Home Deals Articles Bookmark US Tell A Friend
 

Dollar has low car rental rates

Five Day Trips.com Newsletter Archive

 
December 2007    Should I Book Early or Book Late?

Booking early or booking late depends entirely upon just how flexible you and your schedule are. If your schedule has
no flexibility built into it or if last minute plans drive you up the wall, then booking as early as possible is the best course of action for you to take in order to get the lowest air fares, hotel rates and car rental prices.

There are many advantages of early booking. You usually have your choice of seats on your flight, for one thing.  Another advantage is a choice of rooms at hotels and also a choice in the
kind of car you rent.

Choices diminish in direct proportion to the time before the event and at about the same rate that prices increase the closer to the event reservations are made.

The more specific your needs are, the earlier you need to book. If you have an event such as a wedding, family reunion or firmly scheduled vacation week, you should book as early as possible. The less flexible you are, the less open you can be to special deals.

If, on the other hand, your schedule has a lot of flexibility built into it and you thrive on spontaneity, you will love booking late…and the later the better.

Last minute bookings offer you the opportunity to take full advantage of bargain basement prices for flights to most places in the world. When there are a lot of empty seats on a flight, airlines start cutting prices to fill up seats. The theory is that a little
profit is better than no profit at all.

Maybe you are more flexible than you think. Could you depart the night before?

Cut your vacation by a day (or better yet, extend it)? Consider
alternate and less popular airports, both from your departure city and at your destination. A drive of a couple of hours may yield discounts already sold out at your preferred city.

Those airports also are often served by discount carriers, which might save you even more.

Thank you,

Terry Hudson
www.fivedaytrips.com