NORWALK, Conn., Nov. 17, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Here's an extra $15 to put back in your pocket for the holidays. Priceline.com today reported that, in the last 30 days, the average airfare for Christmas-time travel has dropped from $444 to $429. Meanwhile, the average Thanksgiving airfare has risen slightly from $383 to $387. Priceline calculated the average airfares for both holidays based on published price airline tickets booked by its customers.
"These recent fare trends should be good news for procrastinating travelers who have yet to book their holiday airline tickets," said Priceline Senior Travel Analyst Brian Ek. "Holiday fares are still higher than in many previous years, but travelers who are choosy in picking less-popular travel days when fares are cheaper can still find affordable airfares. Each year, Priceline publishes a holiday Best Days To Fly calendar that shows all of the most-affordable travel days and fares."
To see this year's Priceline Best Days To Fly For The Holidays calendar, visit http://travela.priceline.com/promo/deals/winter_holidays/flights.html.
According to the calendar, the best days to fly over the Thanksgiving holiday are November 20, 21, 23, 24, 25 (Thanksgiving Day), 27 and 30.
The best days to fly over the Christmas holiday are December 18, 20, 22, 25 (Christmas Day) 28, 29 and New Year's Day.
Ek also had some additional tips to help find cheaper airfare and keep those travel costs down after the airfare is booked.
-- Pick times of the day that are normally less busy. Time of day is important. Travelers will find the most affordable seats departing early in the morning (5-7 a.m.) or late evening (after 8 p.m.). Mid-day (11 a.m. - 4 p.m.) is a bit more expensive, but still reasonable. Most expensive are the peak business travel hours (8-10 a.m. and 5-7 p.m.). -- Try priceline.com's Name Your Own Price® airline tickets service. You can save even more on your airline tickets by using priceline.com's Name Your Own Price® ticketing service. Visit http://www.priceline.com/flights and click on the link to use the service. For help in deciding when to fly or how to bid for maximum savings, check out priceline.com's Inside Track http://www.priceline.com/insidetrack. -- Send those presents on ahead. You see presents; the airlines see extra baggage and maybe some extra fees. Not to mention how unhappy the security screeners will be to see those wrapped boxes. Save yourself the hassle by mailing or shipping presents in advance (after you've wrapped them, of course). -- Weigh and measure your baggage. Check your airline's maximum requirements for checked and carry-on bags to make sure you won't incur extra fees. Fees can be up to $25 for the first bag and $35 for the second. Note: baggage fees are charged separately for your outbound and return flights. About The Priceline Group of Companies
The Priceline Group of Companies is a leader in global online hotel reservations, with approximately 61 million room nights booked in 2009. The Group is composed of four primary brands - Booking.com, priceline.com, Agoda.com and TravelJigsaw. The Priceline Group provides online travel services in 38 languages in 100 countries in Europe, North America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
Based in Amsterdam, Booking.com is a leading international online hotel reservation service operating in 92 countries in 38 languages. Booking.com offers its customers access to over 105,000 participating hotels worldwide.
In the U.S., priceline.com gives leisure travelers multiple ways to save on their airline tickets, hotel rooms, rental cars, vacation packages and cruises. In addition to getting compelling published prices, travelers can take advantage of priceline.com's famous Name Your Own Price® service, which can deliver the lowest prices available. Priceline.com also operates the following travel websites: Travelweb.com, Lowestfare.com, RentalCars.com and BreezeNet.com.
Singapore-based Agoda.com is an Asian online hotel reservation service that offers hotel rooms around the world and is available in 32 languages. With headquarters in Manchester, UK, TravelJigsaw is a multinational car hire service, offering its reservation services in more than 4,000 locations in 80 countries. Customer support is provided in 20 languages.
Priceline.com
CONTACT: Press Information, Brian Ek, +1-203-299-8167,
brian.ek@priceline.com, or Investor Relations, Matthew Tynan, +1-203-299-8487,
matt.tynan@priceline.com
Web Site: http://www.priceline.com/