Has anyone started looking at Thanksgiving airfare? I mean, it’s always been bad, but right now I’m looking at round trip fares that run 800-1000 pp. I have one who is a senior in college and one who is in grad school, and they both want to come home for Thanksgiving with their SO’s. Definitely can’t fly 4 people home even though I’d love to have them all here. 
Our normal fairs from Charleston to Nashville are $79-139. I got $109 each way at Xmas. Coming home at Tguving I booked a Friday b4 and Tuesday…easy to cancel. I think $109 and $139. Going back Sunday $268
Not your $$ but it’s an hour flight so relative it’s high.
With southwest they constantly change fares so I watch for drops. Originally it was $271. Not a lot but I banked $3 for the next flight. I check every few days.
They’ve got you though and know it. For future parents of students, know transport may cost more than schools estimate.
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I only needed to buy one Thanksgiving ticket - for my younger son who is a college sophomore. As soon as I knew his schedule, I booked his flights this summer in mid-June.
I got his RT nonstop flights on SWA from Cincinnati to Baltimore, coming home Wed before Thanksgiving late morning and returning to campus Sunday morning for $326. There were actually slightly cheaper flights but the timing didn’t work well. I just looked and the price for the same flights is now $100 more.
JetBlue has a fall sale, last I looked the fares look reasonable.
We watch for when Southwest opens their Thanksgiving flights and book that day.
Flights are now open through the end of February so we’ve already booked winter break.
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For anyone who is a Costco member, you can buy a $500 gift card for $449.99 - so bringing the published airfare down a bit.
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It goes back and forth, keep checking. I was looking at an airmiles flight on Delta (prices move similarly), and it went from 54K miles, to 48K, then 33K (I booked that), then it jumped up to 78K. Will it go back down, who knows?
I’m not buying next year fare yet, it usually 13.9K one way, now it’s 22.4k one way. I’m short just a 1k for 2 tickets, so I did put my insurance bill on one Thank You card to top it up.
I looked at prices, my daughter at Clemson will be staying put, fares to NJ are nuts and most students going home for the holiday are coming back on Friday (break starts Wednesday) for a big football game. My daughter at BU will hopefully find a ride?
We are still searching for colleges and I’ve warned our daughter that if she picks a school on the opposite coast she will be staying put for Thanksgivings! I told her Christmas and summer flights - that is what we are planning for barring an emergency.
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Just to add another perspective to bringing kids home for Thanksgiving. When D1 was in college in NYC she never came home (to Southern California) for Thanksgiving. The break was so short to fly her all the way across the country and her semester ended 2 1/2 weeks after Thanksgiving so at the point she would come home. D1 spent Thanksgiving with friends or at her aunt and uncle’s in Connecticut during college.
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Definitely something for college applicants to consider when applying to schools that are far away from home. It matters to some kids and not to others.
They should also be aware of how far a campus is from a major airport. Some schools are a half day trip to get to and from the airport.
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My daughter brought one friend home for Thanksgiving,her parents lived in SF, but they were away to China. I didn’t come home one Thanksgiving, I went with my roommate to her parent’s home in Andover. It’s a good chance to experience what other people eat for Thanksgiving.
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I read online that if Frontier is an option it’s often cheaper to buy the tickets in person at the airport. Like a $95 fare turns into a $50 fare. Don’t know about Thanksgiving. Thankfully no flights necessary for us.
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With our first, we flew her home for Thanksgiving that first year. It was such a hassle and cost for just a few days that we never flew a kid home for Thanksgiving after that. They went with friends, to extended family, etc. One just stayed in the dorm for one year, but that was her choice. H and I have spent a lot of Thanksgiving alone.
I was fortunate with my oldest, who went to school across the country in San Diego, that I did buy her a ticket home for Thanksgiving. She was struggling a little bit with homesickness (moreso, finding a social circle). I did buy her ticket ahead of time in the summer just in case, plus her break was almost a week. She flew home Monday night and returned Sunday. Her ticket was $350. I remember meeting a parent during move-in who was expressing shock at the price for her daughter’s ticket to Seattle ($450) compared to my daughter’s ticket back to the East Coast (same airline, even, Alaska Air).
My daughter hasn’t been home for Thanksgiving since that year and in hindsight I’m glad she came home since it is her favorite family holiday. Sophomore year she went to my BIL’s in Los Angeles, junior year she was studying abroad and senior year, well Covid! She and her BF spent it together alone. 
She’s graduated now, but still lives in San Diego. Came home for Christmas last year, but this year, no Thanksgiving or Christmas with her. She’s spending Christmas at her fiance’s. They are coming here in October for a week, and those tix were pricy even flying midweek! Over $500 each, which is more than it cost her to come home for Christmas last year.
I considered having my son stay at school this year, but none of his good friends live near his school and they are flying home also. There are no dining options on campus during the break and nothing really to walk to either (no car). He’d end up spending almost as much in DoorDash/Uber as his ticket home.
I’m reminded of the year D1 did a video call in to our Thanksgiving, and stayed involved for a couple hours. Long before zoom was a thing.
Our kids often took a train. Amtrak’s service is quite limited, but both kids could catch an overnight to within an hour of their grandparents’ house. One kid could even take a train back and forth to home, which sure beat a 6 hour drive each way.
My son will stay on his campus (nearly 3,000 miles from home )Thanksgiving week since the semester ends mid-December. Dorms are open but the Dining Hall is closed.