2026 Holiday Travel Index

Key Insights

• Months of elevated jet fuel costs due to the conflict in Iran have contributed to Thanksgiving and Christmas airfares reaching 10-year highs.

• Travelers are already booking holiday travel earlier in advance than in previous years, and are more likely than ever to be planning upcoming travel with generative AI. 

• Round-trip domestic airfare for Thanksgiving is averaging $402, up 31% (+$95) from last year. Hotel nightly rates are averaging $170 per night, in line with 2025. 

• Round-trip domestic airfare for Christmas is averaging $452, up 23% (+$85) from last year. Hotel nightly rates are averaging $197 per night, up 18% from last year.

Travelers looking ahead to Thanksgiving and Christmas travel will need to plan ahead for a larger travel budget this year, as the 2026 holiday travel is on track to be the most expensive in a decade. Months of elevated jet fuel costs due to the conflict in Iran have contributed to Thanksgiving and Christmas airfares reaching 10-year highs.

Consumers have been contending with high travel prices all year, and early signals show that holiday travelers are planning ahead to get ahead of higher prices. Bookings for Thanksgiving and Christmas travel have increased compared to this time in previous years, as travelers have begun to book trips weeks earlier than they have historically. 

This holiday season is also expected to see more travelers than ever planning their holidays with generative AI solutions like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude. Earlier this year, a record 33% of adults said they were already using generative AI platforms to research upcoming travel, in line with the percentage of travelers using general search engines to plan (35%). 

In this report, we will break down the current price landscape, current destination trends, and tips for travelers on how to make this holiday season more affordable. 

Thanksgiving

Round-trip domestic airfare for Thanksgiving is averaging $402, up 31% (+$95) from last year. Airfare to all international destinations has risen compared to last year, with substantial increases to top destinations in Europe, Mexico, Central America and the Antilles. Domestic hotel nightly rates are averaging $170 per night so far, in line with 2025. 

The current most popular destinations for Thanksgiving trips in the US are major cities including New York City, Miami and Orlando, Florida. For international travelers, major cities like Tokyo, London and Paris are top of mind. 

Trending destinations are the places seeing the fastest booking growth compared to the same period last year, not necessarily the highest overall demand. Travelers seeking new destinations for Thanksgiving this year are headed to warm weather destinations in Florida and Hawaii, or looking to unique and lower-cost destinations across central Europe. 

Christmas

Christmas airfare, typically pricier than Thanksgiving, is averaging $452, up 23% (+$85) from last year. Prices to major international destinations have also risen, with fares to Mexico/Central America up 23% and fares to Europe up 15%. Travelers headed to long-haul destinations in Africa, Asia and Oceania will see airfare similar to 2025 levels, or slightly lower. Domestic hotel nightly rates are averaging $197 per night, up 18% from last year.

Travelers planning ahead for Christmas are looking at major destinations like New York, Miami and Orlando. Those looking to travel internationally are headed on long-haul flights to Tokyo and Bangkok, or to favorites like London, Paris and Mexico City. 

Trending destinations are the places seeing the fastest booking growth compared to the same period last year, not necessarily the highest overall demand. Travelers seeking new destinations for Christmas are planning ahead for trips to Alaska, the Pacific Northwest and Florida. International travelers are eyeing long-haul trips to Africa, Oceania and Asia, with destinations in each region growing in popularity relative to last year, despite high prices. 

How to stretch your holiday travel budget

[1] Travel on the least expensive days

Holiday travel is highly concentrated, with millions of people flying to and from their Thanksgiving and Christmas destinations on the same dates. Travelers who are flexible when they fly for the holidays can save hundreds of dollars on their airfare. 

Thanksgiving: The most popular and most expensive travel schedule for a Thanksgiving trip includes departing on a flight Wednesday, right before the holiday, and returning on Sunday after the holiday, making it a long weekend with family or friends.

• Sunday, November 29th will be one of the single most expensive days of the year to travel, with domestic flights returning on this date averaging $604 per round-trip ticket. Flexible travelers can save as much as $250 per round-trip domestic ticket just by skipping the Sunday return flight and flying home on Monday or Tuesday after the holiday for about $350 per ticket. If an early in-the-week return isn’t possible, the next best option is to return on Black Friday, for an average of $420 per ticket. 

• Monday, November 23rd is the most affordable day for travelers to depart, with fares averaging $370 per ticket, about $50 less expensive than flights departing on Wednesday. For those who don’t have flexibility or time off, departing on Thanksgiving Day itself is the next best option, with fares around $371 per ticket.

Christmas: The Christmas season typically offers travelers more flexibility on when they fly and stay, given schools and offices are often closed for a few days around the holiday. 

• The most expensive days to leave for a Christmas trip will be the weekend ahead of Christmas, 12/18 - 12/20, when prices are already averaging just below $500 per ticket. The best dates to leave on a Christmas trip are Monday or Tuesday before the holiday, when prices are averaging around $440 per ticket.  

• Travelers heading home from Christmas trips should avoid a Sunday, December 27th return flight, when prices are about 20% higher than early in the week returns. For those making a longer trip of the holiday, return mid-week to find the lowest prices, but be sure to return before January 2nd, when prices will surge to over $560 per ticket as travelers make their way home from holiday trips for good. 

