NORFOLK, Va. — If you haven't booked your summer vacation, now is the time to start.
Kevin Brasler, a consumer expert with Consumers' Checkbook, said airline, hotel, and rental prices are going up.
"The summer has been expensive for six-plus months now, and it's not going to go back down," said Brasler. "I think, really, if you're trying to find bargains [or] if you're trying to find low airfare, the thing to do is start early."
He advises people to book at least three to four months out for domestic flights. With that logic, if you booked today, you're looking at a trip for July or August.
Anything earlier could be more expensive, though this year has been an unusually expensive year overall. Being flexible will often save you money, Brasler said.
"I once booked a car rental - I was going to go Saturday to Saturday and instead I went Thursday to the following Saturday. It was actually less expensive to do it that way, even though I was adding two days to my rental," Brasler said.
If getting where you want to go is still too expensive, Brasler said to consider changing your destination.
"Instead of going to Paris, consider going to Montreal or Quebec because it's quite a bit less expensive to fly there right now than it is to Europe," he said.
Whether you fly, opt to drive somewhere closer to home, or take a rental car to your hotel or Airbnb, Consumers' Checkbook recommends booking with a credit card.
"When you do that, you get special protections that come from federal law and the credit card companies' policies themselves," Brasler said.
You can also sign up for newsletters like Scott's Cheap Flights, "which sends alerts about international airfare deals several times a week."
Overall, the more flexibility you have, the better your chances are of finding a trip that's more affordable.
Click here for Consumers' Checkbook's 60 travel booking tips.
