The 411 on Thanksgiving travel, especially if you need to book a flight

With 20 days until Thanksgiving, now is the time to secure airfare deals for flights both domestic and abroad. Whether you’re planning a getaway for turkey day or trying to plan ahead for Christmas, this travel expert’s tips will help guide anyone looking for a little escape this holiday season.

“The good news is there are a lot of deals this year, especially internationally,” Brian Kelly, CEO and founder of The Points Guy, told ABC’s Good Morning America. “It’s probably going to be the busiest holiday travel season ever. We were up 9% going into the month, and since the election, we’ve seen a huge spike in interest.”

For those traveling during Thanksgiving week, Kelly noted that “Wednesday through Sunday will be the most expensive time to travel.” 

Kelly said you “have to learn how to hunt” for the good deals and recommended utilizing tools like Google Flights.

“You don’t actually book through Google Flights, but it will search all the different airlines,” he said. “They now have Southwest Airlines included in the results.”

Google also analyzed the top-searched destinations for Thanksgiving 2024, which showed Orlando, Cancun, New York, Tokyo and London in the top five spots.