Five Tips for Booking Holiday Travel

You’ve made it through Thanksgiving and now it’s time to tackle the brunt of the holidays. How many Christmas cookies can you fit in your carry-on? Do you have time to gather all of the gifts? Who is going to host this year and more importantly, how will you get there?

Travel in general is tough, but travel around the holidays is another story. While you wish to receive the best deals for your travel days, you know there’s a slight chance it may not go your way.

Here are five tips to keep in mind as you shop for travel tickets this season, hopefully making your holiday a bit merrier and bright.

Be flexible. The more flexible you are with travel dates and flight times the more luck you’ll have landing a great day. It is typically cheaper to fly Christmas Day and New Year’s Day than on peak holiday days. If you wish to fly on Christmas Eve, think twice — so does everyone else. After the first week of January, airfare prices usually drop an average of 40 percent from holiday season pricing. If you can delay travel until then, you’re guaranteed to save a bundle.

Book early. If you’re lucky enough to grab the last seat on an inconvenient flight, try booking earlier next time — maybe you can snag your favorite seat or preferred flight times instead. When flying with a large group of people it is best to book ahead of time as well, to ensure everyone will be flying together and seated near each other.

Take connecting flights. Save money on holiday travel by taking connecting flights rather than non-stop flights. Since the weather can be hard to predict, there’s a chance you may end up stuck at JFK Airport alone on Christmas with a $5 pretzel, so on second thought, you may be better off splurging for the non-stop flight.

Hitch a ride to the airport. Don’t drive yourself to the airport around the holidays as the airport parking prices take a steep hike. See if you can get a ride from a friend, call an Uber or look into public transportation options.

Get there early. While this may seem obvious, it is important to arrive to your gate sooner than you would during non-holiday travel. All your travel plans could be ruined if you miss your flight. Assume there will be a lot of traffic and long lines at security so be sure to leave yourself extra time. Save time by checking in online at home before you head to the airport and have your boarding pass already printed off, there’s no sense in waiting in the long check-in lines if you don’t need to. The holidays are stressful enough; don’t add to it while sprinting to the departure gate.