Flight prices for weekend following Thanksgiving

I have booked a cruise for Nov. 30,2014 the weekend folowing Thanksgiving Our route would be Indianaolis/Orland round trip. Have I made a mistake booking this time of year? Or will booking as early as possible help regarding pricing for flights? Could anyne share what they experienced this year? Do prices near holidays go up the closer it gets or do they start out high? Thanks so much!

Sunday will be one of the peak travel days of the year . So, I would suggest looking very hard in the weeks after the fares are released. Demand will grow the closer one gets to November.

Booking early for that time won't matter - it'll be in high demand from day one.

Booking early for that time won't matter - it'll be in high demand from day one.

Which means....any "cheap prices" you see for other times of the year won't be offered then. No need for the airline to fire sale seats. And waiting for those "bargains"....well, you could call them "Godot fares".

I realize that past success is no guarantee of the future, but this year I ended up having to fly LAX-JFK on the Friday after Thanksgiving, returning the following Tuesday. I got one of the best prices of the year - it turns out that Friday is a very slow travel day - when I went through security in the priority/TSA area, I was the only person there:D. Prices on Thanksgiving Day were also quite favorable, but I didn't want to abandon DH for the holiday. And, once the Thanksgiving crush subsides on the Monday after, the first week of December is traditionally a slow travel time.

 

If you can fly out one of those days for your Sunday cruise, you may be pleasantly surprised. Or not. Just monitor prices when they come out, see if your airline tends to have sales and book when the price looks reasonable to you. If it never does, then as long as you are outside of final payment you either cancel or rebook your cruise.

 

Good luck!

Watch for openings online for this route. SW opens routes later than Legacy lines. Usually cheapest when tickets first available.