My Christmas Flight is Going to Cost WHAT?

If you live far away from your family, you may already be thinking about Holiday travel.  My husband and I booked our Christmas flights last night.  Each Christmas we travel to two locations.  His family lives in Michigan and my family lives in Virginia.  Last year was the first time we flew to both locations (we moved to TX last year).  I thought the price of our tickets last year was high!  I was wrong.....  prices this year have skyrocketed!  I've been checking the price of flights since June and there has been very little movement.  We finally bought the tickets, however, because as we get closer to December, the ticket prices will increase.

As someone who has done this a few times - and who is always looking for deals on travel - here are my suggestions for getting a better deal on holiday travel:

1. Start searching early.  The earlier you book your holiday travel, the cheaper it will be.  Last year I looked a flights on one day... checked again 2 days later and the price went up by $100 per ticket.... a week later, it was up $200 per ticket!

2.  Be flexible on your travel days.  Airlines know that most people travel on the 23rd and return the Sunday after New Years.  Booking your travel a day earlier or later can result in savings!

3.  Two of the travel sites I would strongly recommend are Fly.com and Travelzoo.   Fly.com is a site that compares all of the travel sites that are out there like Expedia, Orbitz, and airline sites.  After using Fly.com, we realized that booking through Delta was cheaper, and we had more flight options, than through Orbitz.  Travelzoo is a website that announces travel deals.  If you sign up, you will get weekly e-mails about weekly specials.  We used this site this past year during our Chicago trip and saved a ton on our hotel (which was on the Mile).  Yesterday Travelzoo sent an e-mail about holiday travel deals.  Click the link above to take a look.

4.  And finally..... take a deep breath!  Flights are significantly higher this year.  You should keep this in mind before seeing the price and freaking out.  My husband and I are spending less on gifts this year because our flights were so expensive.

I hope these tips help you in planning your holiday travel.