Image copyright Uber Image caption Many holiday-makers will be flying this Thanksgiving weekend
Have you considered booking a flight between Monday and Saturday this Thanksgiving week?
You’ll still be able to find many deals, but with more people wanting to travel, the airlines will need to take a more realistic approach.
In order to keep on top of demand, a double-decker plane will be deployed to fly from Boston to Los Angeles.
The next busiest travel day of the holiday season is typically Christmas Day.
The number of passengers will be up nearly 5% on last year.
Airline industry data showed the number of passengers has risen by nearly 25% since 2005.
Image copyright PA Image caption Trains will be more popular options for some travellers this Thanksgiving
Any extraordinary fare, such as the discounted trip from Belfast to Dublin, will appear on the OpenSkies website as well as other travel sites
The EU’s aviation agency, the European Aviation Safety Agency, announced earlier this month that all airlines in the EU must deploy the double-decker plane, which features seats extending 10-12-inches (25-30cm) above the floor, to give passengers more legroom.
On this route passengers will take 48,000-52,000lb (24,000-27,000kg) of fuel on average – so it will take a week to travel the 1,180 miles (1,863km).
The costs may not be cheap. This year, US passengers are expected to spend $229 on average, according to FareCompare.
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Airlines have to adopt a cautious approach to maximising their profit potential
Ryanair is charging an additional fee of up to $23 for each travel day during Thanksgiving weekend, between Friday 8 November and Monday 11 November, and from Tuesday 12 November to Sunday 18 November.
TUI Travel will also be charging an extra fee for flights to the US between 6 November and 16 November.
“Right now this is the busiest travel time for the busy Thanksgiving period,” says Paul Bingham, head of travel at Opodo.
This busy time suggests the airlines may be more likely to charge extra to make up for the higher number of passengers on flights, he told BBC News.
“Don’t forget to be very aware of fares. You’re paying for extra legroom, for lounge access and for the whole experience so if you have any concerns at all, you may have to get your friends and family as far as possible before you book.”
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption An average size seat requires double the amount of fuel
Miles Brice, Partner at law firm DLA Piper, suggests people paying for extras should think twice about whether they are really worth it.
“If a consumer wants extra legroom or to sit behind a child or child carrier then I wouldn’t be surprised if the airline or anyone else is charging them more for it.”
“It’s going to be very difficult to make sure people are getting the correct value for their money,” he said.
The BBC News website has asked the three largest airlines for their plans to fly at specific times during the holiday period.
Air New Zealand said it would start its flights around midday on Friday and the majority of its flights will operate on Saturdays.
American Airlines plans to fly Saturday through Monday. It offered no information on other times on Thanksgiving weekend.
Southwest said it will operate nearly all of its flights on Saturday.
Air Canada said it will operate at least half of its flights for the long weekend.
Flybe said that on Wednesday and Thursday it will operate a more normal schedule and on Friday the majority of its flights will operate as scheduled.
Seasonal demand
Travel from Britain to the US has traditionally been slow around the Thanksgiving holiday period.
That’s because of the English half-term school holidays when students return to school after a break.
British business traveller Tim Digby told BBC News he was travelling via Barcelona on Tuesday and will then go to the US to celebrate Thanksgiving.
Mr Digby said he likes flying non-stop as long as he can reach his flights without detours.
“Whether you’re being delayed by 40 minutes or three hours, just get on and get out,” he said.
However, many more people will be using travel websites and booking without checking the flights, according to Daniel Butler from ADS Travel.
“The advantage of a traditional, random number flight booking system where people fill in their own journey after putting in an ask for assistance once is the same as in some cases being fined by the airline.”
He told