When to Book and Fly for Cheaper Holiday Trips in 2025

Today's episode is sponsored by Quince.

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Right, I went from beach mode to layers mode.

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In true consumer fashion, we talked about Halloween last week, but this week it is Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, and New Year's.

Yes, the holidays seem to start earlier every year.

Though, the good news is you may not have to book your travel earlier this year.

Oops.

Well, you know, it's never too early to start thinking about it, though.

Megan!

Welcome to Smart Travel, a deep dive into the tips, tools, and tactics to maximize your travel dollars.

I'm Megan Coyle.

And I'm Sally French.

And we're the travel nerds ready to help you plan your next big trip.

We are not wasting any time today.

We are moving straight into the holiday season.

We are diving into the data about how much people are spending on holiday travel and hopefully giving you tips so you can save.

But first, our usual disclaimer, we'll talk about a few credit card companies that are NerdWallet partners in this episode, but that doesn't influence how we discuss them.

The benefits, terms, and fees mentioned were accurate at the time of posting, but things can change.

Some offers may have expired by the time you're listening.

For the latest details, follow the links in the episode description.

We do have some transfer partner news.

Built Rewards, I know you're a fan, Megan.

They just added Edihad Guest to its list of transfer partners.

That is an airline based in the United Arab Emirates, and they're probably best known for their first-class seats.

Each seat in in this class has so much space, they call it an apartment.

That's a bucket list redemption for a lot of people because that first-class cabin also has in-flight showers in the bathrooms.

Very nice.

You know, I've never flown first class, but I have seen showers on an Emirates Airlines flight, and that was unbelievable.

Also, that one had heated floors.

I'm curious how these ones go.

Ooh, okay.

But as usual, these seats will cost you a pretty penny.

We've seen first-class tickets go for 160,000 miles and around $545 in taxes and fees to fly from New York to Abu Dhabi.

Yikes, and that is exactly why I have not flown first class on this.

But the good news is that Built does transfer at one-to-one ratio now.

So that is good.

If you can afford that first-class seat, you might need to transfer points from a couple of different sources.

So this is also helpful.

Ed Hod is also a transfer partner of American Express, Capital One, and Citi.

We'll link to NerdWallet's article on the Built-Edi Hodd partnership in the show notes.

Also, speaking of Citi, they just increased the intro offer on the Citi Strata Elite card.

That is Citi's new premium card.

It has a $595 annual fee.

With the intro offer, you will get 100,000 points when you spend $6,000 in the first three months of account opening.

That's interesting because this card just launched in July and the intro offer was only 80,000 points when you spend $4,000 in the first three months of account opening.

Sometimes we see this phenomenon where the intro offer at the card launch is not always the best one.

We kind of saw this too with the Chase Sapphire Reserve when they announced all the new benefits on their card.

So their signup bonus went up to 125,000 points after their intro offer, which was just 100,000 points.

Though I will say that one, it was 100,000 points plus a statement credit for Chase Travel bookings.

And then also like City, Chase did increase the minimum spending requirement for earning that bonus.

So do keep in mind, more points typically means you do have to spend more.

In fact, several cards have signup bonuses worth more than 100,000 points.

We'll link to the article we have about boosted signup bonuses right now.

And of course, the City Strata Elite card is on it.

Now, I will say, I always forget about this card, but the City Strata Elite card is a really good option for people who fly American Airlines.

I fly out of SFO and there just aren't that many American Airlines flights.

But Megan, I know you are a big American Airlines fan.

And what's great about this card is that City Points are the only type of credit card points that can transfer to American Airlines right now.

I think that's what makes this card super valuable.

All right, moving on to some hotel news.

Hilton just announced its newest brand.

It's called the Outset Collection.

Hilton keeps rolling out new brands, and this brings their total up to 25 brands.

I also think this is just an example of Hilton trying to catch up to Marriott, although Marriott still is in the lead.

They have more than 30 brands.

I'm interested in the Outset collection though, because it's kind of boutique-inspired properties.

