The best time to book Thanksgiving and holiday travel is coming up, plus tools and tips to save money
Check out top holiday destinations and learn about the best time to book.
As people say farewell to summer and set their sights on fall travel, with the holidays creeping up just behind it, Google has new statistics on everything from top trending destinations to flight-booking tips and tools for travelers to save money on seasonal getaways.
Use the insights below as a guide and resource when you're ready to start making travel plans.
2024 Holiday travel trends: Top destinations for Thanksgiving and Christmas
Popular Thanksgiving destinations show more domestic locations represented in the data from Google Flights, including Chicago, Phoenix, and Dallas-Fort Worth.
Between Christmas and New Year's, people are more likely to travel abroad to places like Manila, Sydney, Mexico City or Madrid.
Best time to book flights for Thanksgiving, holiday travel
With flight prices constantly in flux, it can be hard pinpoint the lowest prices. According to Google's data, it's best to book travel further in advance, especially if you need to be on a specific flight.
If your top priority is cheap airfare, look at the historical patterns by searching Google Flights for a specific destination and dates of travel. The tool will show the cheapest time to book based on that information, so travelers can decide whether it's better to book immediately or wait for prices to drop.
Based on four years of aggregated Google Flights data, the trends show that U.S. travelers who book domestic trips score the lowest prices 38 days before departure, on average. The historical low price range is 21-52 days before takeoff.
For international flights, Google data found it's better to book as early as possible with average prices at the lowest 101 days before departure and the historical low price range 50 days or more before takeoff. The average airfare prices abroad from the U.S. usually start to rise within 50 days of the flight itself.
For domestic travel during Thanksgiving, prices tend to be the lowest 45 days before departure, with a range of 26 to 59 days out. The best time to book cheap flights is early October for anyone planning to fly right before or after the turkey-centric holiday.
At Christmas, it's better to plan a bit further ahead with prices for domestic flights at the lowest 58 days prior to departure, and the low price range 36 to 72 days out. The best time to book a cheap flight around Christmas is the later part of October.
Trips to Europe from the U.S. tend to be cheapest 94 days before departure, Google found. But don't wait for prices to drop, the historical low price range is 50 days or more before takeoff, which is the same as the general advice for all international travel.
How to save money booking travel with tools on Google
"With Google, you can quickly find and compare prices for all your travel options, whether you need to book a flight or find the perfect place to stay," James Byers, group product manager of Search for Google, said in a statement.
He also shared "a few of our favorite, tried-and-true ways to save money with Google's travel tools -- right in time for your holiday travels."
Score deals browsing maps, dates with Google Flights
As most travel experts often reiterate, the more flexible your plans can be, the more opportunities there are to find savings.
Use the Explore map to browse deals globally
If you don't have a specific destination in mind, tap the Explore icon to look at a map with various flight prices based on a starting airport. From there, use filters to adjust results based on factors like budget, trip length or flight duration.
Look at the date grid and price graph
For any travelers that know where they want to go and have flexible dates, use the grid and price graph to quickly scan when prices will change depending on when you are able to fly. The date grid on Google Flights shows how prices change with any slight adjustments to the departure or return dates.
For example, departing on Thursday instead of Friday could drastically alter airfares on the price graph for a trip of any duration over several months.
Include multiple airports in your search
For major cities with multiple airports, include flight options for nearby airports by default -- like LGA, JFK and EWR for New York City. If you live between two cities like New York and Philadelphia, or you're open to different arrival cities like Rome or Milan, you can search across all these options by adding multiple cities to either your origin or destination.
Just enter your first airport in the search box, then hit the "plus" icon to add additional airports as desired. This way, Google says, you can mix and match airports to get the best deal.
Additionally, looking at historical prices, the cheapest days of the week to fly are Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday, which are typically 13% cheaper than flying on Friday, Saturday or Sunday. If you exclude international trips, the potential savings jump to 20%.
Finally, if you're willing to opt for a layover versus nonstop flight, Google says you're likely to get a better deal: On average, nonstop flights have been 25% more expensive than flights with stops, according to Google data.