Booking early pays, according to airfare data generated by Norwalk-based Priceline.com Inc.
Based on the past two weeks of round-trip domestic airline tickets purchased on Priceline.com, the national average holiday airfare has increased 4 percent to $469 compared to this time last year.
The current national average airfare is also higher than it was a month ago, when travelers would have paid an average of $444 for their holiday reservations, according to Priceline.com.
Holiday airline tickets purchased in October were sold for an average of $430, according to the online travel reservation website.
“We are now bumping up against that 21-day advance purchase window for airline tickets, said Brian Ek, a Priceline.com spokesman, in a statement. “Typically, tickets are more expensive when the departure date is less than 21 days away, and they keep moving upward as the departure gate gets closer.”
Priceline.com recommends booking tickets early in the morning or later in the evening, which the company said are typically less busy times and will feature less expensive prices.
