<p>I am thinking that it makes sense to buy airline tickets for Thanksgiving for my freshman son who will be traveling from the midwest to boston now to get the best fares and flights. My question is, his college calendar says break starts after classes on Tuesday, the 24th, but should I fly him home earlier to give him a buffer? We can’t wait for classes to start so that he can ask his professors because by then fares will be high again… Any advice?</p>
<p>The hardest part of the Thanksgiving flights is not the trip home, but the return on Sunday, they book up very fast. We’ve always brought the kids home on Tuesday night without too much trouble. If you’re able to use Southwest, last year they opened their holiday season flights the last week in June. The great thing about SW is that you can change the flight if his schedule warrants without $ penalty.</p>
<p>I LUV Southwest for the very same reason. It is like buying a Gift pass valid for one year.</p>
<p>I always booked my kids’ flights for Tues evening, but that was once I knew their class schedules. I never assumed it would be ok to skip a class. Mostly that turned out to be a good decision. Because even if my D or S had a profesor who cancelled class on Tues, it just gave them a little extra time to get packed and organized. Typically during that time of year, things are fairly hectic. There was at least once when I actually didn’t book my kid a flight until Wed because S had a class that met once a week on Tues evening. </p>
<p>With D now in graduate school, I never book her flights until the next day after class has ended. She prefers this as her schedule is intense and it gives her time to find her clothes that have been scattered about her room, clean her kitchen, etc after the very busy weeks leading to the “vacation”.</p>
<p>I also agree about Southwest airlines! If it flew to our city, I’d always use them, even if a little higher in price. The ability to change flights without penalty is HUGE and worth alot to me.</p>
<p>You are correct to book now. Mostly the flights will go up, but what I found, in addition to the often higher prices, is that many of the flight times that worked best weren’t available the longer you wait to book. Thanksgiving is always the toughest holiday to book.</p>
<p>Definately book now for Thanksiving (one of the busiest and most expensive travel times), as well as for the winter holiday break. Often airlines only allot a few seats at the least expensive rate, they fill rapidly, and the rate changes by the day, even the hour and escalates to an unreasonable fee quite quickly!!!</p>
<p>I already booked D’s flight for Thanksgiving in May, just like I did last year. There weren’t many seats available for the return flight according to the seat locator (I went with the non-stop flights beause the break is so short). I would not book winter travel just yet, but I would definitely look into Thanksgiving tickets - the price of those only goes up, in my experience.</p>
<p>I’ve already booked D’s Sunday return flight–paid $100 to avoid a $300+ cost later.</p>
<p>Flight home on Tues/Wed will be booked later–those have been more reasonable in the past.</p>
<p>Southwest has opened up booking thru January 8…</p>
<p>The hardest part about trying to get the Tues/Wed tickets is that you can’t assume it will be okay to skip class. I think I’ve always had a test or two the week before Thanksgiving…</p>