How To Get An Affordable Travel Deals

The holidays can be a stressful time for us all. We’re trying to prioritize our finances to afford the cost of travel, lavish meals and gifts. We’re also running through malls, racking up credit card bills, trying to figure out what everyone wants and fighting over the last holiday ham at the supermarket. Stringing up the lights, buying Christmas trees, helping the kids with their last-minute projects, baking cookies — the holidays are maddening indeed. Yet, at the end of the hustle and bustle, it’s so worth it just to have that moment to appreciate your family and your blessings. Airline travel can really add to the stress of the holidays unless you know how and where to snag the travel deals. Here are some tips for making your holiday travel stress-free.

More and more families are planning alternate airline travel dates and switching their holiday celebrations to get cheaper airfares. Peak travel surcharges start as low as but, as you know, can increase the cost of your flight by more than 0 in some markets. The busiest days to fly are, without a doubt, the Sunday after Thanksgiving (November 29) and the two days after New Years (January 2, 3). However, there are other peak days with special surcharges and price hikes, including November 29/30, December 19/26/27, March 14/20/21/28, April 11 and May 28. By contrast, the “dead weeks” of travel will find the best deals, which are the first two weekends of December and the week after New Years. One traveler reported flying from San Diego to San Antonio for and finding cheap hotel room rates at /night.

CBS News travel editor Peter Greenberg recently appeared on CBS News with some hints for getting the best deal on airline travel this holiday season. Sign up for price alerts at websites like www.airfarewatchdog.com, which tracks the best deals leaving your departure airport or arriving at your destination. “They update the airfares about 300,000 (times) a day so you’re getting the latest,” Greenberg explains. He also recommends www.farecompare.com, which analyzes historical trends to let you know whether you’re likely to get cheap tickets in the coming weeks or see higher fares. Last-minute sales and deals can be found at www.travelzoo.com, www.shermanstravel.com and www.bookingbuddy.com. Signing up for airline email alerts can also clue you in to some great sales. Airline operators like Southwest and United are also posting news at www.twitter.com. If you need a cheap hotel over the Christmas holiday, be sure to visit www.hotels.com.

So what can you expect in terms of airline travel price fluctuations? Experts like Greenberg say you can save as much as 25-50% by being flexible in your travel dates. Let’s look at an example. Say you’re heading from Newark to Los Angeles. According to www.fly.com, if you were to leave on Wednesday the 23rd and come back Saturday the 26th, as most seasonal travelers do, you’ll be paying 1 round-trip on Continental. The website www.priceline.com suggests departing on Christmas Eve and coming back on December 27th or 29th for the best deals. So if you were to leave Christmas Eve and return on Tuesday the 29th, American Airlines offers cheap airline tickets for 3. So just by altering your dates slightly, you’ll save 8!

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