The holidays will be here before you know it, and if you haven't made arrangements to fly home for Grandma's pumpkin pie, do so as soon as possible.
Airfare experts say you have until the end of the month - Saturday - to book Thanksgiving flights to lock in a favorable price and get a seat on the flight you want.
"You have another 10 to 15 days in November to make Christmas and New Year's purchases before things get really crazy," says Rick Seaney, chief executive of FareCompare.com.
The holidays are usually busy, and it's typically a smart move to buy tickets early, before demand pushes up prices.
Last year was a rare exception. Oil prices shot up in the summer and sent airfares skyward. By the time the holidays rolled around, oil prices had retreated but many consumers decided against flying because of the weak economy. Airlines slashed fares and procrastinators who bought tickets late in the game were the big winners.
Don't count on that happening again. Airlines this year have reduced the number of available seats by flying fewer or smaller planes to avoid having to cut fares again. Demand, which hit bottom in late May and early June, has perceptibly picked up since then, Seaney says. And holiday fares have been moving up in recent weeks.
Still, depending on destination, you can find prices lower than a year ago. Your best bet for low fares is to be flexible on when you travel. And beware of fees that can substantially raise costs.
As of last week, Thanksgiving round-trip fares nationally averaged $341, down 1 percent from a year earlier, according to Bing Travel, Microsoft's travel search site. The average Christmas fare was $358 last week, down 9 percent from last year.
Airfares from Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport were mixed, though. Thanksgiving round-trip fares averaged $357 last week, up 4 percent over last year, Bing Travel reported. Christmas fares averaged $346, an 11 percent drop from a year earlier.
Donna Beth Joy Shapiro of Baltimore has seen firsthand the uptick in prices, while traveling in recent months to Burlington, Vt., to attend classes at the Vermont Institute for Artisan Cheese.
Her round-trip fare in late August was about $160 with taxes, she says. A month later, the fare was a little under $200. About a week ago, she booked the November flights and the cost had climbed to $320, more than half of that for the return flight on the Saturday before Thanksgiving.
Shapiro needs to be in California for an apprenticeship around New Year's, but has hesitated to check out fares.
"I'm terrified," she says. "I don't even know if I can afford it."
Fare experts say there's no need to panic.
The cheapest fares for Thanksgiving are likely gone by now, says Joel Grus, Bing Travel's fare expert. But you can still find good deals for the December holidays and New Year's, he says.
The key is to start shopping now for tickets.
"If you see a fare that seems reasonable today and you can afford it, you might as well grab it," says George Hobica, founder of Airfarewatchdog.com. "If the fare is really outrageous, ... just take a deep breath and have a cup of coffee. Come back in a couple of hours."
Indeed, airfares for the same flight can go up and down within days, and sometimes within hours.
Airlines typically offer a same-day fare guarantee to give a little protection against falling prices the same day that you buy your ticket. Rules vary by airline, but often if you purchase a ticket and then hours later the price for that flight drops at least $5 or $10, the airline will refund the difference if you request it that same day. In addition, some give a voucher for $50 or $100 off a future flight.
But if more time passes, most major airlines will charge a $150 fee to refund a ticket. Southwest Airlines, JetBlue Airways and Alaska Airlines don't charge a fee for refunds, Seaney says. The refund, though, comes in the form of a voucher that must be used within a certain time period, he says.
FareCompare and Bing Travel provide e-mail alerts to let you know when prices fall.
Bing Travel also features a farecast to predict the likelihood that a fare will go up or down, to help you decide when to buy. The site claims its predictions are nearly 75 percent accurate.
And FareCompare offers Baltimore area travelers updates on the best deals from BWI at twitter.com/flyfrombwi.
Better holiday fares are available if you can be flexible with travel days.
Thanksgiving travelers, for instance, usually want to fly the Wednesday before the holiday and return the Sunday after. You'll pay more - at least $100 to $200 each way - if you fly on peak travel days, Seaney says. That includes a new $10 surcharge if you fly on specific dates - Nov. 29 and 30; Dec. 19, 26 and 27; and Jan. 2 and 3.
"The airlines are telling you which days to avoid," Seaney says. But it's always wise to avoid traveling Fridays and Sundays any time of the year, he adds.
