If you haven’t booked your holiday travel plans yet, be aware: prices tend to increase the closer it is to the date you want to travel.
In order to afford holiday travel, about 50% of respondents are cutting back on other expenses, while 49% are taking advantage of discounts and offers. according to Please visit the 2024 holiday travel outlook released by travel website Hopper.
Some last-minute vacation travelers tend to opt for what’s known as “Travel Tuesday,” which falls on December 3 this year, the Tuesday after Cyber Monday and Black Friday.
From 2021 to 2023, the search popularity of “Travel Tuesday” increased by more than 500%. according to A recent report from McKinsey & Company.
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Hopper data shows that last year, “Travel Tuesday” had 83% more deals than “Cyber Monday” and 92% more than “Black Friday.”
However, experts say there may be some limitations to the deals available.
“The challenge a lot of people face is, ‘Do I have to wait?'” said Sally French, travel expert at NerdWallet.
For travelers who have a specific date and place in mind to visit, the answer is probably no.
Phil Dengler, co-founder of travel platform The Vacationer, said: “While airlines and online travel agencies will be offering flight deals on Travel Tuesday, there’s no reason to wait.”
Experts say how much you benefit from potential Travel Tuesday discounts will depend on your flexibility.
“If you have zero flexibility, if you see a deal ahead of Tuesday’s Travel Deals, feel free to book,” said Hopper economist Hayley Berg.
How Travel Tuesday works
On November 22, 2023, at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, the United States, people queued at the security checkpoint before the Thanksgiving holiday.
Vincent Orban | Reuters
Similar to Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales, Travel Tuesday deals sometimes start rolling out before the day, Dengler said. They may even carry over into the next day.
Still, he said, you usually need to book a flight, hotel stay or cruise before the end of the day to reap the benefits.
Dengler explains that when shopping, be sure to read the fine print in case the discount only applies to certain routes and dates.
Retailers typically have limited stock of items for Black Friday and Cyber Monday rush sales. NerdWallet’s French said the number of airplane seats or hotel rooms may be limited during travel Tuesday.
“They’re not flying two planes on the same route at the same time,” she said.
“Ready” booking
“Travel Tuesday” may be better suited for deciding when and where your upcoming vacation will be in 2025 than for a very specific trip home during the holidays.
If you’re not flexible on the dates and destinations you’re planning to travel to and find a flight that’s priced right for you, “book that trip now,” French says.
“If you wait until Travel Tuesday, the deal may be gone,” she said. “You don’t want to wait until Travel Tuesday to find out it’s sold out.”
In some cases, it doesn’t hurt to book early and keep browsing for potential price cuts, experts say.
Dengler said you typically have 24 hours from the time of booking to cancellation to get a full refund, since that’s seven days before the flight is scheduled to depart. Additionally, he said, some airlines do not charge change fees for non-basic economy fares.
If the terms work in your favor, “if you see a better deal on Travel Tuesday, just cancel your current reservation and book the Travel Tuesday deal,” Dengler said.
On the other hand, if you’re not too tied to a specific date and location, but have a general idea of where and when you want to travel, it might be worth holding off until a discount day.
“The closer we get to actual Black Friday or actual Travel Tuesday, we tend to see the deals really get better and better,” French said.
The biggest takeaway for travelers, Berg said, is to start thinking about what you might want to book.
“I really encourage travelers to do that exploration now so that during Tuesday’s travel deals, they’re ready to actually book,” she said.
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