Best time to buy Thanksgiving airfare?

shelley · #1 (**permalink**) May 16th, 2002, 11:50 AM

I'm booking the Cruisemates Thanksgiving cruise on the NCL Sun out of Miami, but I feel NCL's air is too high (over $500). When is the best time to get decent airfare for that busy Thanksgiving period? It seems a little early to book now. I'm out of LAX. Also, which on-line site do you like best? I've used travelocity.com and looked at expedia.com and orbitz.com. Any others? thanks for any suggestions, Shelley

Donna · #2 (**permalink**) May 16th, 2002, 04:05 PM

Hi SHelley,
I would just keep an eye on the fares, I just booked my Alaska air about 2 weeks ago for an Aug. 30th cruise and since have check again and they've already gone up $50. You do have all the major sites to check, when they appear to be going up, it may be a good time to book, since you are going during a holiday period, the fares seem to be higher.

I bet you will have a great time on this Thanksgiving cruise!

jomama · #3 (**permalink**) May 17th, 2002, 08:30 AM

Me too! All of the above! (Except LAX - I'm coming from OK City.)

Jo

MaryLou · #4 (**permalink**) May 17th, 2002, 09:55 AM

Shelley:
I'm so glad to hear you will be joining us on the Thanksgiving cruise. I have not booked my airfare yet either......not sure what I am waiting for. Too bad we weren't online the other day when United had the computer glitch...we could have flown for $5.00 each........The best I've seen recently is around $360.00 round trip. Just keep searching! Can't wait to meet you onboard.

MaryLou · #5 (**permalink**) May 17th, 2002, 09:56 AM

Jomama:
You booked the Thanksgiving cruise also? Great! Can't wait to meet you too.

#6 (**permalink**) May 19th, 2002, 09:49 AM

I'd say it's never too early to book for Thanksgiving. It's the busiest travel weekend of the year, so I suggest you book soon to avoid getting shut out.

I've had good luck with Orbitz and SideStep, so check those to see what's out there for the dates you want to travel. Or ask your travel agent to watch fares for you. It's unlikely that there will be a huge fare sale for that particular week, so if a fare looks good now, book it. I'm sure you can beat NCL's $500 fare.

Also, check alternate airports. You may prefer LAX, but you could also go out of Orange County, Burbank, Long Beach, etc. And you can also check Fort Lauderdale as well as Miami for your destination.

Good luck.

Dawn