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When to book cheap flights for Thanksgiving

The sooner the better

| UPDATED college

The holiday season is fast approaching and that means shelling out the big bucks to fly home. You just know this is going to hurt the bank account, it's just a matter of how much. Here's some tips to try and plan when's the when to book cheap flights for Thanksgiving.

Use all the tools available to you

Sites like Kayak, Google Flights, MoMondo and Skyscanner can help you plan the best time to fly. If you have flexibility in your dates you can really find some good deals. It's also worth setting up price alerts that go straight to your email so you can see when the prices rise to become unaffordable.

There's no limit to the amount of routes and dates you can set up alerts for and if you're smart then you can usually find a good deal.

Try to book midweek flights

If you're a frequent flyer, you'll discover that some flights are way more empty than others. If you want a deal and the possibility of getting that sweeeeet three seat row to yourself, try and leave to wherever you're going on a Tuesday or Wednesday and avoid returning on a Sunday.

Halloween is the cut off

If you're looking for the deals, you're best bet is buying before October 31. Some places will be doing "flash sales" in early November so that will probably be your last chance to possibly save on Thanksgiving flights. Hopper chief data scientist Patrick Surrey estimated, "If you wait until early November to book your flight, it will cost you about $1 per day you wait. Then prices begin spiking by $10 per day during the final two weeks leading up to Thanksgiving,” he told Money. Basically, early is always better.

Why not buy for winter break now?

If you're trying to look into Thanksgiving flights, you should check out tickets for your winter plans. Once the holidays hit, things get crazy. It'll save you a lot of stress down the road if you get that taken care of now.

Play around with departure & return dates

The Wednesday before Thanksgiving is going to be the most expensive day to travel. Same goes for the Sunday after Thanksgiving. The prices will spike out of control on those days. If you can stand to travel on Thanksgiving, do it. You'll definitely save some serious dough. If you're looking to save on your return flight too, try leaving on Friday or Tuesday. It could be around 25 percent cheaper, according to Time.

Look into small airports

If you're flying into a major city, there's a chance there are mutliple airports in the surrounding area. Check to see if there's smaller airlines that will fly into nearby airports. For example, it's probably best to try and avoid John F. Kennedy airport in New York City if you can. Why not instead check out Newark Liberty airport in New Jersey? Not only are the flights likely less expensive at these airports, there's also less people going to them which would make getting to your flight less of a hassle.