Yep...Almost double in some cases. Unless you are buying on Sunday to travel on a different day. Price is dependent on what day you travel and the popularity of the travel day.

Oops, I meant the following Monday, 29th. Does what you said still apply?

Airfare pricing is pretty complex. Busy travel days like Sunday cost more than flying during the week unless the weekday falls the day after a holiday. Usually it costs more booking late but that is not always the case. Travel is way down due to the economy and gas is cheap. You might get lucky. Way too many factors at play right now to be able to say for sure; however, the odds are in your favor and I'm sure you will get a good deal especially if you don't have to leave at a specific time. Being flexible usually saves you big time.

Red-eye...

Fly Saturday or Tuesday-Wednesday for cheaper fares. And choose late night. Most airline sites show which days/times are cheaper or expensive. Try their sites.

Just for the sake of curiosity I checked various days, and when you get really close to the day of the flight, airfares are really cheap. The cheapest flight for next Tuesday is ~150. Same flight day after tomorrow is ~$100. Not sure how much the fact that next Tuesday's/30th proximity to Jan1 influences that price. I'll probably just book the ticket today or tomorrow, would suck to get close to the departure date not find a seat, for the sake of 50 bucks.

But not for Thursday/Friday or Sunday/Monday which are peak rush days. Next week is exception week.

You're right, that's what it looks like. Monday is still more.