The Cheapest Days To Fly And 12 More Holiday Travel Tips

By Hilary Solan, Travelzoo

Complaints about stressful holiday travel are as old as St. Nick himself. Armed with these tips, you'll be able to pack some holiday cheer (plus unwrapped presents) while en route to grandma's.

1. Pick the right day to fly.

Busy airports, crazy-high fares, winter weather delays -- are you sure you want to do this? The busiest (and most expensive) travel days of the year are around the holidays. You'll save a lot of stress and a small stocking of cash by picking the right days to fly. We also have handy fare calendars to show you the cheapest day to fly on 1000 popular routes.

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2. Rise and shine.

Don't want to miss the carving of the turkey or the unwrapping of presents? Book the earliest flight you can. Sure, you've got to wake up early, but those first flights out are the least likely to be delayed, and airports are blessedly calm at those hours if you're flying with the entire family. Or, fly on the actual holiday. Airports are much less busy, and if you fly early, you're still there in time for the festivities.

3. A word about connecting flights...

When booking flights with a connection and have a choice of airport, choose the one farther south -- less of a chance of a weather delay. And keep in mind that airports will be busier over the holidays, so allow some extra time to connect.

4. Upgrade your flight.

Business travel is slow over the holidays, so those seats taken by business travelers tend to be empty. Look for business class seats on international flights -- you might be surprised to find that the upsell for the upgrade is only a couple hundred bucks.

5. It's a wrap on pre-wrapping presents.

Instead of packing a bunch of presents, consider buying your gifts online and have them shipped to your destination (to your name). Then just pack some gift bags and a sleeve of tissue paper and quickly wrap the presents when you get there.

6. Worried about traffic? Consider the train!

There's a lot less stress when you're not the one driving, and there's no one else on the road. Watch the wintry scenery go by with a warm drink or wine in hand while catching up with your loved ones en route.

7. Drive on the day of.

Some deal experts swear by this: drive on Christmas Day itself. You do need to make sure you've planned ahead and topped off your tank on the 24th, but if you ever want to feel like the freeways are all yours, spend a peaceful day on the road and timeshift your celebrations a little bit. It's completely painless ... but your fast food options might be a little more limited than usual.

8. Avoid getting hangry.

Pack snacks! Assuming that you're going to have time to grab something at a rest stop/pit-stop/café car is a surefire way to guarantee you won't. Grab some nuts, a piece of fruit and an empty water bottle before you head out the door to make sure you aren't hangry when you get to your final destination.

9. If worse comes to worse, think ahead.

Busy holiday travel can occasionally mean chaotic airport runs and oversold flights. If your plans are flexible, capitalize on oversold situations by offering to get on the next flight out -- you'll get a hefty travel voucher and can usually negotiate other perks such as priority lounge access or even a first-class seat on your new flight (based on availability).

10. Speaking of vacations...

For those looking to get away, consider a destination Thanksgiving out of the U.S. It's just a normal Thursday everywhere else -- so hop on an international flight and enjoy the holiday somewhere new.

11. Taking a week around Christmas to travel?

Go the week before instead of the week after the holiday. Deals are all over the place -- especially on vacation packages, cruises and hotels -- and you can enjoy the holiday spirit somewhere new.

12. New Year's Eve across the country...

Manhattan hotel prices skyrocket on New Year's Eve, but the Big Apple is not the only place to celebrate. Philadelphia, Las Vegas, Boston and Burlington, to name a few, host an array of festivities to bring in the new year, and low rates can be found at many of the hotels.

13. Cyber Monday sales.

Good things come to those that wait, and if you can hold out until Cyber Monday, you'll find that many hotel chains will be offering flash sales, including some holiday and last-minute stays. Subscribe to hotel newsletters so you can get the inside scoop, and keep an eye on Travelzoo for the latest and greatest offers.

This post was originally published on Travelzoo.

Hilary Solan is an editor at Travelzoo and based in Chicago. Travelzoo has 250 deal experts from around the world who rigorously research, evaluate and test thousands of deals to find those with true value.

