Travelers use self-service kiosks in the Delta check-in area at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) in San Francisco, California, United States, Thursday, July 2, 2026.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Airfare prices have increased this year, especially for holiday travel. Also don’t expect many great deals if you book flights with miles.
Tickets purchased with frequent flyer miles for flights between major U.S. airports during the Thanksgiving holiday will cost 32% more than last year’s holiday, according to data from Seats.aero, a miles and points redemption search site. Even though fares have soared this year, airline executives said last month that demand remains strong.
Airlines have largely gotten rid of static mileage redemption tables in favor of dynamic pricing, making it more difficult to budget for an award ticket. Dynamic pricing means repurchase costs change based on demand, routes, and other factors.
Many of the more expensive Thanksgiving itineraries are naturally longer, including from Hawaii, but the list also includes a nonstop flight from New York to Houston.
Here’s how vacation mileage redemptions stack up, based on average one-way flights at the start of November and compared to last year:
Jet fuel prices have soared since the United States and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, eating into airline profits. Carriers have sought to pass on costs to consumers as much as possible.
Even some of the cheapest routes for award tickets are more expensive than last year, including short routes like Tulsa, Oklahoma, to Dallas Fort Worth International Airport.
Here are the routes on which award travel is the cheapest on average and how they compare to last year’s Thanksgiving holiday:
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