It seems like it's going to have a lot of hotels with upscale finishes, also like design forward, a lot of like character with location-specific touches.

I'm very curious.

That is a way to both of our hearts is bougie hotel, but also pretty unique and boutique-y.

The first outset hotels are expected to open later in 2025.

Bookings open in November, so a couple locations we've already heard.

There is one in Moab, you know I love Moab, and then there's also a boutique hotel in Chicago, which is another great city.

No word yet on what the redemption rates will look like if you want to use points for these, but I imagine it'll be similar to some of the other independent hotel collections that fall under Hilton.

So those are brands like Curio Collection or the Tapestry Collection.

Beautiful.

We'll have more in a moment.

Stay with us.

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Hey, the vibes are slipping.

I think it's time to bring out the Velveeta Shells and Cheese.

The holidays are a time to go all in on indulgence.

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Bring that main course energy to your side dish.

Celebrate extra with Velveeta these holidays.

Sally, we are going into my favorite time of the year.

Halloween?

No, though, I do love my chai lattes and Gilmore Girl reruns, so I do have a major appreciation for Cozy Fall, you know.

So what, are you at Thanksgiving girl?

Yes, Thanksgiving.

That's literally my favorite holiday.

And throw in Christmas too.

Wow, what an interesting favorite holiday.

Okay.

Well, I will say your favorite time of year is one of the worst times of year to travel.

Yeah, you're not wrong.

I think it really depends what you value.

Like if you're going for cheap fares or fuse crowds, then yeah, not a good time to travel.

But I'm traveling to spend time with people and explore new places and, you know, get in the holiday spirit.

So holiday travel for me is really special.

I don't want to sound like a scrooge here, but I explicitly do not travel during the holidays.

And instead, I recommend gathering with family in either early December or wait until January.

Airports give me so much anxiety during the holidays.

Sometimes I'm in that TSA line, especially during Thanksgiving.

And I'm like, is this these people's first day on earth?

Like, I'm sorry.

Then you add the outrageous cost of holiday travel.

No way.

Let's talk about those prices.

So U.S.

adults will spend a collective $311 billion on flights and hotels this holiday season.

That's according to NerdWallet's annual analysis of holiday spending.

What is even $300 billion?

I feel like that's not a real number.

You're right.

It isn't.

If you break it down, it's 45% of Americans plan to spend money on flights or hotels this holiday season.

And then of those, they'll spend an average of $2,586 for those expenses.

Interesting.

So that is $200 more than the $2,330 that Americans said they spent last year.

So a $200 increase is not insignificant.

And nearly half of 2025 holiday travelers say they'll keep their holiday travel plans regardless of expense this year.

I feel like I definitely saw this when I was booking my holiday flights this year.

I booked my flights back in August, like I always do.

I learned this in college, like you have to be early and you can just like lock in a low price.

And then as things change, maybe you can rebook it.

But I was seeing round trip prices for my holiday flights from LA to Washington, D.C.

around $700.

Whoa, that's cheap.

Yeah.

Normally I would pay about $450 for these round trip flights at other times of the year.

Although I kind of feel like you just booked too early in the booking window.

Exactly.

So I was booking for Christmas and Google actually found that the average prices for Christmas and New Year's Eve trips tend to be lowest 51 days before departure.

And that's actually later than last year by about a week.

Okay, so we'll do the math for you.

51 days out.

That is Tuesday, November 4th for Christmas.

And that is coming sooner than we know.

I'm going to stick by my original statement, though.

I think it's still better to have something booked rather than nothing because you can always cancel and rebook if the prices drop as long as you buy the main cabin fare and not basic economy.

Yes.

At least you have something, a backup plan in case the prices never come down.

Okay, so that's Christmas data.

Let's talk Thanksgiving.

The latest data from Google Flights says average prices for Thanksgiving trips tend to be low as 35 days before departure.

And again, that's 10 days later than last year, which was 45 days.

