- Start with Priceline's holiday travel advice calendar -- go to the boxes on the bottom left above which the text reads, "lowest fares for holiday travel" and enter your cities in the popup menu and see which days are the best holiday travel days (as in cheapest). We used Atlanta and Boston (above), and the calendar shows us that November 26 and 29 are peak travel days (red $$$ above); November 18-21 and 24-25 are "off-peak" airfare days (yellow $$ above), though still spendier than normal, and November 27 (Thanksgiving) and 28 are low / normal fare days (green box above). Prices must be checked for November 22 and 30, and they were heinously expensive with any option we tried. So - choose one of those "normal fare" days to begin and end your travel... but first, compare! (Note that the online calendar is not very complete yet, as of 11/3/2009, for November or December 2009.)
- Compare the costs above to that of a student airfare provider (check this week's current student airfare deals, too). We found a student airfare from STA for $141.70. And we found one for $166.70 from STA on Wednesday! Compare that to $227 from Priceline for Wednesday above -- yeah, student airfares rule. (More about that on the next page).
About's Guide to Budget Travel, Mark Kahler, points out that you may find a great deal at a smallish airport. He uses a Cincinnati-Birmingham example -- by driving 100 miles to Lousiville, KY, instead of using the Cincinnati airport, he saves $218 (from $306 to $88 round trip). Wow - drive a little and save a lot.
Go on to the next page for more about student airfares, including standby: 1 2 3 4 5
