Holiday travel is known as a huge hassle. Everyone has the
stories of waiting in the endless lines at the airport, lost luggage, delayed
flights and backed up lines going through security due to the packages everyone
is carrying on board. Well, I can’t do anything about that! However, I can give
you some tips to make the booking process go slightly smoother and hopefully
give you one less headache this holiday season!
Here are my tips:
·
Book Early
I generally suggest booking your holiday
travel as far out as possible. The prices during the holidays are always going
to be higher, but they will be a little bit higher 6 months out but MUCH higher
6 weeks out!
·
Try to Be Flexible with your dates
I realize this isn’t possible for everyone,
but the more flexibility you have the greater your chance is of finding a
flight that is reasonable. For example: the Wednesday before Thanksgiving is
the WORST day of the year to travel. Traveling on Thanksgiving Day itself is
generally more affordable and easier. There are fewer people, no lines and
fewer delays. Plus, if you get a morning
flight you can make it to your destination in time for Thanksgiving Dinner!
Plus, it gets you off the hook for helping prepare the meal ;-)
·
Be Careful with Connections
When booking flights during the holiday
season be extra careful of your connections and make sure you have enough time
between flights. Flights during the
Holidays are often delayed and you don’t want to arrive in your connecting city
to find out that you’ve missed your connecting flight. Avoiding tight
connections may save you the hassle of having to get moved to another flight or
having 10 minutes to sprint through 4 terminals while carrying Christmas gifts
for 30 people…. arriving at your connecting flight covered in sweat and so
miserable that you make the Grinch seem like Santa. My advice is no less than a 2 hour connection
during holidays.
·
Arrive at the Airport Early
Most of us have navigated our home airports
enough to know the minimum amount of time we need to be at the airport before a
flight. During the holidays, these rules DO NOT apply. Example: If you
generally get to the airport 1 hour before your flight plan 2 hours for holiday
flights. If you generally get to the airport 1.5 hours prior to a flight plan 3
hours for Holiday flights…Catch my drift? The security lines are longer, more
people are checking bags, more children are travelling, etc.
·
The Early Bird Catches the Worm
As a general rule of thumb not just for
holiday travel, but anytime time of year is early morning flights tend to be on
time more than flights later in the day. So if you can get out on the first
flight of the day.
I hope these tips help make your holiday
travel a little less stressful! If you have any questions about your holiday
travel plans do not hesitate in contacting me!
Bon Voyage!
