Holiday Travel - Already? But it's Still Summer!
Now is the time to start thinking about making air travel arrangements for the holidays. Yes, it's the middle of August and summer is still in full swing. However, if you know that you are planning to travel for any of the holidays between Thanksgiving and New Years, book your flights soon.
Here's the temptation many people who are flying around the holidays may have. They take a look at the current airfares in August for their flight for Thanksgiving, Hanukah, Christmas or New Years. They're high. Airfares are generally higher right now than they have been in years, and airlines charge even more for the peak holiday flights. So people wait to book, hoping that the fares may come down.
However, airlines are flying fewer flights than in years past. Flights get booked up quickly. and they get overbooked. Waiting could mean paying even more for a ticket than the price was in August or it could mean not getting a flight at all.
Here are some tips on booking holiday travel now.
-Shop around for the best deals. Airfare will be pricy for holiday travels, but one airline has got to have the lowest fare. Although air travel needs to be booked soon, there is still time to shop around a bit before you book.
-If it's possible, be flexible on your travel dates. The three or four days immediately before a holiday and after a holiday have the highest fares. If you can fly on the holiday itself or several days before or after, you are likely to get a lower fare.
-Get seat assignments as soon as possible. It's getting harder and harder to get a seat assignment when you book your travel, but it's not impossible. If you can't get a seat assignment immediately, find out from the airline how to go about doing so before your flight.
-Some airlines allow you to check in 24 hours before a flight online, and you can get a seat assignment then. You can also get seat assignments at the self check-in kiosks many airlines have up to 24 hours before your flight. The other option is to check-in in person as early as possible before your flight and get your seat assignment then.
-The longer you wait to check-in, the likelier you are to not get the seat assignment you want (aisle, window, etc.) or risk getting bumped because the flight was overbooked and you didn't have a confirmed seat. Since holiday flights are usually overbooked this is a possibility.
-If you are planning on using frequent flyer rewards for holiday travel, look into it now. Many airlines have black out dates for frequent flyer rewards around the holidays. If they don't have black out dates they may have a very limited number of seats for rewards passengers, and those seats will get filled very quickly. They may be filled already. Realize that there is a possibility you may not be able to use your rewards for your holiday travel.
If you plan carefully now, you can be assured that your holiday air travel plans are secure. You can save your last minutes during the holidays for shopping, not worrying about getting to your destination.
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