What does it say about me that I’m already trying to plan for Christmas when it’s the tail end of summer?

So here’s the deal. My family is heading out east for Christmas this year. We’re looking forward to the large family Christmas, but the getting there part is frankly, a pain. And frighteningly expensive this year.

I’ve tapped away at an assortment of online travel sites. I’ve tried one-way tickets and multiple destination tickets. I’ve tried flying on off days and off hours (if there is such a thing around the holidays). I’ve tried flying into nearby airports. Nothing seems to get these plane tickets below $300. Yes, it’s a pipe dream probably to think I can get a flight for that price. But as a young family, paying $700 per ticket to fly nonstop into the most convenient airport when we used to do so for $279 per ticket is just not an option.

One question I have is whether it pays to plan ahead this year, or given uncertainty with gas prices, it pays to wait? Then again, if I wait, airlines might impose a ticketing fee for using the bathrooms if we don’t buy now.

And then there’s the train. Is it worth saving $800 to spend 27 hours each way en route on the rails? We could drive, but the cost of fuel added to the cost of hotel rooms would make it pricier than Amtrak.

Any advice from veteran travelers? Are you worried about the expense of your holiday travel plans this year?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 27th, 2008 at 2:54 pm and is filed under Kara\'s finances. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.