Best Times to Take Your Vacation in 2025
Discover the most financially advantageous months to schedule your vacation in 2025 and learn why timing matters for maximizing your earnings.
Explore how to plan your vacation in 2024 to get the best financial benefits and understand the reasoning behind it.
How to Determine the Most Cost-Effective Vacation Month
The most financially beneficial months for taking a vacation are those with the highest number of working days. In these months, employees earn more income for fewer hours worked, minimizing the gap between their regular salary and vacation pay.
For example, if an employee earns $800 per month and there are 20 working days in that month, the daily work value is $40. In a month with 23 working days, the daily rate drops to approximately $34.78. This means that despite working more days, the employee’s daily earnings decrease, resulting in less income for the same number of days worked.
Vacation pay is calculated based on all calendar days taken off, not just working days, by multiplying the average daily earnings over the past 12 months by the number of vacation days. The average daily earnings (ADE) is calculated as: total income during the calculation period excluding sick leave, business trips, and vacation pay, divided by the total calendar days worked (12 months × 29.3 days). The number 29.3 represents the average days in a month.
Vacation pay is generally lower than regular salary, especially in months with fewer working days and higher daily rates, making vacations during those months less financially advantageous.
Optimal Months for Vacation in 2024
The months with the highest number of working days in 2024 are July and October, each with 23 working days. Whenever possible, plan your vacation during these months. Additionally, early July tends to offer lower travel costs at many resorts compared to late July and August, with October also being a budget-friendly travel period.
August follows closely with 22 working days.
April, September, November, and December each have 21 working days.
Conversely, March, May, and June are less ideal for vacations due to fewer working days—20 in March and May, and only 19 in June.
Include Weekends in Your Vacation to Maximize Paid Days Off
Another tip is to include weekends in your vacation period. For example, taking leave from Monday through Friday results in payment for only five vacation days. However, extending your vacation from Monday through Sunday counts as seven paid days off, effectively increasing your paid vacation time.
Is It Beneficial to Combine Holidays with Your Vacation?
From a financial perspective, including public holidays in your vacation does not increase your pay since holidays are not counted as vacation days. However, if you want to extend your time off without using additional vacation days, combining holidays with your leave is a smart strategy.
In 2024, extended holiday weekends include March 8-10; April 28-May 1; May 9-12; June 12; November 3-4; and the New Year’s holidays beginning December 29, following a six-day workweek.
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