Booking Holiday Travel

While the holiday season seems so far off (it’s not), now is the time to start planning your family travel. Being such a busy time of year for travel, the planning process can seem a bit tricky to navigate. When to book and what dates to travel have been the bane of most travelers’ holiday seasons for years, but with some savvy tips and tricks, your family visits and vacation time can be more seamless, less stressful and possibly even more affordable.

When to Shop

According to Expedia, travelers in 2017 found the cheapest flights over Thanksgiving about 31–90 days before the set travel dates. Those booking for Christmas itineraries found the most affordable ticket prices around 21–30 days before departure.

With that data in mind, now is the time to book holiday flights. Don’t panic, many travel-booking sites are well aware savvy travelers will head to the sites for holiday flights now, so expect deals on bundling car rental and hotel, too — for when that family stay is just a bit too close for comfort.

To break it down a bit further, travelers looking to book Thanksgiving travel, hunt for deals September through Oct. 22, while Christmas travelers should book between Oct. 26–Dec. 4. Airfare deals can be anywhere from 10–25 percent discounts and, with a family of four, that can be a significant savings.

Where to Shop

Classic booking sites like Expedia, Booking.com, Priceline and Kayak can help significantly by way of comparing prices and doing the heavy lifting of shopping for hotel, flight and car rentals for you, but sites like SkyScanner and AirHelp apps can help you get the best price for flights if you already have a set ride and stay. SkyScanner can be a game-changer in the flight shopping market. Set alerts to get deals on flights and install the app for on-the-go shopping.

Where to Stay

Staying with family and friends over the holidays is, of course, the most affordable option, but not always available. If you can afford to be flexible with where you want to stay, the more you can save. Travelers with more freedom on locale can stay 20–30 percent cheaper than those resigned to a more popular location.

Bundling will always be the most cost-effective course of action, but, beyond that, look into Airbnbs, VRBO and putting those reward points to good use.