Sorry, but you’re probably going to pay 80 percent more for a flight right now.
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Tis the season for holiday travel, and if you haven’t yet booked that flight, here are CheapAir.com CEO Jeff Klee’s tips for last-minute holiday flight booking.
1. Be flexible with your dates. Moving your trip by a day or two can sometimes save you hundreds of dollars. For insight into the days that are usually the least expensive go to http://www.cheapair.com/blog/holiday-flights/still-havent-booked-for-the-holidays-heres-where-you-might-find-some-deals/.
2. Consider taking different airlines in each direction of your trip. Over the holidays when low fare seats are hard to come by, you can often get a much better deal or schedule if you take the best available option each way, even if they’re not on the same airline.
3. If you see a good option, grab it. The price of a flight goes up as more seats get booked (why: http://www.cheapair.com/blog/travel-tips/air-fares-101-why-do-fares-change-all-the-time/). So if you see a good deal now, it very likely won’t be there tonight or tomorrow.
4. Try alternate airports. Sometimes, prices can vary quite a bit from one airport to another, even if those airports are nearby. Do separate searches for all combinations of airports you might be willing to fly from or to see if one is less expensive.
5. Be realistic. At this point, fares for the holidays are running about 80 percent higher than they would be during another time of year. That means, what typically would cost $300 would now cost $540 on average. For especially popular destinations (like anywhere warm) the difference is even higher.
Happy travels!
