<p>A couple of days ago I was checking airfares for my DD's to come home for Thanksgiving and noticed that the flights were already filling up. One daughter comes from Pittsburgh and the other from Minneapolis. We usually fly Southwest and the flights back to Pittsburgh were already completely booked for Sunday and she will have to fly back on Delta. This seems very early for the the flights to fill. In previous years I have waited until the end of Aug or beginning of Sept to book flights without any difficulty. I know that airlines have reduced their capacity but this seems a little ridiculous.</p>
<p>Hmm
I just checked on approx dates and there are plenty of seats- though the prices seem high right now.
We don’t book tix for flts until after K1 has classes picked and we know schedules, etc…same for the holiday break and exam schedule.</p>
<p>Maybe you will find better options in Aug/Sept. idk</p>
<p>Thanksgiving flights for the Boston area (with soooo many students) are expensive and fill up quickly. </p>
<p>Hmm… once I am sure that DS will be home that break I should book a one-way JetBlue for Sunday return. That is the tougher leg to book. Ouch - maybe not. $685 one way ($125 the next Sunday).</p>
<p>Wont they offer additional flights if they fill up this qickly?</p>
<p>I already booked my sons flights. I know there are only 3 commuter planes a day and the plane was half full when I did it a few weeks ago. I’d rather pay a little more now and be sure he’s got a seat than wait and have issues. Especially first year.</p>
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<p>Exactly. OP, without your D’s finalized fall semester schedule, how do you know what date to book?</p>
<p>you can check the school calendar, which will give you dates that the school is closed and final exam dates. some schools will give you the final exam schedule by course, if not particular section (some schools will give particular section).</p>
<p>^^ I think Thanksgiving is usually pretty standard. At DSs school, for example, they never have classes on wednesday. So booking a flight out for late tuesday, returning sunday is safe.</p>
<p>Also, he signed up for fall classes during spring semester, so we know when his classes are. We don’t have dates for his finals, but tuesday before thansgiving is a known factor.</p>
<p>X posted:</p>
<p>Sybbie, sometimes the profs change the finals even when posted. Maybe they don’t do it later, but for one math class, DS did not have a ‘final’ per se, and was done a few days before the schedule would have led us to believe.</p>
<p>"Wont they offer additional flights if they fill up this qickly? " - Probably so. I don’t see the 10am flight we used last year. But they will still be expensive if you wait too long. Thanksgiving is a time when many travelers and college students tend to want the same flights.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that airlines know that many people will be flying over Thanksgiving and raise their prices accordingly, so a currently empty flight may cost a the same [increased] amount as one that is almost full. It is also possible that some airlines’ yield management software has determined that the highest profit on a flight may result in some empty seats. My suggestion is to keep track of prices and purchase tickets once you know your child’s schedule or purchase tickets knowing that they will be at school a little longer than is needed. Remember to to check all airlines and be willing to fly on non-optimal routings. If flying across the country, consider redeye flights that often leave just before midnight. Leaving at 11:55 PM on Saturday and arriving at 10:00 AM Sunday instead of leaving Sunday morning could save you a good amount of money.</p>
<p>If your child must fly back to school on Sunday (not Sat or Monday) – you are taking a big chance if you wait.</p>
<p>LasMa- kids schedules were determined in the Spring and it is unlikely they will change much. I agree with SEA_tide - it is often much cheaper to fly at odd times. Last year D1 did not have a class until 1:00 on Mondays so we were able to fly her out in the early morning. We saved about $75. Unfortunately our airport seems to essentially shut down around 10pm with very few, if any, flights arriving after that. There really doesn’t seem to be red eye flights into St. Louis.</p>
<p>Yes, the academic calendar posted on line will tell you the vacation dates, but the individual profs determine when the student is actually free to leave, and there’s no way to know that until after school starts. </p>
<p>My D’s school takes the entire week off. One year she had only one Friday class and the prof cancelled class for that day. So she was able to leave on Thursday afternoon. OTOH, one year there was a test in her Friday afternoon class, and she had to wait till Saturday morning to leave.</p>
<p>She makes her Thanksgiving reservations around Sept. 1; this has worked just fine for the last 3 years. Has something happened that makes this year different?</p>
<p>Already made my daughter’s TG flights. Using miles, and there are limited mile-redemption options. They don’t have school on Wed, so I know it’s safe to bring her back then.</p>
<p>I just checked flight prices and as much as I love her it just doesn’t seem worth $500+ to see D for 3.5 days. I’m hoping that she makes a few good, local friends and gets and invitation. Heck - I can offer someone $250 to take her in and come out ahead!</p>
<p>Some airlines have cut down on flights, but Thanksgiving has always been the toughest holiday to travel because MOST people flying want to travel on Weds and Sunday. So…if those are the days you need, it’s expensive and the options are limited if you wait too long. If you can leave/arrive other days, Thanksgiving travel isn’t as bad. (Christmas/New Years people travel over a block of days…not just the day before and 3 days after — and most College students are not traveling on the highest “peak” days.) </p>
<p>Also depends on whether or not you have alternatives. When one of my kids flew in and out of NY and San Fran airports, we had a choice of 3-5 NY airports (LGA, JFK, ISP and White Plains or Newark if the fare was really cheaper) and 3 San Fran Airports (SFO, Oakland and San Jose.) 2nd kid has just one airport at one end of the trip…so…less choices. Not coming home for Thanksgiving!</p>
<p>We made D’s reservations the first day Southwest opened their reservation system for the dates around T’giving, and managed to get a non-stop round trip ticket for $200. To get that she had to take a flight that gets in at midnight on Sunday. Inconvenient, but I figure that gives her more time at home. I always feel comfortable booking far in advance on Southwest because they don’t have change fees.</p>
<p>If you don’t mind missing a few classes leave Thursday before break and come back Monday in the afternoon/evening. That’s what I’m doing and it saved me $150</p>
<p>RE Post #18 - Most schools don’t have the full Thanksgiving week off. My child’s school says that classes officially take place on the Mon, Tues AND Weds before Thanksgiving…although I imagine most Profs will cancel class on the Weds before…especially afternoon classes.</p>
<p>It does seem that there are fewer flights this coming year, and they’re much more expensive. At least for cross-country flights. Last year I booked Tuesday/Sunday flights from Boston to SoCal, paying with miles + $250. This year I started looking two months earlier…and I saw prices where I’d need to use a miles voucher + $400: in essence, paying the price of two round trips for one trip. In the weeks and months since, prices have just gotten higher. </p>
<p>Part of this is D1’s schedule: she has a fall class that meets until 5:30 on Tuesdays, and must be back in time for class on Monday morning. Part of this is my insistance on nonstop flights–for such a short time back home, I don’t want to have her lose a big chunk of time because of rebooking issues. </p>
<p>Sadly, probably not gonna happen this year.</p>