Time To Start Prepping For Thanksgiving Travel

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Today is Canada’s Thanksgiving Day, but it isn’t too early to start thinking about the American version next month. Actually, you really should start. Many airlines have already announced surcharges for the busiest travel days this holiday season since they are strapped for cash and they can get a lot of extra money this way.

Right now fares are relatively affordable, but only if you book soon. Most of the large domestic carriers including American, United and US Airways have announced the $10 surcharge. Not all airlines will follow suit, as Southwest and JetBlue will not give in, at least not yet. I predict they will, if not this holiday season, the next. Airlines have lost money year after year, and while Southwest might not have followed in the baggage fee trend, JetBlue, Virgin America and AirTran certainly did, despite advertising themselves as low-cost carriers.

There are some deals if you hunt now though. The travel-booking site CheapOair has a list of affordable Thanksgiving packages, so long as you book by October 31, including cheap airfares to New York City for the famed Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Or, if you’re a Chandler Bing-type and you want to avoid the American Thanksgiving tradition altogether, they have packages to Aruba and England. The Los Angeles Times has also found (via Priceline) that airfares are currently running 10% lower for the holiday season than last year, so maybe that surcharge won’t make much of an impact if you act quickly. Virgin America also just announced they’re offering double frequent flyer miles for Elevate program members for those who travel between October 15 and December 15, so Turkey Day travel qualifies.

Personally, I haven’t traveled on Thanksgiving in the past few years to avoid the chaos and it’s just so close to Christmas that I’d rather save my time (and money) for one trip. However, I’ll probably fly close to Christmas and New Year’s Day, despite the surcharges. Even though I don’t like them, sometimes you just can’t avoid them. And the airlines know this.

Are you planning to travel this Thanksgiving? Will you fly on days close to Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day despite the surcharges?