A few weeks ago, commercial carriers, hotels and car rental agencies were scaring people into completing their holiday booking STAT! If you bought into the hype and made reservations thinking you’d be hit with horrendous prices if you waited a single second longer, you’re likely kicking yourself right now. Turns out, supply currently outweighs demand, and now prices are inching down.
There is still time to score savings when making your Christmas travel plans. Visiting popular aggregate sites such as Expedia, Orbitz, and Kayak can help simplify your search for reasonable rates. However, don’t limit yourself to the meta-search sites. Fares for discount airlines, including Southwest and JetBlue don’t appear on Expedia or Orbitz. Another option is to visit Bing’s travel tool. It assesses rate history and makes predictions as to where prices are headed. The guesses aren’t always correct, but the site does disclose how confident it is, so you know whether to wait for something better.
Other simple ways to ensure you are not getting creamed by outrageous prices is to be flexible with your travel time and dates. Travel experts recommend to book an early morning Tuesday or Wednesday flight to potentially save hundreds of dollars. In addition, studies show that airlines tend to charge less for the first daily flight out, and weekly price wars between carriers tend to peak on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.
Flexibility also comes into play on sites such as Priceline. The online travel resource will award you deeply discounted rates that you name, though you don’t know the airline, departure time, or layovers until after you purchase your ticket. Also, regardless of which carrier you end up on, you won’t be able to earn frequent-flyer miles when you book on Priceline.
Finally, I highly suggest subscribing to your favorite airlines’ websites to get deal alerts sent directly to your email inbox. TripAdvisor.com sends instant messages when prices fall to your selected destinations. Following airlines on Facebook and Twitter can also yield super savings.
Related Articles:
A New Tool In The Battle To Find Cheap Airline Seats
Online Airfares–Finding the Best Deal
Airline Secrets Revealed: Affordable First-Class Fares