The fastest way to secure winter travel deals

As a resident of the gray, cold Midwest, booking cheap winter vacations is a passion of mine. Sometimes you just have to get out of the house and fly far, far away. I had the happiest vacation during the winter.

Winter travel deals are often easier to find than you might think. A good winter trip doesn’t necessarily have to involve going to the beach or taking a cruise. Whether you’re looking to visit a big city, travel to another country, or opt for an all-inclusive vacation package at a resort, you’ll find great winter travel deals.

Let’s take a look at two quick and easy strategies you can start using today to book your winter travel deals.

1. Start with Google Flights and Skyscanner

Saving money on winter travel often starts with booking cheap flights. If you can get a cheap plane ticket to warm weather or a big city you’ve been wanting to visit, it’s often worth splurging a little on a hotel for the rest of your trip. , restaurant and other expenses.

The two most popular tools for searching for cheap flights are Google Flights and Skyscanner. One of the reasons these two tools are so powerful is that you can use them both to search for cheap flights anywhere without having to choose a specific destination. If you have the flexibility to choose where you want to visit, these tools can open up a world of possibilities.

Google Flights and Skyscanner also allow you to search by flexible date. For example, I used Skyscanner to search for flights from my hometown of Des Moines, Iowa to ‘anywhere’ with flexible dates during the month of January 2024. Skyscanner quickly provided a variety of cheap flights to places I had never imagined, including Puerto Rico ($164) and Jamaica ($289).

Using Skyscanner in this way is a great opportunity to get inspiration and ideas for your next winter travel experience. (“Want to go to Jamaica in January? Sure. Why not? I can’t afford not to go there because $289!”) If you’re flexible with your dates and willing to explore new places, you can quickly score cheap flight deals. You can figure it out and go from there.

2. Use travel services (some are worth paying for)

Another quick, easy, and often free way to secure winter travel deals is to use a travel deal service. There are many such websites in the market, most of them are free but some charge subscription fees.

One advantage of travel package services is that they offer last-minute deals. Sometimes airlines, hotels, and resorts offer the best deals to people who book at the last minute. To prevent that stock from going to waste.

Here are a few websites worth checking out for some tempting deals on winter travel:

Going™ (formerly Scott’s Cheap Flight)

“Going” is a difficult but well-known travel product service for Google. This allows you to set up flight alerts. Go to Going.com, provide the name of your home airport, and you’ll receive an email with amazing discounts on ultra-low-cost flights, like 40%-90% off regular airfares. . Some of the recent deals advertised on Going.com include:

• Boston to Reykjavik $100
• New York to Barcelona $282
• Los Angeles to Athens $460

Going™ has a free membership, but if you want more deals with faster availability, you can sign up for a Premium Membership ($49 per year) or Elite Membership ($199 per year). Premium allows you to take advantage of incredibly cheap mistake fares (when an airline mistakenly lists a flight at a ridiculously low price but still has to honor the incorrect fare).Elite lets you see cheap flights in business class.

dollar flight club

This is another cheap flight alert service. Dollar Flight Club will send you emails whenever deeply discounted flight deals (up to 90% off) appear at the airport of your choice. Here are some of the recent deals offered by Dollar Flight Club:

• Round trip to Greece: $320
• Round trip to Banff, Canada: $190
• Costa Rica round trip $210

You can join Dollar Flight Club for free. They also offer a Premium Membership for $69 per year (which allows for additional deals like Price Mistakes and other amazingly cheap flights) and a Premium Plus+ for $169 per year (for business class flights only).

Travel Zoo

I used to subscribe to Travelzoo when it was just an email newsletter. But now it’s a sophisticated website where you can find a variety of affordable holiday deals. It’s like window shopping for winter travel deals. Travelzoo membership used to be free, but will now cost $40 per year (starting January 1, 2024).

When I searched Travelzoo to find last minute winter travel deals, I quickly discovered some interesting options:

• Türkiye: One-week guided tour starting at $1,070
• Cancun, Mexico: 4-night getaway at all-inclusive resort (starts at $1,139, including airfare)
• Japan: 10-night trip, airfare and hotel included, starting at $2,999

Another benefit of a travel package service like Travelzoo is that their website quickly displays a variety of vacation packages, such as cruises, tours, or all-inclusive resorts. Sometimes it’s quicker and cheaper to buy a great winter getaway that has your entire vacation planned out.

gist: Looking for great winter travel deals? Get started now. You can actively search for your own cheap flights on Google Flights and Skyscanner. Or just kick back, grab your credit card, and get great deals through travel search services and cheap airfare email alerts. Your next great vacation awaits!

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