When to Book and When to Fly This Holiday Season

Planning holiday travel is about as fun as paying your taxes or getting a root canal, am I right?

The hassle of ridiculously high holiday ticket prices, or limited flight options thanks to already sold-out flights and restrictions on when one can actually use reward miles (if that's how you choose to fly) can dampen the mood of the most upbeat travelers.

Luckily, like they always do, the experts at Hipmunk have you covered.

The Hipmunk team has analyzed its holiday flight data to find the best time to book for maximum savings. In addition, they've also detailed every possible date combination so you can make the smartest holiday travel plans. (Hint: the Sunday Scaries applies to holiday travel).

So, get out your pen and paper to take notes. Here's a closer look at what Hipmunk's latest data reveals.

When to Buy

With domestic flight capacity for the holiday season up in the air, so to speak, it's best to book your flights early.

Booking airfare the first week of September saves an average of 12 percent on Thanksgiving flights and 19 percent on Christmastime flights. The median ticket price for a Thanksgiving flight booked September 2 is $417. For Christmas flights booked by September 2, the median price is $389.

But don't freak out if you miss the early September date, says Hipmunk. All is not lost.

Historically, Thanksgiving flight prices peak mid-October and then dip down again towards Halloween and the beginning of November, then rise sharply in the two weeks prior to the holiday. Got all that?

Similarly, Christmastime booking prices see a drop in the two-week window before the holiday, then increasing sharply the week of.

When to Fly: Thanksgiving

You can avoid crowds and save $176 by departing on Thanksgiving Day and returning on Friday. Departing on Thanksgiving Day saves 12 percent when compared to Wednesday, the most-booked departure date.

But no matter when you depart, returning on Sunday has the biggest impact on flight price-increasing median flight booking prices 32 percent.

To help you make the smartest holiday travel decisions, Hipmunk identified the median domestic prices and booking share for each possible Thanksgiving flight itinerary permutation, ranked from least to most expensive. The full breakdown of their data can be found here.

Here are some other key factoids to keep in mind surrounding Thanksgiving travel.

When it comes to the busiest times to travel Hipmunk found that the Wednesday of Thanksgiving week is the busiest day, accounting for 45 percent of holiday travel bookings, followed by the Tuesday of Thanksgiving week at 29 percent. Rounding out the top four busiest days is Monday at 12 percent of the share of bookings and Thursday at 14 percent.

As for return days, avoid Sunday of Thanksgiving week like the plague, a day that accounts for 57 percent of the share of bookings. The next busiest day is Saturday at 31 percent, followed by Friday at 12 percent.

When to Fly: Christmastime

The number of possible departures and arrival dates increases with Christmas falling on a Wednesday this year, but similar to Thanksgiving, the least expensive flight itinerary is departing on Christmas Day and returning the day after. Not exactly a lot of time to spend with family if you choose this approach, but if saving money is your number one goal, this is the information to keep in mind.

"While it may not be the most convenient of possible itineraries, it does save about $300," says Hipmunk. "Enough to buy yourself a New Year's flight when compared to the most expensive itinerary, leaving the Saturday before and returning the Sunday after."

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