Do Not Book Your Flight for the Winter Holidays on December 21
According to the Hopper travel app , if you’re traveling around Christmas and haven’t booked your flight yet, you still have a few weeks to get the best deal.
While the perfect time to book for your winter vacation was last week, Hopper tells the New York Times that if you haven’t finalized your plans yet, you should try to get it done as soon as possible and you can still get a great deal. … “If you need to set a deadline, do so at least two weeks before departure.”
To find the best price, don’t book your flight home on December 21st if you can help – that’s when flights will be the most expensive. Squeezing out an extra day or two will help your bank account be flexible with your dates. Set a fare alert with something like Hopper to help you find a lower price.
The same is with the choice of the airport. Hipmunk, another travel booking site, “found that booking round-trip flights from different airports can save travelers up to 14 percent on Thanksgiving weekends and 17 percent a week on Christmas.” This could mean departing from a regional airport slightly further from where you live. You can use this tool from Google to compare fares to nearby airports and evaluate great deals.
And remember to use all the perks on your bonus cards before the end of the year – it can help cut your total spending by a hundred dollars or so.
Time to buy holiday travel tickets? Now | New York Times