Victoria Christmas fares are at a 10-year high. A former travel agency data analyst says a big part of what you pay is the price of flying on the same days as everyone else.
By Victoria, TopTravel News
Megan Hart flew from Boston to Honolulu on Christmas Day. Round trip, $300.
That route usually runs $587.
Her brother flew out to the same family table on the Saturday before Christmas and paid what holiday fares cost this year.
This year, that’s a lot. Thanksgiving round trips average $402, up 31%, and Christmas round trips $452, up 23%, the highest in a decade, according to Hopper’s 2026 Holiday Travel Index.
Dennis Hale spent 20 years as a data analyst at a travel agency. He says the season is only half the story.
“A big part of what people pay at the holidays is the price of flying on the same few days as everyone else,” he says.
The days everyone picks are the days fares peak
“Everyone wants to come home on the Sunday after Thanksgiving,” says Hale. “That’s why it costs so much.”
Hopper’s numbers back him up. Coming home on Sunday 29 November averages about $604. The Monday or Tuesday after averages about $350.
Thanksgiving Day itself, Black Friday and Cyber Monday are among the cheapest days to fly, Hopper found.
Christmas works the same way. KAYAK found that international flights on 23-24 December run 31-34% below the 18 December peak.
But knowing the cheaper days isn’t enough.
“A cheap fare on a quiet day doesn’t sit there waiting for you,” says Hale.
Airlines reprice constantly, as AltexSoft explains, and unusual fares tend to vanish within hours.
To catch one, you’d have to check your exact dates several times a day, for weeks. Nobody does that.
So people book the obvious days at the obvious price.
Megan stopped flying on the days everyone picks
Megan used to be one of them. Every year she flew out the weekend before Christmas and paid whatever it cost.
This year she did one thing differently. She picked the days she could actually fly, Christmas Day out and New Year’s Day back, and set an alert for exactly those dates.
On 10 October, her phone pinged. Boston to Honolulu, $300 round trip. Rated 94/100.
She booked it that evening, directly with the airline.
“Same family. Same table,” says Hale. “She just didn’t fly on the Saturday.”
You can’t move the holidays, but you can let something else watch the days you fly.
An alert watches your exact dates for you
Megan’s alert came from RatePunk, the app Hale now points friends to.
RatePunk scans 150M fares a day across 100+ providers and watches your home airport around the clock.
Every fare gets an AI Deal Score from 0 to 100. Only fares rated 80+ ever reach you.
You can also set an alert for the exact dates you can fly. When a fare for those dates is rated 80+, a push notification arrives on your phone.
Each alert has four things:
• Route – from your own airport
• Dates – the exact days the fare is for
• Price – and what it usually costs
• Link – straight to the booking page
“It doesn’t predict anything,” says Hale. “It just tells you when a fare on your dates is genuinely good.”
Here is what members’ alerts caught on holiday dates
→ Boston to Honolulu: $300 round trip, typically $587 (rated 94/100) · out 25 Dec, back 1 Jan · caught 10 Oct 2026
→ Washington to Madrid: $362 round trip, typically $653 (rated 94/100) · out Tuesday, 1 Dec · caught 15 Oct 2026
→ Hartford to San Juan: $127 round trip, typically $213 (rated 83/100) · out Thursday, 26 Nov (Thanksgiving Day) · caught 15 Oct 2026
These are past finds. They show what RatePunk catches and how cheap similar fares can be, not fares you can book today. Fares like these stay open minutes to hours before airlines reprice.
Over 300,000 members already use RatePunk. It’s rated 4.7 on the App Store and 4.6 on Google Play.
Is it legit? RatePunk isn’t a booking site. You book with the airline or booking site yourself.
Will it work from your city? You set your own home airport, or a city-to-city route, so alerts are for flights you’d actually take.
And most fares never clear 80, so what reaches you is rare, not noise.
This year, let the quiet days come to you
“Pick the days you can fly, especially the ones everyone else avoids,” says Hale. “Then let something watch them for you.”
Megan’s family will sit down at the same holiday table as always. Her ticket just cost less.
| IMPORTANT NOTE: Since this article was published, RatePunk has seen a surge of sign-ups. As a courtesy, readers here can still join with 77% off. |
Sources: Hopper • KAYAK • AltexSoft • Deal figures: RatePunk app screenshots and RatePunk fare data, 10 and 15 October 2026.
