Want the lowest holiday airfares? Book by these dates!

Heads up, holiday travelers. If saving money is important to you, you’ll want to start booking your flights by later this month!

Read more: Guaranteed way to upgrade your flying experience for less than $10

Hurry and book your holiday travel by these dates…

SkyScanner crunched the numbers and found that the single best week to book Thanksgiving travel is going to be the week of Monday, Oct. 31.

They arrived at that conclusion by looking at last year’s pricing data since Thanksgiving fell on Nov. 24, which is the same weekend that it falls this year.

By booking during the week of Oct. 31, you’re likely to lock in potential savings of nearly 8%.

When it comes to Christmas travel, you should aim to book the week of Thanksgiving starting Monday, Nov. 21. By doing that, you get potential savings of more than 6%.

How to save money on flights any time of the year

Follow Clark’s #1 rule of cheap travel

Clark has said it for years, but it bears repeating: Buy the deal first and then figure out why you want to go there!

With that in mind, Kayak Explore lets you find great airfare deals on a budget. You simply select how much you’re willing to pay, and then available destinations in your price range pop up on a world map. You can drill down further by season and month of travel.

Know the best day to buy an airline ticket

Conventional wisdom held that it was Tuesday or Wednesday. Not so anymore, says the Airline Reporting Corporation. (ARC is basically the back office of ticket selling for the nation’s airlines.) Their new recommendation is book on a Sunday as your first choice, followed by Saturday. Weekend airfare shopping is in! Now, this is a general rule; it’s not true for every ticket. But overall, if you’re looking for a cheap fare, why not give it a try?

Keep your eye out for pop-up airfare sales

Be sure to sign up for e-mails from your favorite carriers so you’re in the know about hot airfare sales that sell out quickly. You snooze, you lose!

Tap into the power of social media

Try following airlines on social media because that’s where people are getting some of the lowest fares today. The airlines want to put out unpublished fares that will not be matched by others. Social media lets them attract a customer and not have to compete with each other. It’s a win/win for everybody!

Avoid baggage fees by not checking a bag

Only one discount airline — Southwest — still allows you to check up to two bags without paying a fee even when you buy the cheapest available fare. Of course, not everyone lives in a market served by Southwest. So there’s still one other way to avoid baggage fees no matter which carrier you’re flying: Don’t check a bag.

Consider traveling only with what an airline permits free as a single carry-on — usually a 22x14x8 piece of luggage. You’ll never have to worry about the airline losing your baggage!

Read more: When does it make sense to buy trip insurance?

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