Holiday Travel - Already? But it's Still
Summer!
by Jawahn Thompson
Now is the time to start thinking about
making air travel arrangements for the holidays. Yes, it's the middle of
August and summer is still in full swing. However, if you know that you
are planning to travel for any of the holidays between Thanksgiving and
New Years, book your flights soon.
Here's the temptation many people who are
flying around the holidays may have. They take a look at the current
airfares in August for their flight for Thanksgiving, Hanukah, Christmas
or New Years. They're high. Airfares are generally higher right now than
they have been in years, and airlines charge even more for the peak
holiday flights. So people wait to book, hoping that the fares may come
down.
However, airlines are flying fewer
flights than in years past. Flights get booked up quickly. and they get
overbooked. Waiting could mean paying even more for a ticket than the
price was in August or it could mean not getting a flight at all.
Here are some tips on booking holiday
travel now. -Shop around for the best deals. Airfare will be pricey for
holiday travels, but one airline has got to have the lowest fare.
Although air travel needs to be booked soon, there is still time to shop
around a bit before you book.
-If it's possible, be flexible on your
travel dates. The three or four days immediately before a holiday and
after a holiday have the highest fares. If you can fly on the holiday
itself or several days before or after, you are likely to get a lower
fare.
-Get seat assignments as soon as
possible. It's getting harder and harder to get a seat assignment when
you book your travel, but it's not impossible. If you can't get a seat
assignment immediately, find out from the airline how to go about doing
so before your flight.
-Some airlines allow you to check in 24
hours before a flight online, and you can get a seat assignment then.
You can also get seat assignments at the self check-in kiosks many
airlines have up to 24 hours before your flight. The other option is to
check-in in person as early as possible before your flight and get your
seat assignment then.
-The longer you wait to check-in, the
likelier you are to not get the seat assignment you want (aisle, window,
etc.) or risk getting bumped because the flight was overbooked and you
didn't have a confirmed seat. Since holiday flights are usually
overbooked this is a possibility.
-If you are planning on using frequent
flyer rewards for holiday travel, look into it now. Many airlines have
black out dates for frequent flyer rewards around the holidays. If they
don't have black out dates they may have a very limited number of seats
for rewards passengers, and those seats will get filled very quickly.
They may be filled already. Realize that there is a possibility you may
not be able to use your rewards for your holiday travel.
If you plan carefully now, you can be
assured that your holiday air travel plans are secure. You can save your
last minutes during the holidays for shopping, not worrying about
getting to your destination.
About the Author
The daily Travel air is a website that
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