[2] Book before Halloween

Airfare for holiday trips is already at a record high, and prices will only increase as travel dates approach and flights and hotels begin to fill up. Travelers should start monitoring prices now and plan to book their holiday travel in the next few weeks. Expect to book flights and hotel stays before Halloween to get the lowest prices. 

For those travelers headed to a major city for either holiday, there may be price drops for hotel stays in the last 24-48 hours before the holidays. If you’re flexible on where you stay or considering a last-minute holiday trip or staycation, consider taking advantage of last-minute price drops at hotels in your destination city. 

[3] Book with flexibility 

With travelers booking Thanksgiving and Christmas trips earlier than ever this year, it’s possible plans could still change after booking. Consider adding flexible booking options, like Cancel for Any Reason on a flight or hotel booking, where offered, to make fares or rates refundable. 

[4] Consider using future travel credit, points, rewards, or miles to subsidize your travel 

If you have been earning miles or rewards points through an airline, hotel, or credit card loyalty program, now might be the time to use the value to subsidize your upcoming travel! Many credit cards offer rewards and benefits for travel booking, and some cards will even offer bonus points back on travel purchases made in the credit card’s travel booking portal. Research the rewards available to you through your existing credit card, or explore new cards that could offer you meaningful rewards as an expensive season approaches. 

Preparing for holiday crowds & disruption

The holiday travel season is often busy and crowded, and unexpected travel disruptions can turn long-awaited vacations or trips home for the holidays into high-stress moments. Major winter storms falling immediately after Thanksgiving and Christmas Day had a significant impact on travel, grounding thousands of passengers on their way home from the holidays.

Though travelers cannot predict inclement weather, especially when they book travel months in advance, thousands of customers are taking back control and adding more flexibility to their trip when making a flight or hotel booking. 

Tips for planning ahead for travel disruption when you book:

• Book the first flight out of the day: In general, flights departing after 9am are 2X more likely to be delayed than departures scheduled between 5-8am. To avoid travel disruption, fly as early in the morning as possible.

• Fly direct: You will usually pay a premium to fly direct, rather than with stops, but it may be worth the cost for travelers concerned about getting to their destination on time. Missed connections following flight delays or cancellations can make getting to your destination on time challenging during busy travel periods marred by bad weather or other disruptions. 

• Build in a buffer day: Travel a day early to your holiday celebrations if possible; that way, if you’re impacted by a delay or cancellation, you will have 24 hours to reschedule your travel and get to your final destination. 

• Add Disruption Assistance to your holiday plans: Offered on Hopper, a number of airlines, and some credit card booking portals through our B2B division, HTS (Hopper Technology Solutions), Disruption Assistance helps travelers rebook their flight on any carrier if they are delayed or canceled. Unlike insurance, if your flight is delayed, canceled, or you miss a connection, using this rebooking service, you can immediately rebook on any flight, regardless of the carrier. If you’re not satisfied with the flight options, you can opt to have your flight refunded instead. 

• Take advantage of flexible booking options: Travelers may want to consider adding extra flexibility when booking upcoming flights in case they want to make last-minute changes to their Thanksgiving or Christmas plans. Travelers should take advantage of plans like Cancel for Any Reason or Change for Any Reason offered on Hopper, several leading airlines, and credit card booking portals, powered by HTS (Hopper Technology Solutions).

• Sign up for alerts & check flight status before you go to the airport. You’ll want to know about delays and cancellations as early as possible. On most U.S. carriers, passengers can sign up for text, email, and/or in-app notifications about any changes to their itinerary, including delays and cancellations. 

What to do if you are impacted by travel disruptions: 

• Know what options you have available: Know what other flights are headed to your destination the same day as your trip in case you’re disrupted and need to get on another flight. Be sure to check airline policies; many carriers will waive change fees if there is a weather advisory or give compensation/travel credit if your flight is canceled within a few hours of departure.

• Multi-task. As soon as you learn of a disruption, hop in line to speak with a customer service agent in your terminal. At the same time, try to change your flight yourself in the airline’s app and/or call the airline’s customer service call center. Oftentimes, you can reach an agent via phone before an agent at the airport can get to you. Sometimes you can even rebook yourself on the airline's own app!

• Consider alternate airports. If you’re flying out of a major city with multiple airports, check out flights still scheduled to depart that may get you to your destination more quickly. If you’re stranded in cities like New York, Chicago, and Dallas, your ticket home may be just a train or Uber ride away. 

• Pack your patience. It’s impossible to predict travel disruptions, but we should expect there will be more of them during the busiest travel weeks of the year. With more passengers departing from airports over these holiday weeks than usual, everything from backups on the tarmac to bad weather can impact your travel plans. Pack your patience and plan ahead to make sure you’re prepared for anything unexpected.

Methodology

Average airfares are calculated as a demand-weighted average of the 10th percentile of prices available to book during the period of searches utilized for the report. This report looks at prices based on the previous 1 week of searches for holiday dates. Year-over-year comparisons are adjusted for the movement of Thanksgiving Day in the calendar year.