Web City Travel

If you’re looking for cheap Christmas travel, then start looking around late November, experts say. “Historically, fares have come down dramatically on the Web the day before Thanksgiving. This will probably happen again this year,” says CBS News travel editor Peter Greenberg. His preferred mode of airline travel is to fly in at 6 or 7 am the morning of the holiday. Greenberg also recommends leaving back home on Saturday, rather than staying the whole weekend like other travelers. “When all your friends and relatives are packed into the local shopping malls, then you fly home on a day that no one is flying,” he explains. Here are some other tips on finding the best flight deals for the holidays.

Brian Clark, senior VP of www.fly.com, warns that airline travel prices are going up closer to the holidays since the airlines have cut capacity due to the recession, which means there will be fewer and fuller flights. For instance, by the last week of October this year, Thanksgiving fares had already jumped 15% compared to the end of September. On average, a 0 round-trip ticket had become a 0 ticket. Travelers can expect the same scenario for Christmas, Clark says. Major airlines are now tacking on an extra holiday travel fee on their busiest days — November 29, January 2 and January 3. Many people can find better deals by flying out on Thursday and returning on Friday or Saturday for better flight deals. He also recommends postponing holiday travel to the Tuesday after New Year’s Day (January 5).

CBS News travel editor Peter Greenberg recently appeared on CBS News with some hints for getting the best deal on airline travel this holiday season. Sign up for price alerts at websites like www.airfarewatchdog.com, which tracks the best deals leaving your departure airport or arriving at your destination. “They update the airfares about 300,000 (times) a day so you’re getting the latest,” Greenberg explains. He also recommends www.farecompare.com, which analyzes historical trends to let you know whether you’re likely to get cheap tickets in the coming weeks or see higher fares. Last-minute sales and deals can be found at www.travelzoo.com, www.shermanstravel.com and www.bookingbuddy.com. Signing up for airline email alerts can also clue you in to some great sales. Airline operators like Southwest and United are also posting news at www.twitter.com. If you need a cheap hotel over the Christmas holiday, be sure to visit www.hotels.com.

When you’re booking your holiday airline travel, you will be faced with the option of booking using a travel search engine like www.kayak.com or www.expedia.com, or phoning a real live person. Seasoned travel veterans prefer to speak to real people on the phone to secure the cheapest airline deals. “The myth is that the entire available inventory is on the web. It’s not. It’s all the inventory travel providers want to release to the web,” explains Peter Greenberg. “That’s where the human being comes in. Talk to one, then negotiate the best deal, and then — don’t purchase it. Hold it for 24 hours, and then use that 24-hour window to surf the web to see if you can beat it; if you can, great. This way you won’t be trapped by going to the web first and buying something you can’t change.”

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