Best and Worst Airports for Holiday Travel

It’s flight-delay season, so may the weather be on your side if you’re flying anywhere in the next few weeks, especially for the holidays. The last thing you want is to be sitting in the terminal Christmas Eve, stranded because the blizzard just blew in. As you book your travel plans, you should consider which airports are most likely to get jammed up.

NerdWallet identified the best and worst airports for holiday travel. They looked at the 50 busiest airports by flight volume November and December and considered delays longer than 30 minutes, flights canceled and the quality of the airport’s food per Yelp. Find out if your favorite airport made the cut.

Honolulu International Airport is ranked as one of the best airports for holiday travel. Less than 4 percent of flights out are delayed even a half hour and they have a cancelation rate of .35 percent.

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport has canceled less than one flight of every 200, so it is your best shot for a connecting airport. ATL has a 4 percent rate of flights being delayed more than an hour.

In a city where extreme winter weather is frequent, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport only delays 11 percent of flights, which is quite surprising. Then again, it is American’s West Coast hub.

While Seattle is beautiful if you visit in August, the winter months beg to differ. Seattle-Tacoma International Airport has more positive feedback than the dark, dreary city, where fewer than 10 percent of flights are delayed. There’s a pretty unlikely chance you’ll be stuck in the airport, but just in case, the restaurants average a 3.8 — not too bad.

Miami International Airport delays only 1.7 percent of flights more than two hours, which is unfortunate because who really ever wants to leave Miami. Reviewers on Yelp can attest to the restaurants in the airport, topping the list with a 4.2-star average.

Now for some of the worst ranked airports.

Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport is America’s flight delay airport. More than 4 percent of all flights are canceled and 15 percent are delayed. Holiday connections are a big what if game, and sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Dare to play?

San Francisco International Airport is notorious for fog, which is why nearly 9 percent of all flights are delayed more than an hour and 2.37 percent canceled.
Arguably New York’s worst airport, which happens to be in New Jersey, is Newark Liberty International Airport. The airport delays 15.7 percent of flights for more than 30 minutes and one out of every 40 is delayed more than two hours.

Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) ranks low for holiday travel, being as it is one of the top five busiest airports in the world. With 2.7 percent of flights canceled and 7.6 percent of flights delayed more than an hour, good luck making it home for the holidays.

It’s hard to believe only one in eight flights at New York LaGuardia Airport is delayed more than 30 minutes. Watch out for the uncomfortably large crowds at an airport that you want to avoid during holiday travel.

If you’re considering catching a connecting flight, consider cost of a delay and what the percentage of canceled flights are. Then think if it’s a risk you’re willing to take. Balancing the reduced cost of a layover versus a nonstop is difficult, especially during these winter months. Choose your airport wisely.