How to Avoid the New Holiday Airport Hassles

Traveling home for the holidays just wouldn't be the same without crowded airports, delayed flights and long waits in the terminal. This year, the annual purgatory that travelers experience will be even more profound.

The biggest issue passengers will face: Capacity and flight cutbacks that will have them battling one another for an ever-dwindling number of seats. Compared with last year, the number of domestic flights is projected to fall by nearly 11% and capacity by 9% during the fourth quarter, according to the Official Airline Guide (OAG), a flight information company. (Flights and capacity within Europe are also experiencing more cutbacks.) Add this to the nasty fees airlines charge for everything from baggage check to snack boxes and no doubt you’ll want to skip Grandma's stuffing and stay home instead.

Still, it’s not all bad news. Even with less capacity, airlines haven’t been able to jack up holiday travel prices as they have in the past, says Mike Fridgen, director of product management at Farecast.com, a travel search site owned by Microsoft (MSFT). According to Farecast’s data on upcoming Thanksgiving travel, airfares this year are on par with where they were last year. “I think right now is the best time to buy," says Fridgen.

To take advantage of these fares and avoid getting stuck in the airport lounge for hours, travelers need to be tenacious. Here are our experts’ tips on how to navigate the upcoming holiday travel season.

The most important thing travelers looking for the lowest fare need to have is a willingness to travel at odd hours on less convenient dates. Use the flexible date option when searching for fares on sites like Orbitz (OWW), Travelocity and Cheaptickets, says George Hobica, creator of AirfareWatchdog.com. Sometimes changing your departure or return date by one day can result in a compelling price difference. Keep in mind, though, that might entail traveling on the day after Thanksgiving or Christmas Day.

For example, departing on Wednesday and returning on Sunday is the most sought-after itinerary for Thanksgiving travel. But if you book a Monday or Tuesday return, you can save over $100, says Fridgen. “People booked those popular itineraries early, and now airlines are dropping prices on those less-popular flights,” he says.

Another helpful tip for people traveling to the Southwestern part of the country: Low-cost airline Southwest Airlines (LUV) doesn't post their fares on travel web sites, so go to their site directly, says Hobica.

Since February, when United (UAUA) became the first airline to charge $25 to check a second piece of luggage, there’s been a pile-on of new charges – for food, headphones, unaccompanied minors – that fliers have begrudgingly learned to swallow. The worst part: Travelers get hit with these fees after they've already paid for their flight, making it difficult to determine just how much that trip will really cost. A family of four flying on United, for example, will get charged $15 a pop for checking luggage and $6 apiece for four snack boxes, adding $168 to the total cost of the trip.

“Airlines are betting you’ll go online to find that deal and come to the airport and end up paying those fees,” says Tom Parsons, publisher of BestFares.com, a discount travel web site. (Read our story for more on airline fees.)

While fees seem to run rampant across the industry, some airlines are more forgiving than others. “There’s a misconception that every single airline is charging for every piece of checked baggage,” says Genevieve Brown, senior editor at Travelocity. The majority of the big airlines charge fliers for checking their first bag, but, for instance, Delta (DAL), JetBlue (JBLU) and Southwest don’t. To find out which airlines charge and which don't, check BestFares.com, which regularly updates a list of airlines and their baggage fees.

With fewer flights in the air, many planes will be operating at full capacity. Not only does that mean passengers fighting for overhead baggage space, it also creates major problems for those who need to catch a connecting flight. If the first flight is delayed and a passenger misses their connection, it may not be so easy to get on another flight since most planes will already be full or even overbooked, says Brown.

Those who haven’t made any travel arrangements yet should try to book a nonstop flight, advises Brown. If such a flight isn't available or if it's too pricey for your travel budget, "then leave plenty of time for the connection — at least two hours — to allow for any unforeseen delays on the first leg of your trip,” she says. Also, try to fly though major hub airports. “If something goes wrong, you’ll have more options, even if it means getting on another airline and paying for another flight. At smaller airports, you won’t have as many options,” she says.