Book morning flights: If you are traveling on the holiday, catch the first flight out for the day and you might arrive in time for evening festivities. Taking early flights is also considered good practice to reduce your odds of a flight delay . In the first half of 2023, 7.8% of flights were delayed because an aircraft arrived late, according to Bureau of Transportation Statistics data.
The Busiest Days to Fly During the Winter Holidays
Sally French is a travel rewards expert who joined NerdWallet in 2020. She previously wrote about travel and credit cards for The New York Times and its sibling site, Wirecutter.
Outside of work, she loves fitness, and she competes in both powerlifting and weightlifting (she can deadlift more than triple bodyweight). Naturally, her travels always involve a fitness component, including a week of cycling up the coastline of Vietnam and a camping trip to the Arctic Circle, where she biked over the sea ice. Other adventures have included hiking 25 miles in one day through Italy’s Cinque Terre and climbing the 1,260 steps to Tiger Cave Temple in Krabi, Thailand.
She lives in San Francisco.
Published Nov 1, 2023 3:24 p.m. PDT
Dawnielle Robinson-Walker
Assistant assigning editor at large | McGraw Hill, Hallmark Cards, Forbes Health
Dawnielle Robinson-Walker spent 16 years as a college English instructor, teaching creative writing and African-American literature before she began writing and editing for various companies and online publications. Prior to joining NerdWallet, she was an editor at Hallmark Cards and a contributing writer at Forbes Health.
Many or all of the products featured here are from our partners who compensate us. This influences which products we write about and where and how the product appears on a page. However, this does not influence our evaluations. Our opinions are our own. Here is a list of our partners and here’s how we make money.
Follow the writer
You’re following Sally French
Visit your My NerdWallet Settings page to see all the writers you’re following.
MORE LIKE THIS Travel
Most weeks of the year, Friday is the busiest day for air travel, and Tuesday is the least busy day. During the holidays, though, that doesn’t necessarily hold true.
In most years, the Sunday after Thanksgiving is the busiest travel day at U.S. airports, according to the Transportation Security Administration, which tracks the number of passengers screened daily. The two days after Christmas also see heavy travel. And since Christmas falls on a Monday this year, that might mean an abnormally busy Tuesday and Wednesday of that week.
To avoid crowds and save money, consider skipping the busy days and book your flights on one of the slower ones. Here’s a breakdown of the best and worst days to fly during the winter holidays, and how you can strategize to avoid crowds and save money.
The busiest days to fly around Thanksgiving
The Sunday after Thanksgiving is brutal for airport crowds. Last year, about 83% more people flew on the Sunday after Thanksgiving than on Thanksgiving Day, according to TSA data, making it the busiest travel day of 2022.
That same Sunday was also the year’s single busiest airport travel day in both 2019 and 2021. In 2020, the busiest days of the year for air travel were largely concentrated in January and February, before the widespread impact of COVID-19, which would reduce holiday travel later in the year.
Here’s a look at the days surrounding Thanksgiving week over the past four years, ranked in order of most to fewest air travelers at the TSA’s U.S. checkpoints:
In 2023, that day falls on:
Sunday after Thanksgiving.
Wednesday before Thanksgiving.
Friday before Thanksgiving.
Monday after Thanksgiving (Cyber Monday).
Saturday after Thanksgiving.
Sunday before Thanksgiving.
Tuesday before Thanksgiving.
Thursday before Thanksgiving.
Monday before Thanksgiving.
Saturday before Thanksgiving.
Thursday after Thanksgiving.
Tuesday after Thanksgiving (Giving Tuesday).
Friday after Thanksgiving (Black Friday).
Wednesday after Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving Day (Thursday).
Source: Transportation Security Administration checkpoint data, 2019-2022.
Assuming past trends continue in 2023, expect Sunday, Nov. 26, to be the busiest travel day around Thanksgiving , followed by Wednesday, Nov. 22. Even if you fly out one day ahead of the biggest crowds, Saturday, Nov. 25, will also likely be busy.
And this year, crowds will likely be bigger based on the fact that past 2023 holidays have already set air travel records. For example, 2023’s Fourth of July weekend set records for U.S. air travel. More than 2.884 million people passed through TSA checkpoints on the Friday before July 4, according to TSA checkpoint data. That topped the previous record, which was on the Sunday after Thanksgiving 2019, when a recorded 2.882 million people passed through TSA checkpoints.
The busiest days to fly around Christmas
Christmas airport crowds can be trickier to predict than Thanksgiving crowds given that the holiday falls on a different day of the week each year and air travel patterns are often dictated by the workweek. This year, Christmas falls on a Monday.
