Strategies for Saving Money on Travel

The following is a guest post. See the end of the article for details on the author.

We’re in the last days of summer-- travel’s peak season--and now is a great time to start thinking about ways to save money on travel this Fall.  High gas prices, rising hotel rates and packed airlines make it more challenging to find a travel deal these days, but there are still lots of ways to save money.  I’m lucky to work in the travel industry and see trends and opportunities that the average consumer doesn’t.  But I’m happy to share what I’ve learned!  Here are eight easy tips to help you steal a deal the next time you travel.

• Book hotels just before or after holidays.  One of the best times to book hotels is the weekend before or the weekend after a major holiday such as Labor Day weekend or Memorial Day weekend.  Fewer people are likely to travel at these times so hoteliers are eager to fill up their beds.  Another good time is the period between Thanksgiving and the holidays. 

• Take advantage of “upfleeting” and “downfleeting.”  For car rentals, the two best times to get really great deals are September and May.  In both months, they have more cars on the lot than necessary, so they lower prices.   In September, the rental car companies are going through “downfleeting” whereby they sell off excess inventory in preparation for the lower demand during winter.  In May, they go through “upfleeting” when they purchase additional cars in anticipation of the summer season. 

• Be flexible with airfares.  For great airfares, it’s a little trickier these days.  Check out alternative airports to see how that impacts the fares.  FMF had success using this strategy when planning his Disneyland trip.  Use online tools to see if there are savings flying on alternative dates.  The best time to look for airfares is on Tuesdays and Wednesdays when many airlines release special fares and promotions.

• Be the contrarian.  Where there are crowds, there are high prices.  Head for the mountains when everyone else is going to the beach.  Go to Vegas midweek or in summertime.  Enjoy a city break over a weekend.  Go to Europe in October when the weather can still be mild but the prices drop significantly.  Visit our nation’s capital in August when DC empties out..

• Let the deal decide the destination.  Sign up for a deals newsletter by email.  If you’ve got vacation days stored up, watch for a deal that’s right for you and then jump on it as soon as you see it.  These kinds of deals sell out fast. If the price is right, a beach vacation will be a blast whether it’s in Hawaii or the Caribbean.

• Alternatively, plan the best time to visit your dream destination.  You can research the best time to visit a destination based on historical flight and hotel prices online.  Remember that the hotel prices are particularly important as people often focus on flight prices and forget that the total hotel cost can often be more than the flight.

• Check out the best value vacation cities in America. Hotwire did the analysis and uncovered the 10 U.S. cities that offer the best combination of discount travel, affordable entertainment and overall appeal.  The top three are Atlanta, Dallas-Fort Worth and Raleigh-Durham.

Barbara Messing is the travel expert at discount travel site, Hotwire.com.  Hotwire has exclusive contracts with major travel providers to help them fill airline seats, hotel rooms and rental cars that would otherwise be unsold.  Because certain details (like exact hotel name) are not shown until after purchase, hotel, airline and rental car partners give Hotwire negotiated prices not available anywhere else.