Christmas is just a little more than a month away, and an estimated 112 million Americans travel during the holiday. No wonder airlines try to make the most of the peak season and airfares soar up. Luckily, there are some ways to avoid paying a fortune for flight tickets. MyFlightSearch, a Las Vegas-based online travel agency that specializes in offering discount flights, is revealing its best flight-booking tips for travelers to save on airfares.
Travel Light – Save Baggage Fee
Checked baggage can add significantly to your flight cost. If you are traveling alone or just with your partner – fly with carry-ons. This practice will not only save you money, but you will also be able to skip the long lines at the check-in counter. If you are traveling with your family, try to keep your luggage into one suitcase to pay less baggage fees. Many families go on vacation during the Christmas holiday season, and that results in long queues.
Track Flights That are Suitable for You
MyFlightSearch.com advices vacationers to track their favorite flights. You can use the MyFlightSearch website to check flight fares available on different dates. Also, the website has a feature that tells you the cheapest day to fly around your provided departure dates as well as if there are cheaper flights available to or from an alternative origin or destination airport.
Don’t Override the Option of Last Minute Flights
If you haven’t booked your flights well in advance, the chances are that the airfares have gone up. In a situation like that, you can wait for last minute flight deals to come to your rescue. MyFlightSearch, during festive seasons, often publishes last-minute flight deals that are worth the wait. Initially, airlines increase fares to make the maximum profits. Around the festival, if they have many unoccupied seats, they drop the fares. Thus, it’s not always the early birds that catch the warms.
Fly to/from a Less Popular Airport
When you do not have too many days to fly out, your best options are to fly to or from a less popular airport. These secondary or alternative airports may have limited flight options, but they are often way cheaper than their neighbors. For example, Santa Ana is less than an hour’s drive from Los Angeles, and you can save some serious money by flying to Santa Anta rather than LA.
Book Early
This is the golden rule to book cheap flights to anywhere in any season. Booking flights early is perhaps the only certain way to avoid overpaying. As per MyFlightSearch, travelers shall book their flights four to six months in advance when the airfares are the cheapest.