally higher year over year. That said, prices are likely to be at their lowest now for the Christmas season. It will only become more expensive if you wait any longer.
We always recommend booking domestic flights one to two months ahead of time. But remember that if you're using airline miles, it's never too soon to start checking and booking.
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