by Mia Taylor
Last updated: 4:40 PM ET, Wed September 17, 2025
For those who may not have been paying keen attention to the calendar: Yesterday marked exactly 100 days until Christmas.
In addition to getting your holiday gift shopping underway, it’s also time to start thinking about any holiday travel plans you may have and securing reservations.
To help with that process, we’ve poured over Expedia's just-released Holiday Travel Outlook report to mine the key take-aways. Read on for your essential guide to holiday booking (and saving).
When to book?
First and foremost, Expedia says there’s no time like the present when it comes to the "prime window" for travelers to lock in their travel plans and save.
Those who book at least two months out for Thanksgiving and one month for Christmas have the potential to save as much as $140 on international flights and $70 on domestic flights, according to the Expedia report.
“Timing is everything,” adds Melanie Fish, head of public relations for Expedia Group brands
Moreover, if traveling for Thanksgiving is on your radar, you’ll want to make note of the following key dates.
- For international flights, book by September 27 to save up to $70.
- For domestic flights, book by October 27 to save up to $60.
- The cheapest day to depart is Monday, November 24, while the cheapest day to return is Sunday, November 30.
Turning our attention to Christmas travel, Expedia recommends the following in order to achieve maximum savings when purchasing tickets:
- For international flights, book by November 25 to save up to $140.
- For domestic flights, book by October 25 to save up to $60.
When to fly?
Another critical consideration when it comes to holiday ticket prices (not to mention the dreaded holiday crowds), is when exactly to fly. Here too, Expedia has some travel industry insider knowledge to offer.
- Busiest and most expensive days to fly for Thanksgiving: To avoid crowds and pricier fares, don't fly for the Thanksgiving holiday on Wednesday, November 26 or Friday, November 28. Instead (if possible), aim to fly on Monday, November 24 and return on Sunday, November 30.
- Busiest and most expensive days to fly for Christmas: No matter what, do
not fly on Saturday, December 20 or Friday, December 26, if your goal
is avoiding crowds and pricier fares, says Expedia. Alternatively, you can score the best
airfare deals by departing on Christmas Eve, Wednesday, December 24 and
returning on New Years Eve, Wednesday, December 31.
Trending holiday destinations
It seems not everyone is headed home for the holidays this year. Where exactly is everyone going, you ask? The answer is it depends...on the holiday in question.
International destinations are dominating the trending locales for both Thanksgiving and Christmas, but the list of locations varies for the two events.
For Thanksgiving, trending locales include: San
Juan (+40%), Osaka (+40%), Pittsburgh (+35%), Rome (+25%), and Panama
City, Panama (+20%).
As for Christmas, here too, travelers are looking further afield with Rio
de Janeiro leading the crop of trending destinations (+95%). Also
trending are: Kahului (+35%), Santo Domingo, DR (+35%), and Fort
Lauderdale (+30%).
“This holiday season, Thanksgiving is
trending tropical with Puerto Rico topping domestic getaways, while
Christmas is going global with Rio de Janeiro leading international
escapes,” said Fish.
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