The Most Expensive Days to Travel in the Year

Traveling is something many people love to do. Sometimes you travel because you want to, and other times there may be a reason to travel that is necessary and unavoidable. If you’re like most people, you’ve had the experience of planning a trip, for whatever reason, and you suddenly find out that the prices to travel seem out of this world. No matter what your reason for traveling is, you want to get the best deals so that you don’t spend more than your budget allows. Sometimes planning way in advance is something you can do, while other times, there just isn’t enough notice to allow for making travel arrangements you find yourself stuck in a travel price warfare where everywhere you turn, prices seem to only climb. Whether it is gas prices, hotel, or airfare, the cost of traveling is pricey, but did you know that there are certain days of the year that are more expensive than other days? Knowing ahead of time, what the most expensive travel days are, can help you better plan a more cost-friendly trip to save you money where you can. If you travel a lot, then you may be familiar with the times of the year that are pricier than the others. If not, here are the times of the year that will cost you more money and may want to try to avoid.

Spring Break – March and April

Spring break is the time of year that schools give their students a break from their classes and let them get out and enjoy the change of season and get a break in between winter and end of school. It is also one of the most popular times to travel, for families, as well as college students who want to get away and have a little fun with their buddies. Some of the most popular travel spots during the spring break holiday are the warmer, more tropical areas of the country, like Florida, especially for students living up north who are anxious to get a break from the snow. Hotels, car rentals, air fares, and even gas prices are known to take a jump during spring break because they know they are going to be needed resources for all the spring breakers looking to get out of town for a few days and enjoy a little sunshine.

Summer – Memorial Day, Labor Day, and Fourth of July

This is probably a no brainer. Summer months are high travel months due to optimal weather conditions for hitting the roads, the skies and the sea. Travel booms in the summer. It’s when families take most of their family vacations to the beaches, cruises hit their highest numbers in passenger loads, and airlines have their busiest flight schedules. Everyone wants to get out and get mobile during the warm, clear summer months. The weather is ideal for just about any type of trip, whether planned or unexpected and people take advantage of it. Although all months in the summer are popular for travel, there are a few times during these months that are even more popular and will cause a bump-up in travel expenses. Memorial Day, Labor Day, and Fourth of July. Memorial Day and Labor Day give you a three day weekend, making it easier for people with busy jobs, to get away for a long weekend to see family and friends, and celebrate two important days for our country. Over the Fourth of July you can expect to really see an increase in hotel rates and gas prices, even airfares. If you want to get better rates for these travel dates, it’s always best to try to lock in rates on airfares, cruises or hotel rates as soon as you know you’re going to be traveling out of town during those dates. As far as gas prices for road trips, there’s not a whole lot you can do about that. Unfortunately you will be stuck paying whatever the gas prices are at the time.

Fridays in the summer for flying home to your family

Fridays during the summer are always a bit more expensive for airfare. Airlines know that Fridays are one of the most popular travel dates for both business travelers and vacationers who are just taking a weekend trip. It’s the start of the weekend and out-of-town business meetings are usually over at the end of the week and employees are heading home. The average person who just wants a weekend away to visit friends or family, are also big Friday flyers during the summer, which is why airlines will bump up their fares on Fridays, all through the summer. If you know you’re traveling on a Friday during the summer, the sooner you book your flight, the better the deal you can get. Otherwise, last minute tickets will surely cost you more, and sometimes it can be quite a bit more.

Christmas and New Year’s

Although wintertime travel is slowed quite a bit for most of the winter months, of course the two times in the winter where you’ll see higher prices for traveling, from hotels, to airfare, gas prices, even car rentals, is over Christmas and New Year’s. Families get together for the holidays, and that means traveling to get together for some of the family. Plan ahead and lock in rates as soon as you know your dates, and you might be able to save quite a bit of money. Wait till the last minute, and you will be stuck paying the holiday rush prices.

Thanksgiving Wednesday before and Sunday after, most expensive day of the year to fly

It has been said for many years, that Thanksgiving is the heaviest traveled holiday during the year. It’s the most popular family get together holiday, everyone celebrating family and loved ones. People will travel great distances over Thanksgiving to be with their loved ones, and this means that traveling in any form, is going to cost you more than any other time of year to travel. Airfare prices soar on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, when most people travel to get to their destination, and on the Sunday after, the day people travel home after the holiday. Gas prices are typically higher, all around the country, and hotels and car rentals are going to be above normal rates, especially in highly populated travel destinations. Book tickets and accommodations as early as possible to help ensure you get the best rates you can.

Anyone in the travel industry will tell you that knowing and planning ahead for traveling is one of the best ways to help keep travel costs down. It’s not always possible to know and plan ahead, of course, but as soon as you do, is the time to make your reservations for your travel needs. Waiting till the very last minute at anytime, will cost you more in travel expenses, but you can most certainly count on higher costs if you wait to make arrangements during the highest travel times of the year.