But just as the Sunday after Thanksgiving tends to draw huge crowds, the days just after Christmas are wildly popular . And much like how few people travel on Thanksgiving Day itself, relatively few people travel on Christmas Day or New Year’s Day.
Here’s a look at Christmas and the seven calendar dates before and after over the past four years, ranked by most to fewest average air travelers, based on TSA checkpoint data:
In 2023, that date is a:
Jan. 1 (New Year’s Day).
Dec. 31 (New Year’s Eve).
Dec. 24 (Christmas Eve).
Dec. 25 (Christmas Day).
Source: Transportation Security Administration checkpoint data, 2019-2022.
This year, you might expect Friday, Dec. 22, to be particularly busy. Friday is typically the busiest travel day in any given week, and — especially during Christmas week — many holiday travelers may leave on that day.
According to Chase Travel, Friday, Dec. 22, is one of the top three busiest days across all flights booked in either December 2023 or January 2024 (the other two busiest days are Saturday, Dec. 23, and Saturday, Dec. 30). Similarly, booking site Hopper anticipates that day having the highest fare for the Christmas season.
This holiday travel season may see some relief, though. Hanukkah, which begins on the 25th of Kislev in the Hebrew calendar, can sometimes align closely with Christmas. The eight-day celebration ran from Dec. 18-26 in 2022, but this year will commence on Dec. 15 — likely before the Christmas crowds start.
Another consideration for travel is that the weeklong celebration of Kwanzaa runs from Dec. 26 through Jan. 1.
Drawing Perspective
A comprehensive guide to mastering perspective in your drawing. Master essential perspective drawing techniques in this small and straightforward guide by well-respected artist and tutor, Tim Fisher. Beginning with a fascinating history of perspective in art and the key materials you’ll need, the key principles of perspective such as zero-point, single-point, two-point, and multipoint perspectives are then explored. Approachable exercises support each precept , ranging from simple box diagrams through to complex scenes and allow you to study and practice each technique easily and with gradual difficulty. Through application, the reader can understand how to create the illusion of space and three-dimensionality in their work. Myriad subjects are explored throughout the book, including buildings, landscapes, people, animals, boats and reflections. Expert advice on drawing curved objects and inclined planes, a run-down of common mistakes and an inspirational chapter looks beyond a rigid application of the rules to draw your scenes freely and instinctively. This is a revitalized edition of Drawing Masterclass: Perspective (Search Press, 2017).
– Tim Fisher
– 112 pages
– 8.5 inches W x 11 inches L
– Paperback
– Search Press
– 2021
– Drawing
– Item #: 978-1782219361
You may also like
Getty advances and shares the world’s visual art and cultural heritage for the benefit of all.
Your Purchase Supports
the Programs of Getty
- Visit Getty.edu
- Getty News & Stories
- Getty Wholesale
- Privacy Policy
Get the latest on new arrivals & promos and receive Free Domestic Standard Shipping on your orders
Getty and The J. Paul Getty Museum are registered trademarks of the J. Paul Getty Trust
Realistic Still Life In Colored Pencil by Cynthia Knox
This is another book by the amazing Cynthia Knox, one of her more recent books. “Realistic Still Life In Colored Pencil” is aimed toward slightly more established colored pencil artists. In this book you will learn how to draw all manner of surfaces. This is another superb publication from the wonderful Cynthia Knox, it is absolutely worth checking out Cynthia Knox’s name on Amazon to see the many other books penned in her name.
Here in the UK this book will cost approximately £6.26 for the delightful artists of the UK , For the exceptional artists in the US you can expect to pay $9.89 and for those wonderful artist in the EU you can expect to pay approx €14.20
Colored Pencil Painting Portraits by Alyona Nickelsen
The final book on the list is another from Alyona Nickelsen, “Colored Pencil Painting Portraits” is another book aimed more toward the slightly established colored pencil artist. You will learn how to create realistic colored pencil portraits using the techniques the masters of yesteryear used, applying colors you would ordinarily not expect to use.
Here in the UK this book will cost approximately £13.99 for the delightful artists of the UK , For the exceptional artists in the US you can expect to pay $20.49 and for those wonderful artist in the EU you can expect to pay approx €28.17
Christmas Artist Book List Roundup
This list is a selection of books from artists I have personally admired and drew inspiration from over the years of my own art journey. The selection of books in this list covers a good range of other mediums, colored pencils, pastels and watercolors.
Listen, art is all about enjoyment, fulfilment in your life, passion and allowing your creative juices to flow, but in all honesty, when we think about books, we think school and constraints, but let me just stop your thoughts of fearful school days, this is absolutely not the case with the books on this list, here we have group of amazing artists, sat around a coffee table, teaching us all how to hone our artist skills, you select the book you want and imagine that artist has just leaned across the table to whisper in your ear the secrets of their success.
