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Spending Christmas in an airport might feel like the kind of gift someone on the naughty list might receive. After all, the week around Christmas makes for one of the busiest times to fly.
And airports continue to get busier each year. Summer 2025 already broke travel records, so it's likely that the days around Christmas will also be busier this year than they were last year.
If you must fly for the holidays, some days are less crowded than others. Christmas Day is historically the least crowded travel day during the holiday week, and there are some other days that tend to be especially good for travel, too.
Analysis of the past four years of TSA travel data reveals what travel might look like this December 2025. Lower demand generally correlates to lower prices, so the best days to fly around Christmas are usually the ones with fewer crowds.
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Two best strategies for Christmas travel
There are two strategies for saving money and avoiding crowds on holiday flights around Christmas: either traveling on a holiday or departing earlier for Christmas and returning later.
Best for avoiding crowds: Traveling on the holiday
When looking at the average number of travelers in TSA data from 2021 to 2024, within the seven days before and after Christmas day, holidays stood out as the least-crowded days for flying.
The least-crowded dates on or before Christmas are:
- Dec. 25 (Christmas Day): Consistently the quietest travel day.
- Dec. 24 (Christmas Eve): Second-quietest option.
Next-best option: Departing earlier and returning later
The best way to avoid crowds at the airport during Christmas is to fly on a holiday. But if that's not an option, extending your trip by leaving earlier and returning later could be your best bet.
Based on four years of data, these are the least crowded days to fly in the seven days prior and seven days following Christmas:
Least-crowded dates for traveling around Christmas are:
- Dec. 18 (Thursday before Christmas).
- Jan. 1 (New Year’s Day).
- Dec. 31 (New Year’s Eve).
Another factor to consider: Christmas falls on a Thursday in 2025. Based on historical patterns, this timing may create particularly heavy weekend travel on the Saturday and Sunday before Christmas (Dec. 21-22) and the weekend after (Dec. 27-28).
Is Christmas Day a good day to fly?
Assuming you don't mind spending part of your holiday in the air, Christmas Day or Christmas Eve are the best days to fly during the last two weeks of the year.
While airport crowds dramatically increase in the days before and after the holiday, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day crowds remain light. Historical data shows that significantly more people fly on the day after Christmas compared to Christmas Day itself.
As far as the return flight, you'll likely also save by flying as far from Christmas Day as possible. The least busy days to fly post-Christmas are typically other holidays: New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.
The most crowded days to fly around Christmas
Based on four years of TSA data, the absolute busiest travel days around Christmas follow a predictable pattern, regardless of what day of the week Christmas falls on.
Avoid these peak travel days in 2025:
- Friday, Dec. 19: The Friday before Christmas often ranks as one of the top three busiest travel days.
- Saturday, Dec. 20: The weekend before Christmas is typically brutal for travel, as people try to reach their destinations for the week ahead.
- Sunday, Dec. 21: This date marks the continuation of the weekend crush, plus people returning from weekend travel.
- Friday, Dec. 26: The post-Christmas return travel begins.
- Sunday, Dec. 28: Travelers return from long weekends.
The Friday before Christmas is consistently the worst day to fly, with 2.8 million people passing through TSA security checkpoints on that day last year.
There won't be much relief right after Christmas either. The post-Christmas period through Sunday, Dec. 28 typically stays extremely busy as people return home after Christmas and prepare for New Year's celebrations.
Cards that earn rewards when booking flights
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Annual fee: $95.
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Where travelers are heading this Christmas
Christmas 2025 is going global, with international destinations dominating traveler wish lists. According to data provided by Expedia to NerdWallet, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, leads international Christmas destinations with a massive 95% increase in user interest compared to last year.
Other trending international destinations include Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and Punta Cana, Dominican Republic (both +35%), offering Caribbean warmth during peak winter. Lagos, Portugal (+35%) attracts travelers seeking European charm with milder weather, while Montego Bay, Jamaica (+30%) provides another tropical escape option.
For domestic travel, warm-weather destinations dominate the trending list. Kahului, Hawaii, sees a 35% increase as families escape winter chill for Pacific paradise. Fort Lauderdale, Florida (+30%), San Antonio, Texas (+30%) and Honolulu, Hawaii (+20%) round out the top domestic choices.
These percentage increases represent year-over-year changes in traveler searches and bookings through Expedia's platform, showing how holiday travel preferences are shifting toward beach destinations and warm-weather escapes as travelers combine Christmas celebrations with vacation time.
Go where supply is high
But don't just look at surging demand. To score the best deals, look at the destinations that are seeing a surge in supply. Aviation data analytics company Cirium looked at international destinations that have seen the biggest growth in seat capacity (meaning there are more or bigger flights headed from the U.S. to those destinations). The places with the biggest increase in seat availability between December 2024 and December 2025 are:
- Philippines (67.8% increase).
- Ireland (65.3% increase).
- Italy (18.8% increase).
- Honduras (14.9% increase).
- Australia (13.3% increase).
- Aruba (12.6% increase).
For the U.S. domestic market, Florida shows continued growth in seat capacity, with 4.4% growth for December 2025 compared to December 2024. That's good news if you're looking to score a deal on a Disney trip or want to visit the new Universal Epic Universe.
Tips for booking better Christmas travel
During the week of Christmas, the standard rules around the best (and worst) days to fly don’t necessarily apply. You might not have a choice around where to travel for Christmas, but you likely have at least some flexibility around travel dates.
Often, shifting your itinerary by just a couple of days can drastically change the price you pay for holiday travel. If you can be a bit flexible, avoid the worst of the surge and try:
Flying the previous 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 the week before.
Traveling on Christmas or Christmas Eve: For the smoothest Christmas 2025 travel experience, fly on Christmas Day. If it’s important that you’re at your destination by Christmas morning, then leaving on Christmas Eve is your best move.
Booking morning flights: Flights departing before 3 p.m. have the lowest rate of cancellations. Expedia's 2025 Air Travel Hacks Report finds morning flights are 57% less prone to cancellations than flights after 9 p.m.
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.
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