Dec 2012 - Christmas in Cancun

Flight #24 - United 1048 
Newark (EWR) – Cancun (CUN)
Wed, Dec 19, 2012
Depart: 7:48AM / Arrive: 11:14AM
Duration: 4hr 26min
Aircraft: Boeing 737
Seat: 8A and 8B (Economy Plus)
Mileage: 1,933 miles
Lifetime Miles:  47,200

Before I was born, my father and his parents/sister had an annual tradition where instead of my father going "home for Christmas" (ie, taking the bus 25 miles from New York City to New Jersey), they would instead all travel together to a warm destination to celebrate the holidays.

• 2005:  Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
• 2006:  Kauai, Hawaii
• 2007:  Naples, Florida
• 2008:  Playa Herradura, Costa Rica

Christmas 2012 was the first time since 2008 they were able to do so.

• 2009:  My father spent Christmas/New Years in Israel with my mother and her family.
• 2010:  My parents went on their delayed Honeymoon to Bora Bora.
• 2011:  I wasn't even 2 months old so we just drove to Vermont with my other grandmother.

Because we needed 5 tickets (my parents, my grandparents and my aunt) during the holidays, we booked our flights very early in May.  The prices held stable so I'm not convinced you needed to book that early, but then again, we did get the flights and seats we wanted so can't complain.  Plus, it's not like the $ we paid in May would have earned much interest sitting in the bank.