Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
This Year Flying Home For Thanksgiving Costs More, Sucks More
By
Jamie Feldmar
Published Nov 21, 2011
Modified Nov 21, 2011
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Jamie Feldmar
Published Nov 21, 2011
Modified Nov 21, 2011
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Today, Bloomberg news releases the shocking news that it's freaking expensive to get out of town during Thanksgiving, which is not news to anyone who's ever heard their parents say, "Of course you don't have to come home; hopefully Grandma Tilly will live long enough to see you next year."
Passengers are paying an average of six percent more around Thanksgiving, and even though less people are actually traveling, airlines are getting greedy smart by reducing their available seats to maintain pricing power. “It’s such a drag how around the holidays you are at the mercy of the airlines,” one NYU student originally from San Francisco told Bloomberg. She booked her flight home this week in July, and it'll be a tight squeeze when she gets on board: “Sardines would probably be less packed,” FareCompare.com CEO Rick Seaney said. “People will be carrying everything they can.”
While FareCompare does have some tips and tricks on shopping for holiday airfare, Seaney knows that you're still pretty much at the mercy of the industry. “Unfortunately it’s like a game of Monopoly, and at the holidays, the airline owns Boardwalk and Park Place,” he said. And this year airlines are chafing under skyrocketing jet fuel prices, which averaged about $3.06 a gallon last quarter, 45 percent higher than a year earlier, Bloomberg reports.
Combine all of the above with the fact that the three NYC-area airports still have some of the worst delays in the country, and you might as well just stay home and shovel down a microwaveable turkey dinner.
Tagged
airfare
airline
expensive
home for the holidays
thanksgiving
travel
Jamie Feldmar
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
2 pedestrians killed in Bronx crash after driver ran red light, police say
The NYPD said the investigation is continuing and no one had been arrested Saturday.
By
Brittany Kriegstein
and
Ann Givens
Published Oct 10, 2026 at 1:24 p.m. ET
Rain could put a damper on NYC’s long weekend. Here’s when it will clear.
Remnants of Hurricane Isaias could bring more than an inch of rain, gusty winds and even a thunderstorm Sunday before conditions improve Monday.
By
Brittany Kriegstein
News
Rain could put a damper on NYC’s long weekend. Here’s when it will clear.
Remnants of Hurricane Isaias could bring more than an inch of rain, gusty winds and even a thunderstorm Sunday before conditions improve Monday.
By
Brittany Kriegstein
Holy civics! NYC schools' own comic books in the spotlight at Comic Con
By
Jessica Gould
What we know about the ICE shooting in NYC
By
Karen Yi
DSA to Mamdani: Fire NYPD commissioner if ICE doesn't leave NYC
By
Elizabeth Kim
,
Brigid Bergin
and
Ben Feuerherd
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .