Before you book your next vacation, be sure to follow these travel tips to save money!
A new report from the travel booking platform Hopper reveals some of the best ways to save money on your upcoming travels.
And right now is a great time to book your next trip, with airfare to popular destinations like Mexico and Central America down nearly 10% compared to 2023.
Here are the top five ways to save money on travel right now.
1. Fly On Cheaper Days
There’s a common travel hack that it’s cheaper to book flights on a Tuesday… but that’s not actually the case! It doesn’t matter what day you book your flight, but what day you travel on is actually of importance.
And it’s true that weekday flights are cheaper!
According to Hopper, flying on a weekday is less expensive than flying on a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. You can save as much as 15% on airfare by choosing a weekday departure!
For most destinations, the cheapest days to fly are Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
If you can make it work with your schedule, departing on one of these days can save you a significant amount of money on airfare.
2. Travel During Cheaper Months
Just like there are cheaper days to travel, there are also cheaper months to travel. Airfare, hotels, rental cars, and more are typically less expensive if you travel during off-peak months.
The cheapest months to visit many popular destinations are January, February, September, and October.
Traveling to Mexico, the Caribbean, or warm U.S. destinations during January and February is a great way to avoid elevated spring break prices (and crowds.)
Similarly, you can avoid the peak summer prices and crowds in many popular European destinations like France, Italy, and Greece by traveling during September and October instead.
3. Avoid Weekend Premiums
As we mentioned above, flying over the weekend is more expensive… and so are weekend hotel stays!
In fact, most places charge a “weekend premium” for hotels on Friday and Saturday nights.
Prices are 20% to 23% higher on these nights compared to weeknights.
Visitors to Las Vegas will pay a whopping 96% premium on weekend stays, and it’s similarly high at 76% for Chicago and 60% for Miami. It’s the same story when you travel abroad: weekend stays in London carry a 25% premium, and it’s 22% for Paris.
If you can make a mid-week stay work, you’re likely to save a ton of money on hotel costs.
4. Book At The Right Time
According to Hopper, you should start monitoring prices for domestic flights 3-4 months in advance. The best booking window is 1-2 months in advance, but don’t wait too long — prices can skyrocket 3 weeks before your departure date!
For international flights, you might want to start monitoring airfare even sooner (around 7-8 months in advance.) For flights to Asia to Oceania, the prime booking window is 5-7 months in advance, while you can 3-6 months ahead of time for all other regions.
You can use a tool like Hopper’s Price Watch or Google Flights alerts to monitor specific dates and routes for changes in airfare.
5. Consider Destination Dupes
Destination dupes are one of the biggest travel trends for 2024.
As the name suggests, these dupes are comparable (and usually significantly less expensive) alternatives to popular but pricy destinations.
Based on Hopper’s data, Portugal is a great dupe for many European destinations, with airfare that is typically hundreds of dollars cheaper than flights to London, Paris, or Barcelona.
Additionally, travelers should consider Caribbean destinations like Puerto Rico or the Bahamas instead of pricier destinations like Turks and Caicos or St. Lucia.
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