DALLAS — As the Labor Day travel season winds down, people with even bigger holiday travel plans for the end of the year are looking for a deal.
Rhonda Anderson landed today at DFW International Airport knowing she could return to the skies soon.
"Last year this time, I was in Jamaica," Rhonda Anderson said, "I looked at a bunch of different airlines and I just go with it. I go with the one that fits the schedule. That's the best price for fitting in with my travel schedule."
Anderson's travel is important because it allows her to connect with family. She just attended a family reunion where she was able to meet some relatives for the first time. Her flight to DFW went perfectly as planned, so she is counting on her return flight to California to be the same. When she books for holiday travel, landing the best deal is important.
Travel expert Julian Kheel urges people to book now for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Kheel is the Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Points Path. His company advises travelers on the best ways to use travel points. In many cases, Kheel informs his clients that timing is everything. He also warns that people who wait until the last minute to plan their travel or vacation usually risk getting the best deal possible. Kheel says there are ways to save money.
Points Path offers free help to people needing basic travel consultation and subscription services that are customized so travel and other services are less of a headache.
"Now is the time to start looking," said Julian Kheel, "if you're trying to put together an entire package first, do a little bit of research and see what those things cost individually."
Just like last year, AAA expects hundreds of people at its Texas Mega Travel Show. The event takes place from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Sept. 21, 2024, at the AAA Coppell Headquarters. The travel show is free, and attendees can meet with travel experts and vendors from all over the world to plan vacations and learn about travel insurance.
Already, AAA considers this Labor Day weekend a good indicator for end-of-year traveling.
"You really want to start thinking about booking now, working with a travel advisor, seeing what kind of deals are out there," Daniel Armbruster said, "and do your homework and, and go ahead and plan."
Dave Martin arrived in Dallas-Fort Worth Monday afternoon. He had no issues during his holiday travels. He credits much of his hassle-free travels to planning.
"We schedule our travel quite a bit in advance. So, I fly a lot on Americans, so that makes it easy to book," Dave Martin said, "A lot of people get stressed out when they're rushing and all they need is just a little bit of preplanning. You don't have to be stressed out. Traveling is stressful enough."
In 2023, AAA says 4 million Texans traveled for Thanksgiving. That was a 2% increase from the previous year. So, this year AAA expects its travel forecast will likely include another year of increases when they publish their predictions this fall. They have seen a steady increase each year since travel started back regularly after the pandemic.
"Those are good indicators that we could see a very strong Thanksgiving," said Daniel Armbruster.
Since there are so many people looking for travel deals, that comes with a warning that scammers will also be looking too according to travel experts. Each year they've seen fraudsters come up with different schemes and offers that are too good to be true. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), people lost $10 billion to scams in 2023. Much of that centered around travelers and identity theft.
Daniel Armbruster said, "Don't just jump on a deal because it sounds good."