It might seem premature to plan your next winter holiday now. However, January can be an ideal time to book travel using your points and miles for next winter.
Most major U.S. hotel chains and airlines let you book award nights and flights 11 to 13 months in advance. Therefore, it’s not too soon to book your winter 2025 vacation.
Why you should book 2025 holiday travel now
Booking early often yields the best rates for peak-season travel, especially if you’re booking with a program that prices awards dynamically. So, if you can book an award with minimal change and cancellation fees, it’s best to strike early — especially if you’re limited to travel during school holidays.
Here are several trips families should consider booking now.
Book New Year’s Eve 2025
You can book fantastic New Year’s Eve 2025 deals using World of Hyatt points with attractive award chart rates. Here are the current award and standard cash prices for some of our favorites:
- Park Hyatt New York in New York City: 45,000 points or $1,174 (giving you a value of 2.6 cents per World of Hyatt point redeemed, compared with our December 2024 valuation of 1.7 cents each).
- Hotel 50 Bowery in New York City: 23,000 points or $338 (1.5 cents per point).
- Andaz Singapore: 29,000 points or $441 (1.5 cents per point).
- Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa: 35,000 points or $2,163 (6.2 cents per point).
- Hyatt Place Dubai Al Rigga: 6,500 points or $183 (2.8 cents per point).
- Hyatt Centric South Beach Miami: 23,000 points or $551 (2.4 cents per point).
- Hyatt House at Anaheim Resort/Convention Center in California: 18,000 points or $902 (5 cents per point).
I can almost guarantee these options will disappear as the 2025 holiday season approaches. So, go ahead and snag some award tickets with no or inexpensive change and cancellation fees (and periodically check for price drops).
Related: Best places to spend New Year’s Eve in the US
Book major holiday ski travel
Let’s face it: Ski trips can get expensive. But if your family regularly travels to the mountains (or wants to) during winter — and you want to maximize your points and miles — now is an ideal time to book a ski trip for December 2025 or January 2026.
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Here are some options for redeeming World of Hyatt points at popular ski destinations for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday weekend next year, which should easily give you at least TPG’s December 2024 valuation of World of Hyatt points of 1.7 cents each.
- Grand Hyatt Vail: 35,000 points per night
- Park Hyatt Beaver Creek Resort and Spa: 45,000 points per night
- Hyatt Place Keystone / Dillon: 18,000 points per night
Award availability won’t last at these hotels, especially as we get closer to next year’s ski season.
Further, if you have a collection of Marriott Bonvoy points, redeem them for five nights and get the least expensive night free on most Marriott stays. You’ll find open award nights at popular ski-friendly Marriott hotels like The St. Regis Aspen Resort and The St. Regis Deer Valley in December 2025.
Hilton Honors elite members can also get a fifth night free using points at properties like the Hampton Inn & Suites Tahoe-Truckee. This hotel doesn’t offer ski-in, ski-out access, but it’s close to the slopes and should open winter award bookings soon. We expect rates to be between 41,000 and 60,000 points per night.
Related: Planning a family ski trip this winter? Here’s what you need to know
Book 2025 Thanksgiving and winter break travel
Even though cash rates could fall in the next couple of months, don’t delay booking award flights for the holidays.
If you fancy spending Thanksgiving 2025 in Istanbul, you can book round-trip business-class flights for 140,000 Air Canada Aeroplan points per person. This is a good deal for a high-demand travel period when round-trip nonstop cash fares start at almost $5,000 per person.
For Christmas and New Year’s 2025-6, different airlines release award seats at different times, though they are usually released between 331 days and 354 days in advance. Check this guide for the dates your program of choice loads seats; your preferred travel dates for next winter may not yet be loaded.
Award space on flights can be unpredictable. So, if you’re not finding what you’re looking for, consider setting ExpertFlyer (owned by TPG’s parent company, Red Ventures) alerts. That way, ExpertFlyer will notify you if a seat(s) becomes available.
Hotel award space fills up closer to the holidays, so start booking your hotels, too. Whether it’s a trip to visit grandparents or an action-packed family cruise, take a few minutes to survey potential trips now and make some flexible award bookings.
Related: TPG’s top family vacation destinations
Bottom line
Last-minute award steals can happen, but families with set travel itineraries during peak seasons are best served by planning trips well in advance. It’s best to lock in your peak-season refundable award reservations now — even if your plans could change — to ensure you can take that bucket list winter vacation.
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