Holiday Travel Surcharge Extended in 2009/10

Friday, January 22, 2010, 11:30 am EST
(updated January 29, 2010)

Flying on peak travel dates (especially around the holidays) has been historically pricey. 2009 was no exception, and 2010 won’t be either, as airlines have recently showed us exactly which days they consider to be “special”.

FareCompare.com alerted consumers on September 24, 2009 that American Airlines initiated (with all legacy airlines matching in the following days) a “Peak Travel Surcharge” ($10 each-way) to a majority of routes for departures on three very specific days: Sunday after Thanksgiving (November 29) and for January 2 and 3.

The FareCompare.com proprietary airfare processing system has now noted several rule changes which show additional days have been added with a “each-way surcharge.”

The following chart breaks down these 2010 surcharges by date and airline, so you can how much more you could spend if you travel on these peak days.

*PLEASE NOTE: Alaska Airlines is only matching on AA/DL codeshare flights.

According to American Airlines, the carrier filed the surcharge on the initial three dates in late September, 2009 and US Airways followed suit by filing the surcharge for six more dates, and then American added four additional departure dates.

FareCompare.com published its Holiday Travel 2009 Guide in mid September to help consumers find the cheapest days to travel around Thanksgiving and Christmas and continues to innovate with tools to ferret out the cheapest travel deals throughout the year on over 500 airlines worldwide.