Traveling by air is expensive anytime. Traveling by air with the whole family over the holidays, however, can be ridiculously expensive. In fact, the high price of airfare can be so steep that it forces some families to stay home.
Before you cancel your family’s holiday travel plans, bear in mind that there are some things you can do to mitigate the cost of flying. None of these things will make flying cheap, but some of them will make it more reasonable.
Buy tickets early. The earlier you purchase your airline tickets, the less expensive they will be. As soon as you finalize your travel plans, start shopping for tickets. You may be able to snap us some inexpensive promotional prices that are normally sold out in a hurry.
Shop around. Be sure to check multiple sources before you purchase your airline tickets. I like to look at Travelocity or Expedia to get an idea how much my airfare should cost. Then, I visit the airline’s websites directly to see if there are any specials. Don’t forget to check out Southwest Airlines’ website (if they are flying where you need to go). Southwest usually has cheap tickets, but they don’t sell tickets through online brokers like Expedia.
Fly early. Most people fly to their destinations a day or two before the holiday. If you can leave three or four days before the holiday, you may be able to avoid some of the high prices of holiday travel. You can use the same strategy when you schedule your return trip, too.
Consolidate baggage. Now that most airlines are charging their passengers for every bag they check, you should do everything you can afford to cut your baggage down. If you carry everything on, do. If you must check a bag or two, though, try to keep it down to as few bags as possible. At $15 – $25 each, those baggage fees can add up quickly.
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I can provide recent evidence of the benefit of booking flights early (or in fact the downside of putting off buying them!).
For a recent holiday the 5 of us were flying from the UK to the Canary Islands. We found a deal for 870 for us all but put off buying for a few days thinking we might be able to find something better. When we looked again the price had gone up to 1,300!!!
Three words—
Stay with parents!!!
A St. Louis based association management firm is preparing for the launch of a web site – the Holiday Central — dedicated to consumers who love the holidays – year round. Harris polls tell us these folks are typically Moms who take great joy in the preparations and celebrations of holidays throughout the year. We would like to chat with you, thinking there might very well be synergies between what you’re doing with your ‘Not Made of Money’ site and Holiday Central. Please contact me: Alan Krob, at Krob@drakeco.com; or by phone: 636-449-5037.