Travelore Tips: Proven Secrets To Booking A Cheap Flight To Europe

As the euro falls against the dollar and the weather warms, now is the time to book a trip across the pond. But a favorable exchange rate won't help you get there for less. That's where we come in. Here are seven tried-and-true booking strategies for nabbing the absolute cheapest flight to Europe.

Depart Wednesday, return Tuesday

We've all heard this sage advice before, but now we have solid proof to corroborate the claim. Kayak's 2015 Travel Hacker Guide cements what was once just a theory: Hop across the pond on a Wednesday and return home on a Tuesday for the absolute cheapest Europe flight.

The OTA giant employed a year's worth of search data to tell us that the least popular days to travel are indeed the cheapest. Debate over. Travel from Wednesday through Tuesday for the biggest savings (and since no one's traveling then, you'll possibly get an empty seat next to you).

Use flight-prediction tools

If your sole goal is to get to Europe this summer regardless of a specific destination, use one of the many flight-prediction tools out there. One such application I recommend is Momondo's handy Trip Finder. Select the departure city, vacation type (city, shopping, nature, nightlife, beach, etc.), continent, month and your budget, and you'll get trip suggestions based on your settings. For example, NYC travelers seeking city life during August will learn that the most affordable flight to the Continent is to Milan. In addition, the Trip Finder tool details the specific days with the cheapest fares, the major carriers with the largest presence in said airport, and the overall most/least expensive times to travel on your chosen route.

Use hubs as launchpads

Milan not at the top of your bucket list? If the cheapest route to Europe isn't to your preferred destination, well golly, consider it anyway. Get to Europe by way of a major gateway city, then take an intra-Europe flight to your final destination. Do the math and you'll find that this is often quite cost-effective. Consider RyanAir, easyJet and the like, but beware of the carriers' plentiful fees for everything from carrying on bags to printing boarding passes at airports.

Book six months out

Here's another helpful tip from Kayak's annual Travel Hacker guide: Europe flights are cheapest when booked six months out. While that's not necessarily true for off-peak seasons, it's especially sound advice for flights during the destination's peak season—in the case of Europe travel, summertime, specifically July and August.

And remember, flights are refundable when canceled within 24 hours, so keep a vigilant eye that day after booking.

Travel during the tail end of summer

Speaking of peak season, avoid it whenever possible—at least for your wallet's sake. This is a general tip that applies to all travel, regardless of destination, including to costly Europe.

If you absolutely must go to Europe during summertime, however, aim for the tail end of the season, say, a few weeks before or after Memorial Day and Labor Day, though not directly during those holiday weekends. This sweet spot is still peak season, yet it's a wee bit more reasonably priced—and less crowded than primetime in July and August.

Follow the lowest fare, but buyer beware

Ultra-low-cost carriers like Spirit and Allegiant changed the game in the airfare world. They not only created competition, which automatically lowers fares, but they also introduced the pricing model of offering dirt-cheap flights by making bank with ancillary fees. Following a similar model to this is Icelandic low-cost carrier WOW, which drastically discounts popular transcontinental flights from the East Coast to Europe. For example, WOW recently offered flights from Newark to Paris for $322 each way in May.

If the routes are a fit, peruse foreign low-cost carriers like WOW for Europe travel, but proceed with caution. The savings gained in airfare may be lost in fees. Round-trip fees for a single bag range from $134 when paid during the airfare-booking transaction to as much as $248 at the airport gate—ouch! Then there are fees for seat selection, oversized bags and so on.

Get two vacations for the price of one

What's better than a vacation to a European city? Why, a vacation to two European cities or even three, of course! Get the biggest bang for your buck by booking Europe flights with flagship carriers that offer free stopovers, even for multiday layovers. Features Editor Caroline Costello details the various airlines that offer free stopovers; among them are Icelandair with stopovers in Reykjavik, Turkish Airlines with stopovers in Istanbul, Air France with stopovers in Paris, and Finnair with stopovers in Helsinki.

READ THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE: Secrets to booking the cheapest summer Europe flight ever