If holiday travel is even remotely on your radar for this year, you need to understand the pricing pattern that unfolds every single season—and that most travelers don't realize until it's too late. Every year, I watch the same thing happen: Families start thinking seriously about holiday travel in November, reach out in early December, and discover that the trip they could have booked for $5,000 in October now costs $8,500—for the exact same experience.