Yes, the after-Christmas sales are in full swing. With particularly good deals on candy, cards, and decorations. But no, this post is not a joke. Travelers planning a vacation for next year’s Christmas break, especially the week between Christmas and New Year, should consider making plans soon, because this year is going to be especially tough.
Here’s the 2010 calendar wrinkle. December 25, 2010 is on a Saturday.
While some people take the last two weeks of the year off, more or less, the most popular vacation week, especially for warm weather destinations like Hawaii, Mexico or the Caribbean, is the week after Christmas. The same is also true for many ski destinations. Many families like to celebrate Christmas at home, and then leave the next day or perhaps the next weekend after, depending on their work schedules, and return the first weekend of the New Year.
Most years, this at least spreads the crush out, and even this year, with Christmas on a Friday, travelers could leave on the 26th or 27th and still get a week away without using up any more work/school days.
But with a Saturday holiday, families locked into school schedules and anyone whose job requires them to be back the Monday after the New York are ALL looking at the same Sunday departure. And for that matter, probably the January 2 return, though some may return on Saturday, January 1. This means flights will sell out in record time.
Today, flights for December 26, 2010 can’t even be booked yet. Airlines open their schedules 331 days in advance. This means, for anyone who wants to fly that day, and can’t afford to charter a plane, the outbound should be bookable in late January. The return thus would be bookable the first week in February. In some cases, airlines and tour operators will let travelers and agents hold space until the return is available.
For travelers going to less traditional vacation spots, flights may not sell out as quickly, but the weekend holiday means that December 26 is also likely to be a very popular return date for anyone visiting friends and relatives.
Those who aren’t quite positive of their planes can still hedge their bets. Many tour operators will let you put down a deposit which would be refundable less insurance. These policies vary by company, so check the fine print carefully. Booking direct with an airline usually means either very high unrestricted airfares, or nonrefundable tickets. But most nonrefundable tickets are reusable for a $150 penalty plus any fare difference. Again, check the fine print carefully.
Finally, for those who can’t think about next Christmas before they’ve taken the tree down, as in most years, there will probably always be some relatively last-minute space. Just prepare to be especially flexible, and/or to pay a lot of money.
photo of royal hawaiian shopping center/tata aka T/flickr.com/creative commons.
Janice Hough is a California-based travel agent a travel blogger and a part-time comedy writer. A frequent flier herself, she’s been doing battle with airlines, hotels, and other travel companies for over three decades. Besides writing for Travelers United, Janice has a humor blog at Leftcoastsportsbabe.com (Warning, the political and sports humor therein does not represent the views of anyone but herself.)
