Money · 6 min
Opened by 100+ dads so far
Four seats or one car
Dad at Broke Dads Club
Practical guides for dads stretching every dollar and still showing up. About
Published November 3, 2026·Updated October 28, 2026
Thanksgiving is Thursday, November 26. The group text is already about who is coming. The number to put on the table this week is seats, not stuffing.
You do not need a speech about family. You need one plan you can text before the thread picks the pricey one.
Jump to a section
Four seats is a second bill
Hopper told CBS News on September 28, 2026 that the average domestic round trip over Thanksgiving is $402, up $95 from last year. Four of those is $1,608. That is before a checked bag, a ride from the airport, or the sandwiches you buy because the flight is late.
That average is not your quote. Your airport can be worse, or a little kinder. It is still the right size for the decision. Christmas was $452 in the same Hopper note. Leave it out of this text.
Sunday is the expensive seat
Hopper economist Hayley Berg told CBS that Sunday, November 29, runs about $250 more per round-trip ticket than a return on another day. On four seats, that gap is about $1,000. She said to fly out Monday or Tuesday, November 23 or 24, instead of Wednesday, when the airports fill up. For the way home she named Black Friday, Saturday morning, Monday, or Tuesday. Any day but that Sunday.
If the kids still have school on Tuesday, you do not have to pull them to chase the cheapest outbound. Wednesday out and Saturday back still dodges the Sunday hit. The lever is the day, not a lecture about being flexible.
Berg also told people to book before Halloween, because she did not expect fares to get kinder. Halloween was Saturday. On November 3, that window is closed. Waiting is not a strategy. Headcount and the return day still are.
Two tickets is a real plan
Someone still wants the visit. Flip who moves. Two adult tickets at the same average are $804. That is still real money. It is not four seats, four bags, and a car seat negotiation at the gate.
Grandparents can often fly Tuesday and come back Saturday. You cannot pull a first-grader out of a week of school to save the same $250. Let the people with a free calendar take the cheaper days.
If they cannot travel, you are back to four seats or the car. That is a choice. It is not a failed holiday. A short, kind no already has a script in explaining we can't go. Thanksgiving gets the short version.
The car is tank math, not a vibe
AAA listed the national average for regular at $4.25 a gallon on October 28, 2026. The figure on the page that day was $4.247. At 25 miles a gallon, every 100 miles of the round trip is 4 gallons, about $17. A 1,000-mile round trip is 40 gallons, about $170.
That $170 is gas only. A hotel on the way, tolls, and a drive-through can pass a cheap pair of tickets. Write the miles before you announce the drive. If the map says two days each way, price the beds out loud. If it says one long day, the car is usually the cheaper seat.
Hosting is the other cheap seat. Dinner for the people already in the house is a grocery week, not a fare. The pair-the-nights plan is in the $47 grocery weekOne week of groceries on a hard budget. If they stay over, the heat runs. That bill already has a move in the heat bill before it gets cold. A full house is still cheaper than four Sunday seats. The wider pattern, small asks that turn into a real bill, is the dad taxDad tax meaning: why kids make every bill bigger. Four plane seats are this month's version.
Do it this week
Write three lines. Text one of them. Do not text all three and let the group pick the pricey one.
- Two tickets: they fly to you, on a day that is not Sunday.
- One car: the miles, the gas, and a hotel if the map says you need one.
- Four seats: only if the return is Black Friday, Saturday, Monday, or Tuesday.
The point
Broke does not mean broken. The table can be your kitchen. The visit can be two people on a Tuesday flight. The car can be the plan when the miles are short enough to say out loud. Four Sunday seats are how a Thursday dinner turns into a bill you still feel in January.
Quick answers
How much is a Thanksgiving flight in 2026?
Hopper told CBS News on September 28, 2026 that the average domestic round trip over Thanksgiving is $402, up $95 from a year earlier. Four seats at that average are $1,608 before bags.
Is it cheaper to drive or fly at Thanksgiving?
Often the car, if you count gas only. At AAA's October 28, 2026 national average of about $4.25 a gallon, a 1,000-mile round trip at 25 mpg is about $170. A hotel on the way can erase that gap. Two adult tickets at $402 are $804, half of four seats.
What day is cheapest to fly home after Thanksgiving?
Hopper economist Hayley Berg told CBS News to skip Sunday, November 29, 2026. She said that Sunday return runs about $250 more per round-trip ticket, and pointed to Black Friday, Saturday morning, Monday, or Tuesday.
What to read next
Pick the next problem
Not another tab. One guide that matches what broke this week.
If you need a short, kind no
Explaining “we can’t go” without making it a speech
6 min · Read the guide
If you need a week of cheap dinners
The $47 grocery week
7 min · Read the guide
If the first cold week is about to bill you
The heat bill before it gets cold
6 min · Read the guide
If you need the big picture on kid costs
Dad tax meaning: why everything costs more with kids
6 min · Read the guide
Was this useful?