5 Tips for Holiday Travel
Traveling over the holidays can be hectic, busy, expensive and stressful, but don’t let a roadside emergency like a flat tire, dead battery or lockout get you down. Whether you’re heading home for the holidays, escaping to a relaxing getaway or headed to visit your family, you can make things less stressful and get some peace of mind with a bit of foresight and some Holiday travel planning.
Tips for Traveling During the Holidays
1. Travel late in the day
You may think waking up a little earlier to hit the road or catch a flight would help you in avoiding crowds, but everyone else has the exact same idea. By traveling at night, you’ll find the roads less congested and airports much less crowded. Remember, the day before a Holiday is the busiest time to travel so be smart when making arrangements!
2. Be prepared
With a little preparation, there’s no need to stress out over potential bumps in the road (both figuratively, and literally). Having a fully charged cellphone can save your day in case of a flat tire or engine trouble. You can call a local car garage to help you out and get you back on the road.
3. Download travel apps
Taking the extra couple minutes to download helpful travel planning apps can help assure you’ll be cool, calm, and collected before and during your travels. Our top picks? GateGuru will keep you up-to-date on flight statuses and security wait times, while GasBuddy allows you to find the cheapest gas prices along your route and maps directions directly to the gas station. With the unnervingly high costs of the holidays, saving in the smallest ways can offset some your year-end expenses.
4. Plan for children
Reuniting families for the holidays can be the most joyous time of the year, but you want to arrive at your destination with your sanity intact. Prepare for long car rides with fun travel-oriented games and bring a portable battery charger for electronic gaming devices; on planes and in cars, you won’t have access to power outlets.
Even if you don’t have kids of your own, given the season it’s likely that you’ll be around families traveling with them at one point or another; on planes or long car rides, ear buds can make the difference between a stressful trip and a and relaxing one.
5. Travel on less popular days
While some schedules may not allow much leeway, try to avoid making trips on high-travel days, like the day before and after Christmas. Inflated hotel rates and high numbers of car accidents can all be costly and cause unexpected delays.
If you’re flying, taking the possibility of severe weather delays into consideration is even more of a reason to depart a day or two earlier than usual. A little extra vacation time never hurt!
