The 2026 holiday airfare outlook comes with a bit of sticker shock for travelers planning Thanksgiving and Christmas getaways. According to new data from flight deals app Going, domestic airfares are up 15 percent for Thanksgiving and 16 percent for Christmas compared with last year. But there’s a silver lining for travel advisors and their clients: International fares have remained relatively flat, and Thanksgiving week could be one of the best times to score an overseas getaway.
“For holiday travel, the takeaway is simple: The sooner you book, the better position you’re in,” said Going flight expert Willis Orlando, in a media statement. “Airfares have been climbing steadily all year from a combination of rising fuel and labor costs, strong summer demand that outpaced available seats, and the loss of a major low-cost carrier. If you know the right days to fly and a few of the best-kept secrets in travel, whether that’s finding a last-minute deal or catching a price drop after you’ve already booked, you can still make this holiday season work for your wallet.”
According to Going’s data, Monday, Nov. 23, and Christmas Eve are the cheapest days to depart for Thanksgiving and Christmas, while the weekends before and after each holiday are the most expensive to depart or return. Meanwhile, the Midwest is seeing the steepest Thanksgiving jump of any region, up 28 percent year over year, nearly double the overall domestic increase. The Northeast leads for Christmas, up 34 percent. On the other end, the West is seeing the mildest increases in both windows, up just 11 percent for Thanksgiving and 14 percent for Christmas.
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The good news, though, is that Going says Thanksgiving week is one of the best times to find international airfare deals. So, if you have clients wanting to get away rather than digging into some turkey, Going roundtrip deals include $649 from New York City to Casablanca; $664 from San Francisco to Seoul; $617 from Los Angeles to London; $595 from Chicago to Berlin; and $763 from Los Angeles to Auckland. (These Thanksgiving international deals were pulled on Oct. 5, 2026.)
