When to Book Thanksgiving Flights in 2026: Fares Are Up 31%

Picture the Sunday after Thanksgiving at the airport. The security line snakes back past the coffee stand, every seat at the gate is taken, and somebody's toddler is losing it over a dropped pretzel. Nearly everyone in that terminal paid top dollar to be there, because that Sunday is one of the most expensive days of the whole year to fly.

So when should you book Thanksgiving flights in 2026? Now, and ideally before Halloween. Hopper's latest numbers put the average domestic Thanksgiving round trip at about $402, up 31% from last year. The cheapest day to leave is Monday, November 23, at around $370. The Sunday after, November 29, runs as high as $604 on average, and flying home Monday or Tuesday instead can save you as much as $250.

I'm a grandmother, and I know who usually ends up in that Sunday line. It's the family with school on Monday and a boss who wants them back at their desk. Those of us over 50 tend to have the looser calendar, and this year that flexibility is worth real money.

Why holiday flights cost more this year

It isn't your imagination. According to Hopper data reported by ABC News on September 26, Thanksgiving fares are averaging about $402 round trip, up 31%, and Christmas fares are averaging $452, up 23%. The government's own numbers back it up. In the August inflation report, airline fares were 23.4% higher than a year ago.

Part of the story is fewer cheap seats. Spirit Airlines shut down in May. Whatever you thought of Spirit, a budget airline on a route tends to keep everyone else's prices a little more honest. Take it away and there's less pressure on the rest of them.

When to book Thanksgiving flights in 2026, date by date

Thanksgiving is Thursday, November 26 this year. Here's how I'd lay out the calendar:

• Fly out Monday, November 23. It's the cheapest departure day, around $370 round trip on average.
• Skip Sunday, November 29 for the trip home if you possibly can. That's the $604 day.
• Come home Monday, November 30 or Tuesday, December 1. Hopper puts those fares around $350.
• For Christmas, which falls on a Friday, leave Monday, December 21 or Tuesday, December 22. Those days average around $440.
• Book both trips before Halloween, which is Saturday, October 31.

That Monday-to-Monday Thanksgiving trip also gives you a full week with the family instead of a rushed four days. I'd call that a bonus.

Should you wait for prices to drop?

I hear this one every fall. "I'm going to wait and see if it comes down." For peak holiday dates, I wouldn't. Demand for that week is already baked in, and Hopper's advice is to book in the next few weeks and before Halloween for the lowest prices.

What I'd do instead is set a price alert today and give yourself a hard deadline. If the fare dips before Halloween, great, you buy it. If Halloween shows up and it hasn't moved, you buy it anyway and stop checking.

And check more than one airport. Here in Tampa Bay we've got Tampa International, St. Pete-Clearwater and Sarasota all within reach, and the same trip can price very differently depending on which one you pick. Plenty of cities have a second airport within driving distance.

Where we have the edge after 50

I've said it before: peak season travel is a young person's game. The holidays are the one peak season most of us won't skip, because that's where the grandkids are. But we can still play it smarter than the folks locked into the Wednesday-to-Sunday rush.

Don't forget the room, either. Hopper has Thanksgiving hotels averaging about $170 a night and Christmas hotels around $197, up 18%. I never book a room without checking the same room on more than one site, because I've seen the identical room come up at very different prices depending on where you look. If you're curious whether a travel membership helps with that, I wrote about whether one is worth it after 50, and I opened that post by saying most of them aren't. I still stand by that.

Back to that Sunday gate

Let the Sunday crowd have the terminal. If you can leave on the 23rd and come home on the 30th, you skip the pretzel meltdown and get more time with the people you're flying to see. You also keep a couple hundred dollars in your pocket. Set the alert today. Book by Halloween.

If you want to see the travel platform I use to compare hotels and trips, take a look at it here.

Fares change daily, so treat the numbers above as averages as of September 2026. I'm a Lifestyle Ambassador with MWR Life, the company behind that travel platform, and I earn a commission if you join through my link. You can read my full MWR Life review before you decide anything.

Questions I get about holiday flights

Is it too late to book Thanksgiving flights for 2026?

No. As of late September you're still in good shape. Hopper's advice is to book within the next few weeks and before Halloween. After that, I wouldn't expect prices to get friendlier.

What's the cheapest day to fly for Thanksgiving 2026?

Monday, November 23 is the cheapest day to leave, at around $370 round trip on average. For the trip home, Monday, November 30 or Tuesday, December 1 beats Sunday, November 29 by as much as $250.

When should I book Christmas flights for 2026?

Same deadline: before Halloween. Christmas falls on a Friday this year, and the cheapest days to leave are the Monday or Tuesday before, December 21 or 22, at around $440 on average.

Why are Thanksgiving flights so expensive this year?

Fares are up across the board. Airline prices were 23.4% higher in August than a year earlier, and Spirit Airlines shutting down in May took a lot of budget seats out of the market. Holiday demand does the rest.

Donna Valdes is a 57-year-old business strategist in Largo, Florida, with 25+ years in direct sales, operations and executive leadership. She restarted her business at 57 and writes about money, travel and building a next chapter after 50, with zero hype.