Flying Over the Holidays

With the holidays approaching, it's time to remember that it's the most wonderful time of the year only if you're not in an airport. 'Tis the season for holiday travel headaches—which this year could turn into migraines, what with airline delays, cancellations, lost luggage, and involuntary bumpings at all-time highs. So use these tips to minimize travel snafus and to ensure that you get to Grandma's before the turkey dries out.

>> Fly when planes and airports are least crowded.
With sold-out flights and lengthy delays on the rise, it's more important than ever to carefully consider your departure times. Experienced travelers know that the best time to fly is midday on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays, and that Monday mornings and Friday afternoons should be avoided because of the stampede of business travelers. During the holidays, however, these patterns change. Take the week of Thanksgiving: The best times to fly will be midday on the Monday before the holiday, Thanksgiving Day itself, and the Friday after. Not surprisingly, the worst will be the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and the Sunday and Monday after. As for the Christmas and New Year's period, the best days to fly this year should be: on or before December 19, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, December 27 and 29, New Year's Eve, New Year's Day, and January 3, 4, and 7.

>> Pick flights that are least likely to be delayed.
Before buying an airline ticket, find out how often your flight arrives on schedule. You can check this at flightstats.com or by calling the carrier's reservations number and asking an agent. Most airline Web sites and online travel agencies don't provide on-time history for flights, but airline reservations agents must do so by law. Generally speaking, the earlier in the day you fly, the less likely it is that your flight will be delayed. The best time to depart is between 6 and 7 a.m., and the best time to land at your destination if you're flying to a cold climate is between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. (the warmest hours of the day). The worst time to land is between 7 and 10 p.m., according to the air-traffic controllers who contribute to avoiddelays.com, where you can plug in the name of the city you're flying to and get the worst hours for that specific airport. The site also lets you share your own delay debacles and forwards the complaints to the DOT.

>> Choose airports that are less prone to delays.
If you can't fly nonstop, be careful where you connect. Avoid hubs that are subject to snowstorms, as well as those that saw the most delays last holiday season: Chicago, Denver, JFK, LaGuardia, Newark, and Seattle. The farther south you connect, the better. Last winter, Atlanta, Charlotte, Houston, Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles were relatively good hubs for connecting. If you have a choice of airports to fly into, pick the one with the fewest delays (e.g., Oakland over San Francisco). The airports with the fewest delays last holiday season were Baltimore-Washington, Houston, Orlando, San Diego, and Tampa.