6 Good Reasons to Travel Internationally During U.S. Thanksgiving

by Janis on November 25, 2014

During a recent TravelSkills Travel Chat on Twitter, many frequent travelers advised that they stay home during the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, because travel by air and highway is intense.

It is. The Sunday after Thanksgiving is usually one of the busiest flight days of the year.

For most of the past 12 years, our tradition for the week of Thanksgiving has been to leave the U.S. and travel to an international destination using a combination of frequent flyer miles, hotel points, heavily discounted cruises, and/or by purchasing discounted airfares.

Originally, we started this tradition when we had new jobs with very little vacation time, and Thanksgiving week was a way to travel for 10 days while only taking 3 days of vacation. When we learned all of the benefits of international travel during the week of U.S. Thanksgiving, we have continued the tradition.

Yes, we miss Thanksgiving dinner with our extended families, but we have gained the opportunity to visit some amazing destinations at little to no cost.

Here are 6 reasons to travel internationally during U.S. Thanksgiving:

1. Flights leaving the US are cheaper than normal. We discovered that demand for flying from the U.S. to international destinations is down during this week. After all, what U.S. business traveler is going to make a business trip to Milan or Hong Kong during Thanksgiving week if they can help it? None, which is why international airfares, especially business class airfares are discounted for travel out of the U.S. during Thanksgiving.

2. Travel awards for international travel are easier to obtain. There is also less demand for international holiday travel during the week of U.S. Thanksgiving, making it easier to get that business class ticket to Singapore or Amsterdam with frequent flyer points.

3. Hotel are cheaper. If you travel using U.S. hotel chains such as Hilton or Marriott, and stay in major cities where these hotels are normally filled with U.S. business travelers, demand is way down during the week of U.S. Thanksgiving. As a result, room rates are lower and the number of hotel reward points necessary for a free night are also decreased.

4. Cruises are cheaper than most times of the year. Cruises in November and early December carry some of the lowest rates of the year, mainly because many people don’t want to cruise during those time periods, and it’s the end of the hurricane season. If you schedule a 10-day or longer cruise that includes Thanksgiving week, you can score a fantastic deal, especially in South America and the Caribbean.

5. You get to take advantage of 1-2 vacation days at work. Many U.S. workers who aren’t employed in retail get both Thursday and Friday as holidays. If this is you, Thanksgiving week offers a great opportunity to take a full week off of work while using only 3 vacation days

6. You can “top off” your frequent flyer and/or hotel award status level. Are you close to 1K or Platinum Status or whatever the top tier level is in your frequent flyer program. An inexpensive flight to Europe or Asia is a great way to add a chunk of miles/points to your account, with a more scenic destination than a typical mileage run to nowhere.

Once again we are traveling during part of Thanksgiving week, but we hope to share some highlights of our past trips that we haven’t blogged about before. Check back this week for a little Thanksgiving international travel inspiration.

Have you traveled internationally during Thanksgiving? Where did you go? Please share in comments below.

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