Ah, the Holidays—it’s the most wonderful time of the year! Also the most expensive—especially when you don’t love near your loved ones. When I lived in England, I was privileged to fly home for the holidays. The best part was I didn’t/forgot to tell my parents and it was the best surprise of the year! There’s nothing quite like the presence of your loved ones to make the season bright.

Holiday travel can be awesome or awful. From inflated prices to the hoards of people also flying around the world, there is a lot to navigate when it comes to the adventure of flying during the holidays. Here are a few tips that can help when it comes to booking your travel:

1. Avoid Peak Days: Don’t travel on peak days. Guess what—Everyone is flying those days! They are by far the most expensive days to fly. For Christmas, those days are December 22, 23, and 24. For New Year, it is December 29 and January 2. Look at your schedule to see if you are able to tweak your travel days just a little to get the best price on flights.
2. Travel Early or Late in the Day: Another thing to keep in mind is that the cheapest flights are generally the first and last flights of the day. Don’t be afraid to adjust your sleeping schedule just a bit by flying super early or super late. These are going to be the cheaper flights.
3. Do your research: Use apps like Hopper to find the cheapest days to fly. They will even keep you alerted to when it comes time to buy at the cheapest rate. With Holiday travel, buying sooner rather than later is always advised.
4. Shop Around: When it comes to flying, use those dates you got from Hopper and plug them into a site like skyscanner.com, or go directly to airlines sites. Southwest only posts on their website—so make sure you check southwest.com for the prices they have on flights. Keep in mind, also, that though Southwest is not always the cheapest fare, your bags will always fly for free. That can make all the difference!
5. Send Presents Ahead: If you can get away with it, don’t check a bag. We know the holidays mean lots of presents. Think ahead—use Amazon Prime to ship directly to the people receiving them or the house you will be staying in, or send them ahead of time. It will save you headaches when it comes to sweating your connections or losing your bags. It will save you time, and sometimes it can even save you money!

Make the most of holiday travel with these simple tricks. There are still so many out there, so let me know  some of your favorite tips and ways to save money when it comes to Holiday Travel.

Happy Holidays and happy travel!