Travel Deal of the Day (Dec. 8, 2006)

You want to travel over the holidays but you have not bought your tickets – should you be worried? Well, despite what you might hear, you may still find a bargain, but you may have to be flexible.

The Deal:
You can find affordable deals over the holidays – the key is flexibility.

How:
1) Check available fares on an aggregator website (See Dec. 7 post). Also, check the websites of the low cost carriers directly such as www.jetblue.com, www.southwest.com, www.frontierairlines.com or www.airtran.com.

2) Try traveling times that others would try to avoid. Traveling Christmas Eve, Christmas Day or New Years Eve may allow you to find deals that others have overlooked.

3) There are often fare sales just before Christmas week that will sell seats that remain unsold. Check out the major airline websites for fare sale notices. Also, use the “flexible dates” search on www.travelocity.com to monitor fares between your home city and your destination.

4) Think about using up some of your frequent flyer miles. Airlines often release unsold seats within two weeks of the date of departure. This is a perfect opportunity to use some of your miles.

5) Check out the last minute travel packages at www.site59.com. The air/hotel and air/car rental specials on Site 59 can be very affordable, even during busy travel periods.