Flights Home for Undas: Planning Your November Homecoming to the Philippines

If Christmas is the loudest, most joyful season in the Philippines, then Undas is its quieter, more tender counterpart. Every first of November, families across the country come together. Not for lights and lechon, but for something gentler: to stand at the graves of the people who made them who they are. To light a candle for Lola. To wipe the dust from Tatay’s name. And to sit with the family, share old stories again, and feel, for a moment, like everyone is together once more. For overseas Filipinos, being there for that is important, which is why so many begin looking for flights home for Undas months before travel.

If your heart is already pulling you home this November, our blog is for you. Find out when Undas 2026 falls, why it’s one of the biggest reasons Filipinos fly home, and why now (and not October!) is the time to start planning.

When Is Undas 2026?

Undas is the Filipino name for the two-day observance of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day. In 2026:

• All Saints’ Day — Sunday, November 1, 2026 (special non-working day)
• All Souls’ Day — Monday, November 2, 2026 (special non-working day)

Because November 1 falls on a Sunday, the observance flows straight from the weekend of October 31 into Monday the 2nd, creating a natural long weekend — and many families file for leave on Friday, October 30 to stretch it further. Traditionally, people start heading to their hometowns as early as October 30, and many visit cemeteries on October 31 just to beat the crowds.

That timing matters for one big reason: everyone travels at once.

Why Undas Is One of the Biggest Reasons to Fly Home

Undas is more than a holiday. It’s one of the most heartfelt traditions in Filipino life, and one of the country’s largest annual migrations, right alongside Christmas and Holy Week. Roads, bus terminals, and airports fill up as millions make their way back to their provinces to join family.

And it’s a beautiful kind of togetherness. In the days before November 1, families clean and repaint the graves, then return on the day itself to decorate them with flowers and candles. They bring food and share meals right there among the tombs — some even stay overnight, and the whole place glows with candlelight and quiet conversation. There are prayers and novenas, yes, but also laughter, catching up, and children running between the family plots. It’s grief and love and reunion, all folded into two days.

For a Filipino working or living far from home, watching that unfold through a group chat is hard. Being physically there, kneeling beside your mother, lighting the candle with your own hands, hearing the family recite the prayers together, is something a video call simply cannot replace. That’s what a ticket home for Undas really buys.

Why Book Your Flights Home for Undas Now

Here’s the practical heart of it. Because Undas triggers one of the year’s biggest travel surges, affordable seats fill up early. This applies not just on international legs. The domestic connections to provincial airports get especially tight, since nearly everyone is heading to their probinsya to reach the family cemetery.

With Undas about three months away, late summer falls squarely within the smart booking window for a peak-period trip like this one. Planning now does a few important things:

• It secures your dates. Landing before October 31 (in time to help clean the graves and settle in) is very different from arriving on November 2 as everyone’s leaving.
• It protects your provincial connection. If home isn’t Manila but Cebu, Iloilo, Bacolod, Tacloban, or a town beyond the nearest airport, those onward flights book up fast around Undas. It’s best to arrange your international and domestic flights together.
• It keeps things calm. Sorting your trip now means you won’t be fighting for the last seat (or the last affordable fare) in October.

Pro Travel Tip: The long weekend of October 30–November 2 is peak crowd time at NAIA and provincial airports. If your schedule allows, flying in a few days earlier makes for a far smoother arrival. It’ll give you unhurried time with family before the busiest days.

If you’re weighing this trip against a Christmas visit, our companion guide on booking your Christmas homecoming to the Philippines can help you decide or plan for both.

Making the Trip Smooth: A Quick Checklist

• Register for your eTravel Pass. As of 2026, the eTravel Pass is required for everyone entering and leaving the Philippines. It’s free at the official site, etravel.gov.ph, takes about ten minutes, and should be done within 72 hours of your flight. Steer clear of any third-party site that charges a fee — there isn’t a legitimate one.
• Plan your provincial connection early. Ask your travel agent to route you all the way to your hometown, not just to Manila.
• Pack what the gathering needs. Whether it’s candles, flowers arranged on arrival, or simply pasalubong for the kamag-anak you’ll finally hug again, leave a little baggage room for it.
• Check your documents. A passport valid well past your travel dates, a return ticket, and any paperwork for family members traveling with you.

Getting All the Way to Your Province

For Undas, home usually isn’t the capital. It’s the town where the family plot has been for generations. Here are the main gateways closest to where you might be headed, so you know what to ask your agent to route you toward:

Because these domestic legs fill up fast around Undas, the smoothest approach is to book your international and connecting flights together. One of the things our agents can sort out for you in a single call.

A Homecoming That’s Also a Reunion

Here’s the quiet gift of Undas: because the whole family gathers in one place, it often becomes the year’s biggest reunion. So, cousins who now live in different cities, titos and titas from across the country, everyone in one spot for a couple of days. What begins as remembrance turns into a living, breathing family portrait. Enjoy shared food, old jokes, new babies passed around, and stories about the very people whose graves you’ve come to honor. In remembering them together, the family somehow feels more whole.

That’s worth flying home for. And it’s worth planning well.

The Part Filipinos Love

Undas isn’t only about grief. There’s the long drive home everyone complains about but secretly looks forward to. The tent that goes up beside the family plot. The tita who somehow manages to bring enough food for three barangays. The cousins you only ever see here, huddled over cards past midnight while the candles burn low. The kids weaving between the graves like it’s a playground.

That’s the quiet genius of the tradition: Filipinos spend the day honoring the people they’ve lost and somehow end it more connected to the ones still here — grief and reunion held together in the same breath. For anyone who’s felt it, that’s exactly what makes the trip home worth it. And for anyone who hasn’t, it’s the truest glimpse of how Filipinos love: fully, loudly, and always as a family.

Be There This November

Some trips home are about celebration. This one is about presence. It’s about being with your family for something that matters, and standing together for the people you’ve lost. If that’s tugging at you, don’t leave it to chance in October.

Let a real person help you get there. Our ASAP Tickets travel agents are available 24/7 to help you find and book your flights home for Undas, including to your province. Give us a call at (844) 300-7983 for personalized help with flights to Manila, Cebu, Davao, and anywhere else in the Philippines.

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