Wheels up: Trends and tips for 2026 holiday travel

Planning holiday travel can feel like a race against the clock - and your wallet. Fortunately, our travel tools in Search and Google Flights can take the stress out of finding a great deal and building your itinerary. Just remember that timing can make a big difference: Our best recommendation is to book your holiday flights ASAP. October is when Thanksgiving flights tend to be cheapest, and this year, the sweet spot for low Christmas fares has shifted even earlier.

Ready for the full breakdown? Here's our latest analysis on the best times to book flights this holiday season (and beyond), alongside a fresh look at this year's top trending destinations.

Get the latest insights on booking cheap flights

When you're booking a flight, you're often faced with the dilemma: Should you buy today, or wait to see if fares drop next week?

When your dates are already set, booking early is the safest bet to protect your itinerary. But if your top priority is scoring the lowest possible price, you can use historical booking trends in a couple ways.

If you already know your exact destination and dates of travel, you can head to Google Flights or AI Mode in Search to get insights on the "cheapest time to book." This way, you can see how the current prices compare to prior years and whether they're likely to go up or down before the departure date.

Or if you're flexible on dates and want general advice, we're sharing an updated analysis on the best time to book flights, based on five years of aggregated data from Google Flights. Here's a look at how far in advance U.S. departures typically hit their lowest average prices across several common travel scenarios:

• Domestic flights: Lowest prices hit 39 days before departure (low price range is 22-57 days). The window is slightly wider this year compared to 2025, but the sweet spot remains 39 days out.
• International flights: Lowest prices hit 89 days before departure, but the average price drop during the low range (50-133 days out) is insignificant. For trips abroad, you should try to book as soon as you can!
• Thanksgiving: Lowest prices hit 34 days before departure (low price range is 21-57 days). This means that the cheapest options tend to emerge in October.
• Christmas: Lowest prices hit 56 days before departure (low price range is 33-67 days). This is five days earlier than last year, with the best deals falling between late October and mid-November.
• Spring break: Lowest prices hit 50 days before departure (low price range is 29-64 days) for trips in March or April - a full week earlier than last year.
• Summer vacation: Lowest prices hit 21 days before departure (low price range is 20-47 days) for trips in July or August.
• Trips to Europe: Like general international travel, lowest prices hit 90 days out, but waiting rarely pays off. The low price range is 49 days or more before departure.
• Trips to Mexico or the Caribbean: Lowest prices hit 43 days before departure (low price range is 24-69 days). Unlike Europe, the sweet spot lands much closer to your departure date.

Looking for more ways to save? You can forget the myth about buying on a specific day of the week. While Wednesday actually beat out Tuesday as the absolute cheapest day to book in our latest analysis, the difference is negligible - buying on a Wednesday only saves you about 1.4% compared to Sunday, the most expensive day.

Instead, focus on when you fly: departing on Monday and returning on Tuesday or Wednesday saves about 14% over weekend flights (and up to 20% domestically versus departing and returning on Sunday). Finally, skipping the nonstop route in favor of a connecting flight can help you pocket significant savings, as nonstop tickets are 20% more expensive on average.

Discover trending holiday destinations

While perennial favorites like New York and Orlando always draw crowds, our trending destinations highlight the places seeing the largest relative increase in Google Flights searches, compared to 2025. For Thanksgiving domestic travel, this year's hotspots suggest a growing interest in tropical retreats and mid-sized regional hubs.