Okay, so the ideal time to book flights for Thanksgiving travel is really October 23rd.

That is literally next week.

So people, PSA, you're welcome for listening to Smart Travel.

If you want to travel for Thanksgiving, book now.

And if you're looking at prices and thinking, wow, this is way too expensive to travel for the holidays this year, we have some ideas for you.

First, I will say off the bat, be flexible with the dates.

You want to fly on the off peak dates.

So every year I write this article for Nerdwallet about the best days to fly around Thanksgiving.

And then again, best days to fly for Christmas.

We will link to the full article in the episode description, but I will say consistently, the holidays themselves, I am talking Thanksgiving Day or Christmas, that's December 25th, are the slowest travel days, also usually the cheapest.

And then if you do fly in the morning, you likely still make it to your final destination in time for dinner.

But the presents.

No, come on.

I would say don't even pack the presents.

Just open them at home before you get on the plane.

And then also, I will say this is purely qualitative, but I swear people at airports are nicer on the actual holiday.

I agree with that.

There's some camaraderie going on with the holiday travelers.

I agree.

Sally, what are other good days to fly around these holidays?

If you can also fly Christmas Eve, if you don't want to fly on actual Christmas or Black Friday is also a good day to travel, these are kind of like the second slowest days at airports around the holiday periods, of course, after the holidays themselves.

Yes.

I do know some families have traditions, though, on Christmas Eve or like...

high school reunions on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.

Yes.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So for people who don't want to miss either of those days either, when should they fly?

Basically, the rule of thumb is you want to fly as far away from the holiday as you can if you must get there early.

So the worst time to fly really is like the Wednesday before Thanksgiving because everyone just wants to be there for Thanksgiving dinner.

So if you can fly out like even Tuesday, Monday, or the weekend before, if you can fly out that Saturday, that's a really, really good way to save money.

Great tips.

Okay, my next tip is going to be controversial.

Okay.

Especially because we say this all the time to not consider a layover because a lot can go wrong.

But you're saying do a layover.

Do a layover for the holidays if it is significantly cheaper.

I've definitely rolled the dice and you know, it does introduce more risk because something could happen to either a flight, you could lose your bag, but it could also save you a lot of money.

And there is the possibility that you just get there on time and for cheaper.

Who knows?

Megan, it is not even the hot takes time of the segment.

I will say do this at your own risk because, you know, especially if you're doing a layover in a place like Chicago or Denver where weather is rough, then you do kind of risk flight disruptions for that.

So I would say layover at your own risk, but I do agree often layovers are so much cheaper.

So this is like big time gamble energy.

Yeah.

And like you said, it's important to think about where you're going to layover.

So you want to avoid airports that might have weather.

I also look for layovers in cities that are close enough to where I'm going.

That sounds a little weird, but for example, I fly home to the Washington, D.C.

area for the holidays and I usually try to get a layover in Philly.

And so let's say worst comes to worst, my flight from Philly to D.C.

is canceled.

I can actually just leave the airport and take an Amtrak and go down to Washington.

That's a good tip.

And then also, like, I go from San Francisco to St.

Louis often, and it can be expensive to get a direct flight.

So if I have to do a layover, sometimes they'll be like layover in Seattle and then catch this flight.

And I'm like, there is only one flight a day from Seattle to St.

Louis, but I will always do layovers in Chicago because I feel like there's flights every hour from Chicago to St.

Louis.

So choose an airport that has many layover options in case you somehow get delayed and miss it.

You can just hop on another flight.

And related to all this airport talk, I wrote an article about the airports with the best flight deals.

It's definitely not a guarantee during the holidays because all the norms go out the window, but definitely keep your options open.

Maybe like a slightly further airport for you might be cheaper.

Just be flexible about the dates and the airports.

And then of course, do not forget your credit card points and miles can be a good option.

Holiday flights tend to be really high in terms of cash fares.

I have realized recently that points rates, especially for last-minute fares, can often be very good.

So, if you do procrastinate and you need to look at the last minute, don't overlook looking at points.

