Flying on Boxing Day

[MinnieMountain]

I’m trying to work out if flying from England to Malaga on Boxing Day is worth it for the cheaper tickets than going on 27th. Has anyone done England to Europe on both those dates?

This is for 2026, but we’re looking at booking accommodation now.

DH thinks Boxing Day. I think that would make Christmas Day feel too rushed, bearing in mind I’ll be working on Christmas Eve.

We often used to fly to see relatives on Boxing Day. We loved it. Quiet, but not a bad day to fly.

There's usually no trains so make sure you can get to the airport.

I've flown UK/Spain and vice versa on various days in the week between Christmas and New Years, and Boxing Day is usually a good day! This year, Boxing Day is a Friday so likely even quieter than normal, especially if your flight is mid-morning or later. If it's a lower price and works well with your overall holiday plans, I'd grab it.

BUT your concern is about your Christmas schedule being too rushed. Whether that's the case depends on what you'd be doing late in the day on Christmas and how early you'd have to leave for the Boxing Day flight. I'd see if you can manage it, though, by wrapping up Christmas Day activities by mid-evening and getting some sleep - also do what you can to plan ahead through the week BEFORE Christmas both to prep for Christmas and for the holiday - and have DH handle any last-minute things ON Christmas Eve, so that your working Christmas Eve doesn't mean a huge build-up of last-minute tasks FOR Christmas Day or for the holiday.

There ispublic transport on boxing day

We often fly either to Germany or to Amsterdam and normally fairly early on Boxing Day.

We fly from Standsted (long ago), Gatwick and Heathrow, taking either a cab or drive and leave the car at valet parking.

I work Christmas Eve until lunchtime and we have our Christmas on Christmas Eve, at least the present part.

Christmas Day is the typical lunch but smaller as we are only 3. We also have to make sure that there aren't tons of leftovers, so the amount of dishes is smaller.
But it's not really rushed. We have a cold dinner, run the dishwasher and ensure we tidy during the day.

Ensure you pack on the 23rd and just add any last minute items you can't do without late on Christmas Day.

I have done both and prefer the 27th. Boxing Day spoils Christmas Day for me especially if you have early flights as you will be sorting holiday stuff Christmas Day. If you go on the 27th you have all Boxing Day to pack etc. Plus I don’t like coming home to Xmas decs and tree so I usually took those down then which didn’t happen with a flight on the 26th.

I suppose it also comes down to how much cheaper?

@Justwanttobebythesea that’s what I’m leaning towards.

DS will be 13 and we’re likely to have 3 GDPs with us for Christmas Day.

It depends what time, Christmas Day didn’t feel rushed to me it was more the evening was spent packing so it really depends on the time you fly Boxing Day. If I were to go away after Christmas again I’d fly 27th.

I prefer the 27th.

I was cabin crew for decades, I detested travelling on the 27th. The roads were chockablock with grumpy people and the airport was busy.

Boxing Day flights are usually cheaper, yeah, but the day itself can feel chaotic. You basically finish Christmas dinner then start thinking about packing and airport times. If you’re already working Christmas Eve, that’s not much breathing room.
The 27th is normally calmer. Prices are a bit higher, but the whole thing feels less like you’re sprinting through the holiday. If you want the cheaper option and don’t mind the rush, Boxing Day is fine. If you want Christmas to feel like an actual day off, the 27th will be way easier.

I live really near an airport so the busy roads aren’t a problem and I prefer to have Boxing Day at home.

Totally different experience if you live near the airport! I used to commute 200 miles and the 27th was one of three days of the year I detested my commute (others were Easter or Aug bank holiday weekends!).

Honestly if it were me I’d be chucking Xmas and boxing day out the window and just getting really excited to be getting some sunshine, I’ve been so lucky in life and have travelled many times all over Christmas with our Dd, it’s become our thing, instead of the stress of pleasing family at Christmas . Yes take the cheaper tickets daft to pay more imo, we take small gifts with us and little garlands and paper decs that fold flat, that’s if u wanted to do your Xmas day abroad. You’ve got to be a bit open minded it’s obviously not going to be the same as at home though.

Also a different experience if you are working or going on holiday.

We are flying to Malaga on Boxing day this year from Gatwick so I will let you know!
We are planning a quiet Christmas day and I have a few days off beforehand to prepare so hopefully it will be ok.

Please do @Treylime . How long are you staying for?

I’ve booked an apartment for 26 December to 2 January. We’ll get an afternoon flight. Possibly book an airport lounge.

We can pack before Christmas Day. If GDPs spend it with us, they’re easy so Christmas Day won’t be hard work.

I’m glad we’ve booked it. We’ve been a few times for the day when visiting relatives who live in the area and we’ve said for ages we want to stay over so we can experience Malaga properly.

We are staying until 31st. I'm hoping the weather is good they do seem to get a fair amount of rain at this time of year. The Malaga Christmas lights look good. They do some sort of light and sound show on the main shopping street a few times in the evening.

@Treylime the Christmas lights are brilliant. It can chuck it down, but also the year we stayed with PILs near Benalmadena DH and I swam in the sea on Christmas Day.

Reporting back about our trip to Malaga 26th to 31st. Going on 26th did mean Christmas day wasn't quite as relaxed as we had to prepare and pack on Christmas day. We had to leave home to drive to the airport at 7am Boxing Day which wasn't great. On the plus side the motorways M3 and M25 were very quiet, Gatwick was fairly busy but there were no queues at security and our flight arrived 15 mins early. Malaga airport was also fine and quiet with no queues at passport control.
Weather was mainly warm and sunny but there was an evening storm on 27th which caused 20 flights to be diverted.

Depends how much cheaper it is

Thank you @Treylime . We've settled on Boxing Day. I'm waiting for the BA afternoon flight to be released.