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Save Money with Cheap Flights at Christmas #Travel

cheap flights Christmas
Save money on cheap flights Christmas season.

Guest Post:

Pick the right day to fly

Busy airports, crazy-high fares, winter weather delays — are you sure you want to do this? The busiest (and most expensive) travel days of the year are around the holidays. Armed with our fare calendar chart (see below), you’ll save a lot of stress and small stocking of cash by picking the right days to fly.

Rise and shine

Don’t want to miss the carving of the turkey or the unwrapping of presents? Book the earliest flight you can. Sure, you’ve got to wake up early, but those first flights out are the least likely to be delayed, and airports are blessedly calm at those hours if you’re flying with the entire family. Or, fly on the actual holiday. Airports are much less busy, and if you fly early, you’re still there in time for the festivities.

A word about connecting flights

When booking flights with a connection and have a choice of airport, choose the one farther south — less of a chance of a weather delay. And keep in mind that airports will be busier over the holidays, so allow some extra time to connect.

Upgrade your flight

Business travel is slow over the holidays, so those seats taken by business travelers tend to be empty. Look for business class seats on international flights — you might be surprised to find that the upsell for the upgrade is only a couple hundred bucks.

[tweetthis]Can you save money on flights at Christmas? #travel[/tweetthis]

It’s a wrap on pre-wrapping presents

Instead of packing a bunch of presents, consider buying your gifts online and have them shipped to your destination (to your name). Then just pack some gift bags and a sleeve of tissue paper and quickly wrap the presents when you get there.

 

Worried about traffic? Consider the train!

There’s a lot less stress when you’re not the one driving, and there’s no one else on the road. Watch the wintry scenery go by with a warm drink or wine in hand while catching up with your loved ones en route.

Drive day of

Some deal experts swear by this: drive on Christmas Day itself. Gas prices are low so that’s a huge advantage to begin with and if you travel on Dec. 25, the roads will be relatively empty so, unless there’s a storm, you should have a relatively painless trip. You do, however, need to make sure you’ve planned ahead. Check weather conditions, top off your tank on the 24th, and pack a lunch because your fast food options might be a little more limited than usual.

 

Avoid getting hangry

Speaking of food… pack snacks! Assuming that you’re going to have time to grab something at a rest stop/pit-stop/café car is a surefire way to guarantee you won’t. Grab some nuts, a piece of fruit and an empty water bottle before you head out the door to make sure you aren’t hangry when you get to your final destination.

 

If worse comes to worst, think ahead …

Busy holiday travel can occasionally mean chaotic airport runs and oversold flights. If your plans are flexible, capitalize on oversold situations by offering to get on the next flight out — you’ll get a hefty travel voucher and can usually negotiate other perks such as priority lounge access or even a first-class seat on your new flight (based on availability).

Taking a week around Christmas to travel?

Go the week before instead of the week after the holiday. You’ll find deals everywhere — especially on vacation packages, cruises and hotels — and you can enjoy the holiday spirit somewhere new. Holiday flights can be cheaper then too.

 

Christmas and New Year’s Eve across the country

If you don’t want to leave town but are dreading another year of singing ‘Old Lang Syne’ in your living room, why not take advantage of the low fuel prices and to take a road trip to a nearby hotel? Travelzoo.ca has numerous hotel deals that are valid over Christmas and/or New Year’s Eve.

Cyber Monday sales

Good things come to those that wait, and if you can hold out until Cyber Monday, you’ll find that many hotel chains will be offering flash sales, including some holiday and last-minute stays. Subscribe to hotel newsletters so you can get the inside scoop.

I do not run guest posts here, but made an exception for this post because it combines holiday travel and saving money and these are topics close to my heart and to your heart as well. Happy Holidays! Thanks to travel zoo for this guest post. Now go save money on that flight!!

Mom of two beautiful active girls, traveller, fitness junkie, social media consultant, and keeper of the sanity.