Google Flights reveals the top holiday travel trends for 2024

Google Flights recently published its top holiday travel destinations for 2024. This included two lists, one for popular Thanksgiving travel destinations and the other for Christmas and New Year’s Eve travel.
Google Flights introduced the top travel trends lists in a blog post.
“With the holidays quickly approaching in the U.S., now is a great time to start thinking about your travel plans,” per Google Flights. “To help you get started, we’re sharing some of the latest travel trends and new insights on the best time to book your flights, both during the holidays and other busy times throughout the year.”
Google Flights listed the top 20 destinations for Thanksgiving and the December holidays. Many of the destinations overlap between the two lists.
The cities on the lists came from the top-searched places for trips during the holiday weeks on Google Flights.
Here are Google’s top ten destinations for Thanksgiving this year:
The top ten places to travel for Christmas and New Year’s Eve included the same cities on Thanksgiving’s top ten, except for Los Angeles. Instead it included San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The list of 20 places the destinations for Thanksgiving include “more domestic locations” such as Chicago, Phoenix and Dallas-Fort Worth.
According to Google Flights, “For Christmas and New Year’s Eve, it appears that people are more interested in traveling abroad to places like Manila, Sydney, Mexico City or Madrid.”
An article from NerdWallet addresses the rumor circulating the internet that the cheapest day to book flights is Tuesday.
“The reality is that flight prices change constantly and at all hours of the day, adjusting to real-time demand. Airlines don’t restock on the same day every week like a grocery store, so you won’t find deals by waiting until Tuesdays to book,” per NerdWallet.
Because of this, there isn’t a specific day that’s better for booking cheaper flights. Deals can occur on any day since prices change based on demand.
“Airlines might offer sales, increase the number of seats on a route or even lower prices to match a competitor, so there’s no actual pattern in what day of the week has the best deals,” according to NerdWallet.
Along with lists of top holiday destinations, Google Flights also included insights on booking the cheapest flights.
Here is some of Google’s holiday specific flight-booking advice:
Additionally, the low price range to book international flights is at least 50 days out before you leave, with average prices being the lowest specifically 101 days out.
Per Google Flights, prices for flights in the U.S. have been the lowest 38 days out, with the low price range being 21-52 days before the flight.