Now, if you're not sure what your points are worth, NerdWallet has calculators that can help you do the math and kind of tell you because all points are worth a different amount depending on the airline or the frequent traveler program.

So, we will also link to those in the episode description.

One of my best redemptions ever was actually a points deal during the holidays.

It was 11,000 American miles and I think it was from LA to Hawaii because I was going there for New Year's Eve and a wedding, of course.

Wow, that is a very good deal.

Okay.

It was a late flight too.

So we landed and I was so tired that I fell asleep during the fireworks.

Like imagine the booms and Megan's just passed out.

Nice.

Okay, so let's also talk about what else Nerdbullet has to say about how people are planning to save money with points.

Well, they said more than than a quarter will stay with loved ones instead of getting a hotel room or a vacation rental.

Okay.

And one that I found really interesting: about three in 10 holiday travelers will use AI tools to help them plan holiday travel this year.

Oh my gosh, I feel like I'm seeing so many trend pieces these days about, you know, this being the first AI Christmas and all that.

I'm scared.

I'm so confused.

Like, what are they using the AI tools for?

Like, it doesn't have super accurate pricing data for flights that change, you know, prices every minute or something.

So I really want to know what everyone is doing with AI and getting cheap flights for the holidays.

I do like AI for travel planning in general, but I'm very curious about holiday AI usage.

So maybe we'll have to dig into AI for travel in a future episode.

Yeah, let's do it.

Okay, cheap flight prices aside, I think one of the other big concerns for holiday travel are just those delays and cancellations.

We kind of mentioned this already, but do you remember when I got caught in that Southwest meltdown in 2022?

You were actually the most positive person I've ever heard get caught in like the biggest airline meltdown of the last five years.

What did you learn from that experience?

Oh, I'm like, I love the chaos and I also love a good airport lounge.

So I'm like, yo, this is just an excuse to go to an extra lounge.

But I will say.

If you are traveling during the holidays or really any time, but especially during the holidays, be flexible, have backup plans.

I often think backup plans are what other airports you can fly to.

So Megan, you mentioned like, can you fly to Philly and then take the train or whatever?

So understand what your options are.

I would say arrive early.

So if flights are delayed, maybe you can jump on an earlier flight that is just like the other delayed flight that you're there for.

So always just be prepared.

I think holiday time is so chaotic because so many people are traveling.

Planes are full.

So if there is an issue, it just creates this domino effect.

I actually looked up data from the Bureau of Transportation statistics about the most reliable airlines.

Now, this also won't guarantee that something won't happen to your flight, but if you are curious which airlines have the most on-time flights, Southwest is number one.

And that's if you don't count Hawaiian airlines because they have beautiful weather and not that many flights.

Yeah.

Low sample size with Hawaiian.

Yeah, exactly.

So Southwest is number one for this year, but also, do you want to guess like the other contenders for most reliable airlines this year?

Most reliable airlines.

I really like Delta.

I just feel like they really, they really have it together.

So I'm going to say Delta.

Yeah, they usually perform really well in on time.

You know who beat them this year is Spirit Airlines.

What?

Yeah.

They had a really good summer.

They were very on time.

Spirit beats Delta in something.

Oh my God.

Yeah.

All right.

Okay.

Lots of things to consider when you're trying to avoid some of the mishaps.

What are your thoughts, Sally, on travel insurance for holiday travel?

I think it can be a good idea for some travelers.

Now, holiday travel just brings in that added component of weather.

So make sure your travel insurance policy does cover weather delays if you're going for travel insurance.

I think travel insurance is also really critical for trips that kind of have these dominoes that could stack if something goes wrong.

So I think about a cruise.

If you are flying out and then you miss your cruise, then you probably just can't get on the cruise.

So that travel insurance will be really helpful.

I do think with holiday travel, I'm often staying with family that if my flight is delayed by one day, it's not really this huge deal because it's just, you know, one less day to stay with my family.

