Top Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's Destinations

Courtesy Chicago O'Hare International Airport FB page

I recently wrote about the days with the best deals to buy airfare for the holidays. I encourage you to check it out if you haven’t. But if you’ve already bought your tickets for travel between Thanksgiving and New Years, congratulations! You are now a small fraction of the 71% of Americans who are expected to take a trip during the last 5 weeks of the year. Which is up about 6% from last year!

But are you going to one of the top 10 destinations for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s?

Top 10 spots for Thanksgiving:
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1. Chicago, Illinois
2. Orlando, Florida
3. Los Angeles, California
4. New York, New York
5. Cancun, Mexico
6. Las Vegas, Nevada
7. Denver, Colorado
8. San Francisco, California
9. Dallas, Texas
10. Washington, D.C.

According to Orbitz, the average price of Thanksgiving airfare in 2015 is $369, down 9% from last year. Hotels, however are up 5% to an average of $181. The busiest travel day will be the day before Thanksgiving, Wednesday, November 25th. The least busy travel day is Monday, November 30th.


Top 10 places to spend Christmas:

1. Los Angeles, California
2. Orlando, Florida
3. Cancun, Mexico
4. Denver, Colorado
5. Fort Lauderdale, Florida
6. San Francisco, California
7. Chicago, Illinois
8. New York, New York
9. Miami, Florida
10. Phoenix, Arizona

It’s costing you a little more to travel over the Christmas holiday. The average price for a ticket will set you back $493, which is actually still down 4% from last year. Hotels are up 2% from 2014, which translates to $201 a day. The most hectic day at the airport for Christmas travel is going to be Wednesday, December 23rd, while Sunday, December 27th will be the least hectic.

Top 10 places to party on New Year’s:

1. Orlando, Florida
2. Cancun, Mexico
3. New York, New York
4. Los Angeles, California
5. Fort Lauderdale, Florida
6. Chicago, Illinois
7. Miami, Florida
8. Las Vegas, Nevada
9. San Francisco, California
10. Denver, Colorado

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Orbitz says a plane ride to your favorite party destination will set you back an average of $416, down 12% from 2014. Hotels are an average of $229 a day, up 17%. The busiest travel day will be Wednesday, December 29th. The least busy day is (not surprisingly) Friday, January 1st.

Bottom line

Looks like it’s going to be a busy travel season. So prepare yourself for long security lines, and hectic airports. I also recommend you read up on how you can keep from getting sick while traveling. The last thing you want to deal with is a cold or the flu during the holidays.

I hope you all a happy and safe holiday travel season.

Related:
-Your Holiday Travel Guide
-Why the TSA Pretty Much Sucks at Security
-Biggest Pet Peeves Hotel Guests Have