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Sally May 15th, 2002 05:26 AM

Flying on Christmas Day and Again on New Year's Day: What Do You Think?
 
I have been told these two days can be the best days of the year to fly. Does anyone agree or disagree with this?

Diane May 15th, 2002 05:56 AM

I've had 2 experiences of the sort: in 2000, I flew to Calgary on Christmas Day, and it was a delight -- the plane was only about a third full, and the flight attendants brought on a steady stream of wine -- very civilized! <BR><BR>This year, I flew home to NY from Costa Rica on New Years Day -- pretty crowded flight, otherwise uneventful. Took off and landed on time.

Holidays May 15th, 2002 06:14 AM

Holidays can be good days to fly, but you won't find price breaks on these days, if this is an issue for you. You also fly with people unfamiliar with regular flight patterns and habits, so lines move slower and normal courtesies might be foreign to infrequent travelers (i.e. no, the bin above your seat is not reserved solely for your use, so no point fighting about it). Upon arrival, it can be impossible to get a taxi on Xmas Day and NY Eve, and public transportation service can be severely limited.

doug May 15th, 2002 07:16 AM

Have flown on Thanksgiving afternoon and New Years morning. In both cases crowds were far far less then the day before or after.<BR>On Thanksgiving we probably had 6-10 people on a 737. Flight attendants are very very pleasant when things are that slow. You sometimes do get good deals on the actual holidays although with New Years being a Wed. a lot of folks will be flying that day to get back to work on the 2nd. New Years will probably be a mess this year.

Linda May 15th, 2002 08:46 AM

I have a realtive who is in the entertainment business who travels constantly and she says they are like any other day.

Yvonne May 15th, 2002 09:52 AM

Did it going from US to Paris ten back. One thing to remember is that everyone who was trying to get home for Christmas has already parked at the airport. We found a spot, actually a lot of them but I had to take a tour of the huge lot to reach them. Both planes were full. And like the above poster seemed like just another travel day.

Christina May 15th, 2002 10:57 AM

I've flown on all of the ones mentioned--Christmas, Thanksgiving and New Years, both long-distance and short. My experience was that, in general, the flights were less crowded and it was very relaxing. I think I did pay less, also, for a flight on Christmas Day rather in the few days before Christmas, because most people want to fly before that day. <BR><BR>Thanksgiving, however, is just like normal or more crowded due to people going on a short holiday. Last year I flew to Guadeloupe (the French island) on Thanksgiving, and that flight was very crowded. I think I also flew to Mexico a few years ago on Thanksgiving, and it was completely full. Thanksgiving is not the same kind of holiday as Christmas, though, and a lot of people are willing to scrap the family Thanksgiving holiday, but not Christmas. Short-distance flights (less than 2 hrs) on Thanksgiving morning were crowded because of going to relatives for dinner.

Susan May 15th, 2002 11:00 AM

I've flow both Xmas day and New Year's. As far as New Year's is concerned I didn't notice any difference re: service, etc. Xmas is a different story but that is because I usually buy a box of chocolates for both the check in desk and the flight crew. First, I'm travelling on a holiday and I prefer to be in a good mood, second, I figure they are working Xmas day;third, it doesn't hurt to be kind; and fourth, it can result in a upgrade, better seat or at the very least a very attentive flight crew. I've flown from London to NYC on Xmas day and I wouldn't say the volume of travellers was significantly different however.


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