Some families spend their entire year’s travel budget just on Christmas or New Years travel alone. If you are scrimping and saving trying to figure out how you are going to afford traveling this year, then you are not alone. Luckily, there are some easy ways to save on holiday travel.
Ways To Save on Holiday Travel
1. Make Reservations Early
You can save on airfare and hotels by making your reservations early. Waiting until the last minute can cost you big time when it comes to airfare. Typically, the closer it gets to the date of departure, the more airlines raise their prices. Do a little bit of shopping around and if you find an airfare that fits your budget, make sure you book it quickly before the price goes up. If you aren’t a planner check out our Last Minute Cruise Deals and see if there is any space available on a cruise.
2. Check Your Credit Card Rewards
Check credit card points for discounts that you can use towards traveling and bonus mile offers on future trips. Also check with your bank for cashback rewards and get a percentage back. Rakuten also has some great cash back offers on travel and online stores. Sign up for free to become a new member using this get cash back link.
3. Research Your Flights
If you need to book airfare, make sure and use comparison sites like Hopper, Skyscanner, and Google Flights to make sure you are getting the best rates. Keep in mind that some airlines like Jet Blue, Spirit, and Southwest are not always included as options, so check them directly to see if they fly out of your area. Make sure to pay attention is baggage is included because low fares usually do not include it and it can add $45+ per person to the total. Hopper offers Price Freeze for a small fee so you can freeze the price you are interested in and come back later to book it.
4. Be Creative With Your Airfare
Recently when I traveled, I found that it was actually cheaper to book two one-way tickets with two different airlines rather than booking a round-trip ticket with one airline. If you are looking for plane tickets, but are not finding the departure or arrival times you want or are just discouraged with the prices of airfare, get creative. Search one-way tickets with different airlines or arrive/depart at cities that are a little farther from your destination than preferred airports for an opportunity to save big on flights.
5. Don’t Stay At A Hotel
One of the biggest expenses you can incur while traveling is staying at a hotel. If you can, try to stay with your friends or family this holiday season. Even if they don’t have an extra bed, you can always get a blowup mattress rather inexpensively. If you don’t mind not having privacy and are just looking to save a buck, this might be a great option for you and will allow you to get a lot of quality time with your loved ones as well. If you don’t have family or friends in the area, you might consider Hotwire. You won’t know what hotel you’ll get until after you pay, but you can see the location and amenities offered at that property. Priceline is another option where you can name your own price and make a bid on hotels. For last minute reservations, another useful app is Hotel Tonight. You can book up to 7 nights in advance and get a list of hotels with last-minute deals for the region you are visiting.
6. Use Public Transportation
Don’t want to spend hundreds of dollars on a rental car while traveling? Use public transportation as much as you can. Many cities have a variety of buses, subways, or trains that you can take at a low cost. Even a taxi or Uber might be a viable option if you are not going a long distance.
7. Ship Gifts
Don’t pay for extra luggage fees with the airline. Shop in advance and have the gifts shipped to where you are going or do store pick up when you arrive. Make sure to check for shipping deadlines.