Or if I have to stay longer, it's one more day that I can stay for free with my family.

So I would kind of just weigh like, what are all the moving parts of your trip and how much chaos would be incited if something goes wrong?

A lot of times we talk about like, is this trip something that has a lot of non-refundable expenses?

And so maybe a family trip doesn't qualify.

But if you are going like on a really big New Year's Eve trip and you need to be there for the cruise in the harbor during the fireworks and that's non-refundable, that might be a time to think about getting travel insurance.

Plus, you might already have some travel insurance protections on your credit card.

So my recommendation is to refresh your memory on what your specific cards cover before you book your holiday travel on it.

I made a mistake on one of my trips earlier this year and that's why I didn't get as much money as I thought for my lost luggage.

That's because you paid for the flight on point, so the insurance didn't kick in?

Yes.

And also the bag was not totally lost.

It did come back to me after two weeks, but my card only covered it if it was declared lost, which the airline said they would do after 21 days.

So it didn't quite meet the requirements.

At least you got your bag back.

I did.

I did.

Okay, let's talk about international travel.

I think you are heading abroad.

I am.

I'm going to Australia during Thanksgiving this year.

Oh, it'll be summer there, which is kind of wild to think about.

And let me guess, you are going for yet another wedding.

Man, you know me so well.

Wedding queen.

Okay.

So we talked about the best days to fly for Thanksgiving and Christmas, but I also want to talk about just flying during that period between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Often you can save a lot of money and avoid crowds.

Yeah, it's kind of like a mini shoulder season.

Like shoulder season is usually in the fall, but there's like this mini sandwich season.

Sandwich is in between the two really busy times to travel.

Oh my gosh, let's coin that term.

I have not heard sandwich season before.

Let's make it a thing.

Yeah, good time to travel then, even overseas and google published a list of some of the trending destinations for christmas this year i want to talk about some of them maybe i'll give you some ideas rio de janeiro okay saint lucia marrakech in morocco oh love marrakech and curacao is that how you say it Yes, Curacao.

I would say this is basically just a list of warm and sunny places.

All the snowbirds want to get away someplace a little, a little warmer.

Also, in that spirit, I'm just going to throw in Hawaii is a good one for that that melee Kaliki Maka spirit.

Oh, yes.

I love that.

It's so cute.

All the palm trees are decorated.

Yeah.

Hawaii loves Santa.

Okay.

So we hope you all end up going somewhere fun for the holidays.

Let's do a listener question.

We haven't done one in a while.

Oh, okay.

This one is from Bob.

Bob says, most of the non-stop flights at my home airport are on American Airlines, but I would rather get a Chase or Amex card instead of an American card.

Is there a way to transfer points and book American flights?

Thank you in advance, Bob.

Good question.

Okay, he's on the right track here.

He wants a card that can help him book American Airlines flights.

And technically, you could do that with a Chase or Amex card if you booked through the travel portal.

But I want to suggest another option, which is a city card that earns City thank you points because Citi just announced this the year that they are partnering with American Airlines as a new transfer partner.

So Bob could get the City Strata Elite card.

That card has a $595 annual fee.

or possibly the City Strata Premier card.

That one only has a $95 annual fee, but both of those cards earn City thank you points, which transfer to American Airlines at a one-to-one ratio.

And I will say, you know, I love a lounge, and the City Strata Elite card also comes with some lounge passes.

So if there is an American Airlines lounge at your home airport, Bob, maybe consider that one.

All right.

Well, that's it for today.

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You are crushing it over on on TikTok.

Oh, thank you.

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This episode was produced by Tess Viglin.

Our audio is edited by our editor Nick Chrissimy.

Claire Society and Hillary Georgie helped with fact-checking.

Thanks, everyone.

And here's our brief disclaimer: we are not financial nor investment advisors.

This info is provided for general educational and entertainment purposes, and it may not apply to your specific circumstances.

We hope you're inspired to keep your passport full and your wallet even fuller.

Happy holidays!

Melee Kalikimaka!

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