

Traveling can be expensive, but Melanie Fish, travel expert for Expedia, says being flexible and strategic can prevent you from breaking the bank on your next trip.
Thorough planning could be the difference between a trip’s big price tag and big savings.
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“We had a whole doc planned out and everything and had all of our money set to the side,” Luke Brumley said about his recent vacation to Toronto with friends.
AdvertisementAdvertisement#«R16ekkr8lb2m7nfddbH1» iframe AdvertisementAdvertisement#«R26ekkr8lb2m7nfddbH1» iframeHowever, Fish told Channel 9’s Erika Jackson that some tips you read online could end up costing you more money.
“Expedia decided, okay, let’s put the myths to the test,” she said. “They crunch all the data year after year, and they come up with the Expedia Air Hacks Report.”
She says planning your trip doesn’t have to be difficult or expensive.
“One of the travel myths the Expedia Air Hacks Report busted is that summer is the most expensive time to travel, absolutely not,“ Fish said. ”Turns out August is actually the cheapest month to travel, so go ahead, take that summer vacation!”
Fish said you can save big depending on when you book and when you travel.
AdvertisementAdvertisement#«R1cekkr8lb2m7nfddbH1» iframe AdvertisementAdvertisement#«R2cekkr8lb2m7nfddbH1» iframe“Sunday is the cheapest day to book and Thursday is the cheapest day to travel,” she said. “You can save up to 17% over the busiest times to book and the busiest times to travel.”
If you’re booking a domestic flight, Fish said you should do it six to nine weeks out from your departure date.
“But here’s something tricky,” she said. “When you’re working with data, it also shows that the cheapest international flights were like, two weeks before the flight date.”
Fish says that’s likely because airlines are trying to fill empty seats for long flights, what she calls a high risk, high reward method.
Websites like Expedia, Google Flights, and Kayak provide calendars with the cheapest dates to travel, and tools like PointsYeah show the best options for those using airline miles.
AdvertisementAdvertisement#«R1jekkr8lb2m7nfddbH1» iframe AdvertisementAdvertisement#«R2jekkr8lb2m7nfddbH1» iframeMaxwell Koch often travels to Philadelphia to visit his girlfriend. He says cheap flights are out there if know where to look.
“I feel like traveling you have to do your own digging to find cheaper alternatives,” he said.
Fish recommends using every online resource you can find because they’ll save you money and time.
“You don’t have to remember these air hacks to really get value,” she said. “Let technology do it for you.”
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