Best Times to Fly Around Christmas

Most weeks of the year, Fridays are the busiest days to fly, checkpoint data from the Transportation Security Administration shows. And just ahead of Christmas 2023, travelers may face one of the busiest Fridays yet: Friday, Dec. 22.

NerdWallet analyzed the past four years of travel data from the TSA to better understand what travel patterns might look like this December, why the Friday before Christmas will be brutal and to uncover the best days to fly around Christmas.

Yes, Christmas Day is the best day to fly out of all the days in the weeks before and after the holiday — assuming you don’t mind spending part of your holiday in the air.

While airport crowds dramatically increase in the days before and after Christmas, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day crowds are light. Last year, 23.4% more people flew on the day after Christmas compared to the number of people who flew on Christmas Day, which fell on a Sunday.

Not only does flying on the holiday mean fewer crowds, it’s also likely to entail lower prices. Flights departing on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day average 26% lower than peak prices during the Christmas season, according to the 2023 Holiday Travel Outlook from travel booking site Hopper. For a one-way, domestic airfare, the savings amounts to about $114 per ticket, according to Hopper.

If you do travel on Christmas Day, book the first flight out to reduce your risk of delays. In the first half of 2023, 7.8% of flights were delayed because an aircraft arrived late, according to Bureau of Transportation Statistics data. By taking that first flight out, you remove the chance of a previous flight delay snowballing into your flight being delayed, too.

Here were the busiest travel days at U.S. airports in the seven days before Dec. 25 for the past four years:

In 2022, the busiest air travel day leading up to Christmas was Wednesday, Dec. 21. On that day, 2.4 million people passed through TSA security checkpoints, marking the single busiest day in the 7 days ahead of Christmas. The following day, Thursday, Dec. 22, was also busy with 2.3 million air travelers.

This year, though, it’s the Friday before Christmas that could very likely be the worst day to fly in the week ahead of the holiday. In fact, Friday, Dec. 22 is one of the top three busiest days for flights booked in either December 2023 or January 2024, according to air booking data provided to NerdWallet by Chase Travel.

Here are a couple of reasons why Friday, Dec. 22 is set to be so busy:

Friday is a busy travel day, period

For starters, Fridays always trend busy at airports, no matter the season. It’s the same day many business travelers head home while vacationers jet off for the weekend.

In the first eight months of 2022, the average number of travelers at U.S. airports was 20% higher on Fridays than on Tuesdays (the least busy day for air travel, on average).

Friday will be expensive

Fares will be highest for departures on the Friday before Christmas, as travelers look to make a long weekend out of the holiday, according to the 2023 Holiday Travel Outlook from travel booking site Hopper.

When averaged over the past four years, Dec. 27 has historically been the busiest day to fly in the seven days after Christmas. Dec. 30 has also historically been busy, as some travelers fly home from Christmas festivities while others head out for a New Year’s celebration. According to Chase Travel data, Saturday, Dec. 30 joins Friday, Dec. 22 on the podium of busiest travel days across December 2023 and January 2024 (the other day is Saturday, Dec. 23).

As far as most expensive? This year, Tuesday, Dec. 26 is the most expensive day to return in the week after Christmas, according to Hopper.

During the week of Christmas, the standard rules around the best (and worst) days to fly don’t necessarily apply, and shifting your itinerary by just a couple of days can drastically change the price you pay for holiday travel.

If you work a standard Monday-Friday work week, then jetting off after work on Friday, Dec. 22, might make the most sense. That’s the schedule most people are likely to follow, and if you join in, you’ll pay — both in terms of airport crowds and in literal price.

But if you can be a bit flexible, avoid the Friday departure and try:

Flying earlier in the week: Crowds ease up the farther away from Christmas you get, so — if you can work remotely or afford to take days off — do it. While crowds will likely be high in the days ahead of Christmas, they’ll likely be lighter on the Monday and Tuesday before.

Traveling on Christmas Eve: If it’s important that you’re at your destination by Christmas morning, then leaving on Christmas Eve is your best move. While crowds are heavier than Christmas Day, Christmas Eve is typically the least-crowded day of the seven days ahead of the holiday.

Skipping holiday travel completely: Consider shifting your celebration by a couple of days or weeks. January and February tend to be the cheapest months to fly, so you might want to wait to visit family and friends until then.

Regardless of which day you decide to fly, using a credit card that earns extra rewards can be a smart money move. Here's a selection of cards that offer flight booking perks: