Autumn is just a few days away, and in the world of travel, that means it's time to book your holiday flights. As early as you think it might be, it's probably already too late to get the cheapest-of-the-cheap fares for Thanksgiving travel, but you may still have a chance at good Christmas/New Year's fares. The Travel Coach has a few tricks up his sleeve that will help you find the best airfares this holiday season.
Remember, a little flexibility can go a long way when it comes to saving money on airfare. Moving your travel dates by just a day or two can often save you hundreds of dollars.
One of the easiest ways to find the most affordable flying days is to use Travelocity's Flexible Fare Finder feature. Just enter your cities and dates as usual, but be sure to check the "+/- 1 to 3 days" option and select from the pull-down menus showing the number of days to search before/after. Travelocity will then present you with the best fares within your specified time period so you can decide whether it's worth it to change your plans slightly. Or try the "Flexible Dates" option, and Travelocity will show you the available fares for an entire month or more.
Expedia also has a new Flexible Dates feature that works a little differently. Here you select the month you want to travel, and the length of your stay. Expedia then shows you a calendar with the cheapest available fares for each day of that month. Although I like the fact that Expedia gives real-time availability of flights to show you how many tickets remain at a certain price, the Flexible Dates feature only works for a limited selection of U.S. cities. Tough luck if you don't live near one of these airports.
Finally, Orbitz offers a "Bonus Days" feature that lets you modify the search period for your travel from =/-1 - 3 days, similar to Travelocity. The site also has something called "Flexible Stays". Using this option, I had Orbitz search for roundtrip airfare for a 5 to 7 day-long trip from San Francisco to Albuquerque between December 21 and December 28...and got fares ranging from $369 to $405. To find either of these features, click on the "Flexible Dates" link at the bottom of the Search box on the Orbitz home page.
Happy Holidays from the Travel Coach!
