Summer travel: 4 peak season savings tips

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Summer vacation: It’s as much a part of those warm, way-too-short months as sunburns, fireflies and lemonade stands. But it’s also peak travel season, which means prices will be a little higher than you’d like. Not to worry, we’ve got a few tips to ensure nothing puts a chill on your summer vacation plans.

1.    Time it right.  The busiest months for summer vacations are June and July. If you can fit your trip in before the kids head back to school in August, you’ll see some savings compared to early summer.

2.    Reap your rewards.  Summer’s higher prices makethis a great season to cash in your loyalty program rewards. In fact, more than half of consumers said they would use credit card points for travel this summer. The new Orbitz Rewards Visa card is one way to go, with up to 10% back in rewards. With the average consumer spending $2,780 on travel and $10,000 on non-travel credit card purchases each year, the Orbitz Rewards Visa card would yield $423 in Orbucks. That translates to 2 or 3 free hotel room nights. Not too shabby.

3.    Be flexible.  Give yourself some leeway with departure dates and even with your destination. Orbitz just made this a little easier by bringing our popular flexible date flight search feature to the app. The feature lets you compare prices up to 2 days before and after your selected date on a smartphone and up to 3 days on a tablet. Just look for thisnew option on the flight search form. If you don’t have the app yet, download it now via the App Store or Google Play, or if you’re on desktop, send it to your phone instantly via our mobile page.

4.    Check out off-season destinations.  42% of consumers told us they will choose a destination based on where the best deals are. Places like Florida, the Caribbean, New Orleans and Las Vegas can be bargains in the summer. Orbitz has a great tool for researching best times to travel and where the hotel deals are. Check out Orbitz Labs to test it out.

Tagged: Family time, Uncategorized