CompareCards Ranks Best and Worst Airports for Holiday Travel in 2019

Using a decade's worth of delay and cancellation data, the study finds Chicago-Midway, Chicago-O'Hare and Newark to be the three worst airports for holiday travel

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Oct 30, 2019, 15:32 ET

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Oct. 30, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- This holiday season, if you plan to fly out of a Chicago airport, there's a decent chance that your trip will be cut short due to delayed flights. This is according to CompareCards' 2019 study on the Best and Worst Airports for Holiday Travel, which analyzed holiday flight delays and cancellations among the 50 busiest US airports to find out which airports have the worst track records when it comes to getting to your destination on time.

Key Findings

The Best:

Most On-Time Flights During Holiday Travel Season: Honolulu. Travelers leaving Honolulu can expect the most reliable air travel, with 86% of flights reaching their destinations on time. Kahului, Hawaii isn't too far behind with 85% of flights reaching their destinations within 15 minutes of scheduled arrival times. Portland comes in third with 78.4% of flights arriving on time.
Least Cancellations: Honolulu has the least flight cancellations, with .4% of flights facing cancellations. Kahului isn't far behind with cancellations to only .5% of holiday flights, and Seattle comes in third with .7% of holiday flights cancelled.
More than one in three flights originating at these airports were delayed: Chicago Midway, Chicago O'Hare, Newark, Denver and Houston Hobby.

The Worst:

Chicago #1 for Most Flight Delays. The study shows that Chicago-area airports are the most likely to have flights delayed during the holiday season. In fact, just 63% of flights out of Chicago's Midway airport reached their destinations on time, the worst of any airport reviewed. At nearby O'Hare, it's not much better, with only 65% of flights reaching their destinations within 15 minutes of scheduled arrival times. Just under 4% of flights are canceled there. Additionally, the worst day to fly out of Chicago is December 22.
Newark is #1 for Most Flight Cancellations: Not only does the New Jersey airport have the third-worst flight delay record on the list, with just over 65% of departing flights arriving on time, it also has the distinction of having the highest December holiday cancellation rates, with a 10-year average of 4%.

Rank - Most Delayed or Cancelled Flights	Airport	% of Flights On Time	% of Flights Delayed	% of Flights Canceled	Worst Travel Day
1	Chicago - Midway	62.7%	34.7%	2.6%	Dec. 22
2	Chicago - O'Hare	64.9%	31.5%	3.6%	Dec. 22
3	Newark	65.3%	30.7%	4.0%	Dec. 21
4	Denver	65.6%	32.7%	1.7%	Dec. 26
4	Houston - Hobby	65.6%	33.0%	1.3%	Dec. 27
6	New York - John F. Kennedy	67.3%	29.3%	3.5%	Dec. 29
7	Oakland	67.4%	32.0%	0.7%	Dec. 21
8	Dallas - Love Field	67.9%	30.6%	1.6%	Dec. 27
9	Baltimore	68.7%	29.8%	1.5%	Dec. 20
9	Dallas - Fort Worth	68.7%	27.8%	3.5%	Dec. 27
11	St. Louis	69.7%	29.0%	1.3%	Dec. 27
12	Salt Lake City	69.9%	29.2%	0.9%	Dec. 29
13	Los Angeles	70.2%	28.4%	1.4%	Dec. 21
14	San Francisco	70.4%	27.4%	2.2%	Dec. 21
15	Kansas City	70.6%	27.0%	2.3%	Dec. 20
16	Sacramento	71.2%	27.6%	1.1%	Dec. 22
17	Nashville	71.3%	27.2%	1.5%	Dec. 20
18	Philadelphia	71.5%	26.0%	2.5%	Dec. 27
19	Las Vegas	71.9%	27.4%	0.8%	Dec. 22
20	Cincinnati	72.1%	24.5%	3.5%	Dec. 26
20	Minneapolis - St. Paul	72.1%	26.4%	1.5%	Dec. 26
22	Fort Lauderdale	72.2%	26.6%	1.2%	Dec. 26
22	San Jose	72.2%	27.0%	0.8%	Dec. 22
24	Houston - Bush	72.4%	25.9%	1.7%	Dec. 27
25	Washington - Dulles	73.3%	24.4%	2.2%	Dec. 21
26	Boston	74.0%	23.4%	2.6%	Dec. 29
26	Charlotte	74.0%	23.8%	2.3%	Dec. 26
28	San Diego	74.2%	24.4%	1.4%	Dec. 22
29	Raleigh - Durham	74.4%	23.2%	2.4%	Dec. 27
30	Cleveland	74.7%	22.9%	2.4%	Dec. 27
30	Indianapolis	74.7%	23.0%	2.3%	Dec. 27
32	Pittsburgh	74.8%	23.5%	1.7%	Dec. 27
33	Orange County	75.1%	23.4%	1.4%	Dec. 22
33	Phoenix	75.1%	24.0%	0.9%	Dec. 22
35	Detroit	75.6%	22.6%	1.7%	Dec. 26
35	New Orleans	75.6%	23.4%	1.0%	Dec. 27
37	Orlando	75.7%	23.2%	1.1%	Dec. 26
38	Miami	76.0%	22.8%	1.2%	Dec. 26
39	Austin	76.2%	22.7%	1.2%	Dec. 27
39	Charlotte	76.2%	22.6%	1.1%	Dec. 28
41	Tampa	76.6%	22.3%	1.1%	Dec. 26
41	Washington - Reagan	76.6%	20.6%	2.8%	Dec. 27
43	Atlanta	77.0%	21.6%	1.4%	Dec. 27
43	San Antonio	77.0%	21.8%	1.2%	Dec. 27
45	Fort Myers	77.5%	21.0%	1.5%	Dec. 26
46	New York - LaGuardia	77.7%	18.9%	3.4%	Dec. 21
47	Seattle	78.3%	21.1%	0.5%	Dec. 20
48	Portland	78.4%	20.8%	0.7%	Dec. 21
49	Kahului	84.6%	14.9%	0.5%	Dec. 21
50	Honolulu	86.2%	13.5%	0.4%	Dec. 21

How to prepare for holiday flight delays:

Choose nonstop if possible. You may pay more for a direct flight, but it could save you a headache, and maybe even money in the long run
Know your rights. Airlines are required by the FAA to be upfront about what accommodations or refunds they offer passengers in the case of a flight delay or cancellation. If you're not getting that information, ask for it.
Book flights in advance. Booking early offers more options and a bigger variety of available flight times.
Take an early flight. If you go with the first flight out, your plane will likely be there for you already, thus upping your odds of getting out on time, barring any weather-related issues.

For more information and to see the full study, please visit: https://www.comparecards.com/blog/best-worst-airports-airports-holiday-delays-cancellations/

Methodology
CompareCards analyzed 10 years of Department of Transportation flight data (2009 – 2018) for the 50 busiest airports in the U.S. for travel dates Dec. 20-31 each year. On-time is defined as flights departing the airport that reach their destination within 15 minutes of their scheduled arrival time.

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About CompareCards:
CompareCards' mission is to help people make smarter, more informed, healthier financial decisions based on deeper knowledge of financial offers. Each month, over 2.9 million visitors come to CompareCards' website to independently compare credit cards side-by-side and choose a credit card based on interest rate, reward benefit, cost savings, and other factors that are important to each person. CompareCards provides easy-to-use, objective tools and educational resources that help people do everything from making credit card comparisons to managing their credit health. For more information, please visit http://www.comparecards.com.

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