Holiday Airfare Prices Expected To Soar To 5-Year High

If you plan to travel during the holiday season, it is going to cost you. Discount travel site Hopper released its Holiday Travel Outlook and said that airfare during Thanksgiving and Christmas will soar to a five-year high.

If you are planning to fly at Christmas, the average cost of a round-trip domestic flight will be $350, a 43% increase from last year. If you plan to fly internationally, it will cost you nearly $800 a ticket.

The cheapest option is to fly out the Monday before Thanksgiving and return the following Tuesday. The most expensive day to fly is the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and the following Saturday and Sunday.

Airfare will get even more expensive if you plan to travel for Christmas. A round-trip ticket will cost around $463, up 41% from 2021. An international trip will cost about $1,300.

To avoid the most expensive flights, Hopper recommends flying out on the Monday or Tuesday before Christmas and returning on the 28th or 29th. If you can extend your stay until after the New Year, prices really begin to drop by January 3.

Hopper suggested that the best time to book your holiday flights is between September 12 and October 20. Hopper economist Hayley Berg said that it is important to book Thanksgiving flights as early as possible.

"Prices for Thanksgiving will rise by $10 on average per day from the beginning of November until Thanksgiving, peaking at nearly $550 for last-minute tickets," she explained.