Experts say now is the time to book your holiday travel
It might be hard to start thinking about a winter trip when we're technically still in the summer season.
But if you want to save money, you should start thinking about your holiday travel plans right now.
Sometimes procrastinators can save on airfare by getting last-minute deals but not when it comes to holiday travel.
In fact, finance magazine Kiplinger reports the lowest airfare prices may be gone.
Based on last year's data, the best time to buy plane tickets for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Eve was the week of August 10th.
The CEO of the travel site FareCompare estimates that starting in September, prices go up by as much as $3 dollars each day you wait to buy and can go up as much as $5 dollars a day in October.
Expect to pay the most anytime after the first week of November.
And what days you fly will have a big impact on how much you pay.
"The two busiest days of the year bar none are the Wednesday before and the Sunday after Thanksgiving," said one expert. "Actually the very cheapest day to leave is Thanksgiving morning. I've done that a few times."
The same goes for flying out on Christmas Day and New Year's.
And as far as the Thanksgiving holiday goes, returning the following Tuesday will save you some bucks.
But no matter what days you plan to travel for the holidays - book soon. And even after you book, pay attention to airfares and hotel rates.
Yapta alerts you if the price of your airfare has dropped.
Then you can try to claim a refund from the airline or cancel and buy a new ticket if the price drop outweighs the cost of the ticket change fee.
If you book a "price drop room" through Tingo, the website will automatically refund your credit card if the price goes down.
Tingo will also let you know if prices change on other rooms in your hotel so you can trade up for free.
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