Does anyone think flight prices will go down for Thanksgiving travel?

[Anonymous]

I'm planning to go to Vegas for a week (or maybe less) with my DH and DS for thanksgiving. DS is 5 so a direct flight is preferred and I can't find anything less than $450 per ticket! Any suggestions? Any insight if you think prices may come down? TIA.

[Anonymous]

Let's do the math

The busiest time of year to travel, if we lower the prices the planes that are going to be full no matter what the price will cause us to make less money. If we charge more, the same full plane will make the airline more money.

I am going to go out on a ledge here and say the airlines want to lose more moeny and lower the prices. Wait until the Wednesday before and buy the tickets at rock bottom prices.

[Anonymous]

Sounds about right. And no they won't go down and if you wait you won't be able to get the flights you want. Its a miserable time of year to travel - overcrowded, flight delays, expensive. We do it every year and every year I regret traveling at Thanksgiving.

[Anonymous]

Typically they don't come down. I usually book our thanksgiving and post christmas flights in July. This year I did the thanksgiving flights in June and got pretty good fares. Last year my MIL was in poor health and couldn't decide if she was going to be able to come with us until about 3 weeks before Thanksgiving. By the time she purchased her ticket it was triple the cost of ours.

[Anonymous]

The longer you wait, the more expensive and less choice there will be. If possible try Sunday out, Monday back. That might make it better.

[Anonymous]

Also, if you need hotel reservations you can sometimes find cheap packages (where hotel plus air is the same cost as air only).

[Anonymous]

Don't buy the tickets on a weekend - wait for a tuesday to purchase for some reason fares dip tuesday, sometimes wednesday and thursday. If you are really curious check out Kayak.com they have a history of fares graph that will show you the highs and lows. Thanksgiving is the most traveled holiday in the US. We normally purchase our tickets in July or August.

[Anonymous]

Business 101: one the busiest time of year, demand is high, so why would airlines lower prices?

[Anonymous]

In most cases the PPs are correct. Thanksgiving is one of the busiest times of the year to travel BUT you are going to Vegas not exactly a mecca for a wholesome Thanksgiving. We have done the Thanksgiving Vegas trip before it was cheap and Vegas was empty. Have fun and enjoy!

[Anonymous]

If you are flexible with your travel dates, you will find deals around Thanksgiving. Specific example, as of the time this post was written, you could find nonstops on Southwest BWI - LAS departing the Sat. before Thanksgiving (11/20) and returning the Fri after Thanksgiving (11/26) for $139 or $149/way plus tax. If you want to save money on Thanksgiving travel, follow a few golden rules:

(1) Be flexible with your dates of travel. Generally it is best to avoid the Tuesday/Wednesday before Thanksgiving and the Sunday and Monday after Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving day and the Friday after Thanksgiving are generally cheap days to travel.
(2) Check fares using all area airports. Out of DC, check BWI, IAD, DCA and possibly even Richmond and/or PHL if you want to save money.
(3) If you are flying in a Southwest Airlines market, get DING, which is a Southwest program that provides fares on a market-by-market basis that are generally lower than what is available on the Southwest.com website.
(4) Check fares using a variety of sources (Kayak, Mobissimo, Southwest.com, etc...)

Enjoy your trip.

-Please consider checking out my travel website, http://TravelDealoftheDay, and my Twitter page, http://twitter.com/TravelDealDaily. (Also find Thanksgiving Travel Tips at http://alturl.com/zv8sn)

[Anonymous]

I agree with the others - no, prices will not come down. And in my experience, they will only go up. Now is the time to decide for Thanksgiving (and Christmas!) if you will travel and commit to buying tickets. I'm about to book my Christmas tickets because they are already ridiculous expensive and I know not getting cheaper.

Play with the dates if you want to find something cheaper including earlier than the peak or even Thanksgiving day morning. Also, if low price is really what you need, consider connecting flights.

Personally, I've had better luck lately booking directly on the airline's website rather than through Expedia/Orbitz/etc. The price may be the same as on the other web sites but there are more choices time-wise for the same price. Where Expedia may only offer 2 flights at a certain price, usairways.com may offer 4....

[Anonymous]

OP here, I appreciate the good advice from many of you. Yes, I realize it is the most traveled weekend but don't think of Vegas as a destination for the average person. Most people I know go visit family, not really go to Vegas for a week. Anyway, I purchased today on United, prices were a bit lower than the past 3 months and I realized I had enough miles for one free flight.