flying on a holiday Thanksgiving good or bad?

Hi everyone,

We are going to be flying from Orlando to Philly and then from Philly to Rome Italy this November. We will be leaving from Orlando Thanksgiving afternoon and then arriving in Rome on Friday morning. We are going to be catch a transatlantic cruise that leaves from Civitavecchia the next week.

I am hoping that we will find this a light day for flying since I would assume most business flyers won't be in the airports and most people flying to visit families for the holiday should already be there. Also the last leg of the flight from Philly to Rome may or may not be crowded but again because of the US holiday I would hope it won't be totally packed.

What I am wondering is what has been your experiences with flying on an actual holiday day. We have never done this before and I decided to see what others have experienced doing this.

By the way our flight is with US Airways and we already know we have two seats next to one another on the outside of the plane.

Thanks in advance for your comments.

Holidays are the best days to fly. I have generally found great prices flying on Thanksgiving, and Christmas and Christmas Eve, and the crowds have been sparse.

We flew from Toronto to Houston one yr on the American Thanksgiving...no crowds and the flight was not full so room to stretch!

Most people are already home for the holiday.

I hope this holds true for Easter as well. Will be flying home from my cruise on Easter Day next year.

I hope this holds true for Easter as well. Will be flying home from my cruise on Easter Day next year.

Easter, being a Sunday and the end of the holiday, is not likely to show the same "low travel" pattern as T'giving (Thursday) and Christmas (whenever). There would probably be low demand for early morning flights, but I wouldn't count on an afternoon or evening departure to be a bargain.

Darn!!! Thanks for the heads up, though.

My parents swore they would never fly on a major holiday again because on their Christmas flight one year, they had to wait 6 hours for a pilot. It seemed a lot of them took the day off or called in sick. I assume that's an outlier, but interesting ....

I love flying on holidays. Usually very low loads and if you get a youngish flight crew (without family obligations), it is usually a VERY generous flight.

Last year, New Year's Day to London, even coach got champagne (BA). I fly this year on Xmas day (PHX/JFK) AND New Year's Eve (JFK/LON). I am looking forward to light loads and no crowding at the airports.

I hope this holds true for Easter as well. Will be flying home from my cruise on Easter Day next year.

Easter is the exception because everyone is rushing to get back from spring break.

The Sunday after Thanksgiving is a bear.

Thanksgiving day is great domestically but when you go international it is a normal work day so overseas it can be as busy as usual.

Christmas day and New Years day can be hit or miss depending on when they fall during the week.

Interesting comments. We are flying to Rome leaving from Atlanta on the Sunday after Thanksgiving and arriving on Monday. I hope everything goes well and it is not a "bear" as noted by the previous poster. Oh well such is life. Thanks for the info.

Hi everyone,

 

We are going to be flying from Orlando to Philly and then from Philly to Rome Italy this November. We will be leaving from Orlando Thanksgiving afternoon and then arriving in Rome on Friday morning. We are going to be catch a transatlantic cruise that leaves from Civitavecchia the next week.

 

I am hoping that we will find this a light day for flying.... .

We are flying ATL to Rome on Thanksgiving and arriving early AM Fri &

Going on the Same 11/29 Golden Transatlantic to New Orleans.:)

I've flown many Holidays in my younger days & the flights were always cheaper, airports Quieter, and on time;)

Holidays are a Great Time to fly if you don't have to be somewhere else!

"By the way our flight is with US Airways and we already know we have two seats next to one another on the outside of the plane."

Isn't it going to be Very COLD in the 2 seats - Outside the Plane:confused: :D