Holiday Travel Advice

In order to be with family and friends during the holidays, millions of Americans travel across the country and around the world every year. While most people are aware that traveling takes time, most people do not always include travel expenses in their holiday budgets, and that could be a big mistake.

To help you out, we've put together some time-saving and money-saving travel tips for the holidays.

Book Travel in Advance

During the holidays, it's important to book your flight in advance to get the best deals. If you wait too long, the prices will go up and you'll end up paying more for your flight. By booking in advance, you can save a lot of money and avoid the hassle of finding a last-minute flight.

Another advantage of booking in advance is that you can typically choose your seat. If you want to be near the exit or have a lot of legroom, it's important to book your flight early. Otherwise, you may not get the seat you want and will have to settle for something else.

Finally, booking in advance gives you peace of mind. You know that your flight is booked and you don't have to worry about it anymore. This allows you to focus on getting ready for your trip instead of worrying about whether or not you'll be able to fly.

So, if you're planning on traveling during the holidays, make sure to book your flight in advance! You'll save money and have a better travel experience overall.

Plan to Stay a Bit Longer

If you can arrive early and stay later at your destination, you will often save a whole lot of money on airfare, gas prices, hotel accommodations, and so on. Traveling during major holidays is an excellent example of this.

Most people want to travel during these times and the prices for almost everything go up. If you can, try to plan your trip so that you're not arriving or departing during these peak times.

Anticipate Delays

The holiday season is a time where many people will be traveling by air. There are a few things that you can do to help anticipate travel delays. 

Make sure you arrive at the airport extra early during the holiday season to avoid delays, bad weather, and crowded airports.

First, make sure that you have your boarding pass and passport ready. Also, check the airport's website to see if there are any delays or cancellations. If you're traveling with children, make sure that you have all of their documents ready as well.

If you're checking luggage, try to pack everything in one bag. This will help to speed up the process at the airport. And lastly, be prepared for long security lines. Make sure that you have your ID and boarding pass ready, and remove all of your jewelry and metal objects before going through the security scanner.

It is a good idea to apply for TSA Pre-check at www.tsa.gov/precheck if you have the time. This will make the security process a lot smoother and faster, too.

Put Your Smartphone to Work

A smartphone is not just a great way to entertain the kids while on a drive or a flight, but also a great way to avoid long check-in lines at airports. By using airline mobile apps, you can check-in in advance and download your boarding pass to your phone or mobile wallet.

Most major airlines now offer mobile apps. If you’re unsure whether your airline offers a mobile app, just search for the airline name and “mobile app” in your app store. A few major airlines that offer mobile apps include Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Hawaiian Airlines, JetBlue Airways, and United Airlines.

When checking in for your flight, make sure you have your passport, boarding pass, and any other required documents ready. You can also take a picture of your boarding pass with your phone and save it to your phone’s photo gallery. This will come in handy if you lose or forget your boarding pass.

If you have an iPhone, you can add your boarding pass to the Wallet app. To do this, open the Wallet app and tap the + button in the top right corner of the screen. Then, select “Add Another Card” and select your airline’s mobile app. Your boarding pass will be added to the Wallet app and you can show it at the airport security checkpoint.

Save the Giftwrap for Later

In just about every holiday movie out there, people show up with their gifts already wrapped. However, there is a good chance that those folks did not need to go through a TSA screening process. You might be asked by TSA to remove and unwrap the package in order to ensure the safety of your flight.

If you want to save yourself time and money by not re-wrapping your gifts upon landing, then buy gift wrap when you arrive and wrap the gifts later. The best thing you can do is give yourself some time to shop when you arrive, or mail all the packages a couple of weeks before you leave.