Air travel is expensive. But I’m not telling you something you don’t already know. There are many ways to save money on air travel - some of them will save you a little, some will save you a lot. Before you book your next trip, see if any of these money savings tips are options for you.

• Consider flying out of another airport. Sometimes the nearest airport does not have the best rates. Checking the rates at one or two of the next nearest airportsmay yield better airfare rates than the airport that is closest to you. It may be worth it to travel an extra hour to the airport to save hundreds of dollars.

• If you have a trip planned for the future, butyou aren’t ready to order your tickets yet, sign up for e-mail alerts from all of the airlines that fly from the airport(s) near you to your destination. You never know when an airline may be running a special to your exact destination.

• If you are ready to order your tickets, order them as far in advance as possible. The cheapest airfares sell out quickly. The closer to the flight you buy your tickets; the more expensive the tickets are likely to be. This is especially true around the holidays.

• If you are booking travel during the holidays, consider flying on the holiday itself. The days prior to a holiday, airfares can be the highest they are all year. If you can fly on the day of the holiday, you can get some of the lowest airfares of the year. If you do decide to book on the holiday, try to book as early in the day as possible in case there are any delays so you don’t miss the holiday festivities once you get to your destination.

• If you are phoning the airline directly for your tickets, ask for the cheapest fare, not just the fare for coach. There may be a cheaper fare in a better seat, but you’ll never know if you don’t ask.

• Fly on the off days. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and sometimes Saturday are considered the off days (unless it’s around a holiday). If you can fly to and from your destination on those days, you are much more likely to get cheaper flights.

• Check out the fares on red-eye flights. Those flights don’t sell out as quickly as other flights and therefore may have less expensive fares. Sure, if money were no object, the red-eye probably wouldn’t be your first choice, but then again you may sleep your way through the whole flight. That’s always a good way to spend a flight. And if you combine flying on the off days with flying a red-eye on an off day, you may get a real deal.

• Do your homework by comparing rates on the different websites. Travelocity, Priceline, Expedia, Orbitz, Cheap Tickets and many other websites have discounted airline tickets as well as discounts on hotels, car rentals, and other things related to travel. Take the time to check out the rates for each website each time you book your travel.

• While you are doing your homework, don’t forget to check out the airline’s websites. Sometimes the airline’s websites have even better deals than the discount sites. All this homework takes some time, but it will pay off in the end with big savings.

• Go outside your comfort zone. You may be used to always flying the same big airline, but if you consider one of the newer smaller airlines, you may be surprised at the savings you can grab.

• Before you book your tickets, make sure that the price you have includes all fees and taxes. If you’re not getting the full price of the tickets including fees and taxes, you may not actually be booking the least expensive airfare.

Now that you’ve saved money on your airfare, there are some things that you can do to help save money in other areas of your flight.

• Find out what the maximum luggage weight is for the airline you are traveling, and make sure you don’t exceed it. If you check in luggage that is over the weight limit, the airline can charge you a fee for each bag that is over the limit.

• If you are driving to the airport, plan to leave early enough so that you can park at one of the off site parking facilities that are close to the airport.

• Ifyou’ve got a college age niece or nephew, next door neighbor or someone in that age range who lives nearby ask them to drive you to and from the airport. You can pay them $25 each way and save a bundle on airport parking, and get door to door service to the airport.

• Take your own snacks. If your airline does serve food, they may charge for it, and chances are it won’t be very good. You also won’t be tempted to pay the high price for the snacks you buy at the concessions after security because you’ll already have what you’ll need on the plane.

• Same goes for your reading materials. Bring your own that you already have at home instead of buying them from the airport stores. A flight is the perfect time to read that book you’ve been meaning to read.

This article on holiday travel has bee brought to you by daily travel air.

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Ah, the hype the advertising executives will come up with to get your attention. Gigantinormous. Gigantic and Enormous all rolled into one. Travelocity coined a new word just to get your attention. Aren’t they clever. They are having a Gigantinormous sale.

• You save $100 instantly off your reservations when you book one of their Flight+Hotel TotalTrip packages or one of their Last Minute Deals packages. The reservations must be for two people or more and there is a three night or longer stay required.
• The package must be booked by November 16, 2006 and travel must be done before January 7, 2007.
• To get the $100 discount, you need to enter the promotional code GIANTSALE when checking out.
• After you make your reservations for your initial travel, Travelocity will send you another promotional code good for $200 off your next qualifying Flight+Hotel TotalTrip package for two or more people with a minimum stay of five nights.
• To take advantage of the $200 off offer, you must book by March 31, 2007 and the trip must be taken by July 31, 2007.

So it’s time to do a little comparison shopping. How does their Gigantinormous sale hold up against their competitor’s prices? Since I’m wondering if this is a way to save on holiday travel, I’m going to find the price for a fictional family of four (2 adults plus 2 kids - ages 5 and to fly from Chicago to Philadelphia for Christmas.

Travelocity’s Deal

Plane Reservations - American Airlines leaving Chicago O’Hare at 10:55pm on December 23rd, direct flight to Philadelphia International; American Airlines leaving Philadelphia International at 11am on December 29th, direct flight to Chicago O’Hare

Hotel Reservations - Best Western in Center City - one room, two double beds

Travelocity’s bottom line after Gigantinormous discount $1568.01 for flight, hotel, taxes and fees.

Expedia’s Deal

Plane Reservations - American Airlines leaving Chicago O’Hare at 12:40pm on December 23rd, direct flight to Philadelphia International; American Airlines leaving Philadelphia International at 4:15pm on December 29th, direct flight to Chicago O’Hare.

Hotel Reservations - Expedia could not get me reservations at my hotel of choice Best Western in Center City - so I choose a comparable three star hotel in Center City - Club Quarters.

Expedia’s bottom line - $1,760.58 for flight, hotel, taxes and fees. Almost a full $200 more than Travelocity’s price.

Hotwire’s Deal

Plane Reservations - American Airlines leaving Chicago O’Hare at 2:15pm on December 23rd, direct flight to Philadelphia International; American Airlines leaving Philadelphia International at 8am on December 29th, direct flight to Chicago O’Hare.

Hotel Reservations - Hotwire could not get me reservations at my hotel of choice Best Western in Center City - so I choose a comparable three star hotel in Center City - Doubletree Inn

Hotwire’s bottom line - $1864.00 for flight, hotel, taxes and fees. Almost a full $200 more than Travelocity’s price. Almost a full $300 more than Travelocity’s price.

Priceline’s Deal

Priceline’s best price with undisclosed flight details (including a possible plane transfer) and a comparable three star hotel in Center City was $1,659 for flight, hotel, taxes and fees.

The winner - Travelocity by a Gigantinormous $200-$400 savings.

Now, the savings are just on the initial trip booked with Travelocity. If you add the additional $200 savings on a future trip booked with Travelocity the savings may be even greater. Of course, any wise traveler would comparison shop even with the $200 discount.

US Air’s Offer - Not Quite Gigantinormous, but a Savings Non-the-Less

US Airways is extending an invitation to its frequent flyers to escape from the chilly fall weather to the warmer climate of the Caribbean, Mexico or Central America. They have special fares to these destinations if you book now and travel before December 15th. There is a minimum three night stay associated with the offer.

In addition, you will receive a $25 gift card for each seat booked that can be used for a later flight with US Airways or one of its affiliates. The e-mail said that this offer is only good for members of their frequent flyer program.

So it seems as if this season’s deals are coming in the form of save a little now, save a little more later. The deals may be truly good for those who are planning to travel both sometime this fall and again later on in the year or early next year.

This article on discount travel packages has been brought to you by daily air travel.

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