The Quick Answer
Holiday calls fail for one reason: the time that is festive for you is the middle of the night, the family dinner or the temple visit for them. Between November and February the United States is on standard time, so the gaps are at their largest with Asia and smallest with Latin America. The table below gives the winter gap from New York and Los Angeles to the countries Americans call most, and the hours on each holiday when people are usually free to talk. Dates that follow a lunar calendar move each year; the ones here are for the 2026–27 season.
Winter Time Gaps from the USA (November to early March)
| Country (zone) | Ahead of New York | Ahead of Los Angeles |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom (GMT) | +5 h | +8 h |
| Germany, France, Italy, Spain (CET) | +6 h | +9 h |
| India (IST) | +10 h 30 min | +13 h 30 min |
| Vietnam, Thailand (UTC+7) | +12 h | +15 h |
| China, Philippines, Taiwan (UTC+8) | +13 h | +16 h |
| Japan, South Korea (UTC+9) | +14 h | +17 h |
| Australia, Sydney (AEDT, summer there) | +16 h | +19 h |
| Brazil, São Paulo (UTC−3) | +2 h | +5 h |
| Mexico City (UTC−6) | −1 h | +2 h |
Europe and the US change clocks on different dates in March, so for one or two weeks the European gap is an hour smaller; check the planner for a specific date.
Christmas (December 24–25)
The date is the same everywhere; the ritual is not. In Germany, Spain, Italy, Brazil and Mexico, the main celebration is Christmas Eve, with a late dinner and, in Catholic households, midnight Mass; December 25 is a quiet day of visits. In the UK and Australia the big meal is Christmas Day lunch. In Japan, Korea and China Christmas is a secular evening out, not a family day, so a call on December 25 is easy to place.
- Family in Europe, you in New York: their Christmas Eve dinner (20:00–23:00) is your 14:00–17:00 (UK) or 15:00–18:00 (CET). Call before dinner, around their 18:00, which is your lunchtime; or on Christmas Day morning their time, which is your very early morning.
- Family in Mexico or Brazil: Christmas Eve dinner runs late, often past midnight. A call at 18:00–19:00 their time, before everyone sits down, is the window; from Los Angeles that is 16:00–17:00 for Mexico City and 13:00–14:00 for São Paulo.
- Family in Australia: Christmas Day lunch in Sydney (12:00–15:00) is 20:00–23:00 on Christmas Eve in New York. Calling into their lunch from your Christmas Eve evening works well for both sides.
New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day
The midnight countdown arrives at a different moment in every zone, and calling during the ten minutes around it is the classic mistake: the line is noisy and nobody hears you. Instead, call 30 to 60 minutes after their midnight, when the toasts are done and people are checking their phones. Sydney’s midnight is 8:00 am in New York on December 31; Tokyo’s is 10:00 am; Mumbai’s is 13:30; London’s is 19:00; Berlin’s is 18:00; São Paulo’s is 22:00; Mexico City’s is 1:00 am on January 1. For Los Angeles subtract three hours from each. January 1 itself is a slow, late-rising day almost everywhere, so a midday call their time rarely wakes anyone.
Diwali (Lakshmi Puja on November 8, 2026)
Diwali runs over five days; the main evening is Lakshmi Puja, which in 2026 falls on Sunday, November 8. Families do the puja after sunset, roughly 18:00–20:00 local time, then light lamps, exchange sweets and visit; fireworks run late. The free windows are the afternoon before the puja (14:00–17:00 IST) and late evening after visits (21:00–23:00 IST). From New York, the afternoon window is 3:30–6:30 am and the late-evening window is 10:30 am–12:30 pm, so the practical choice is a late-morning call on November 8. From Los Angeles, that is 7:30–9:30 am. The day after, Govardhan Puja and then Bhai Dooj, are family days with easier schedules. Dates differ slightly between regions and panchangs; confirm with the family.
Lunar New Year and Tết (February 6, 2027)
The Lunar New Year in 2027 falls on Saturday, February 6, beginning the Year of the Goat. The reunion dinner on New Year’s Eve, February 5, is the single most important meal of the year in China, Vietnam (Tết), Korea (Seollal) and the diaspora; it starts around 18:00–19:00 local time and runs for hours, often with the televised gala in the background in China. Do not call into it. The windows that work:
- New Year’s Eve afternoon (14:00–17:00 local), when people are cooking and relaxed: from New York that is 1:00–4:00 am (China) — impractical — so instead use New Year’s Eve late night after the dinner, 22:30–00:30 local, which is 9:30–11:30 am in New York and 6:30–8:30 am in Los Angeles. A video call as the family winds down is a normal and welcome part of the evening.
- New Year’s Day morning (9:00–11:00 local, February 6) is for visiting elders and giving red envelopes; a call from overseas during this window, 20:00–22:00 on February 5 in New York and 17:00–19:00 in Los Angeles, lets you take part in the greetings.
- Vietnam is one hour behind China, so add an hour to your side; Korea is one hour ahead, so subtract one.
Public holidays run several days (a week or more in China and Vietnam), so working-hours calls should wait until mid-February.
A Three-Step Routine for Any Holiday Call
- Ask what day the family actually celebrates. Christmas Eve or Christmas Day; the puja evening or the day after; the reunion dinner or New Year’s Day morning. The answer decides everything else.
- Find the free window on their side first, then convert. The Time Zone Planner shows both clocks on one screen and flags hours when either side is likely asleep.
- Send a message the day before with the proposed time written in their zone (“I’ll call at 9 pm your time on the 5th”). A planned holiday call is a gift; an unexpected one during dinner is an interruption.
If You Are the One Abroad
The same logic in reverse: tell the family at home which window is good for you, in their time. The guide to New Year around the world covers the customs, and the long-distance guide covers the rest of the year.