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Getting Bumped From Your Flight? Here’s How to Get Paid

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Bad news turns into good news once you realize you can get paid to get bumped from a flight.

Yes, some people are making serious bank by getting bumped with payouts totaling thousands. How are they doing it?

First, you need flexibility and freedom. Trying to make money by getting bumped on your way to an important conference, work event or family wedding can quickly turn into a case of “be careful what you wish for” if you end up stranded while the festivities go off without you. Let’s talk exclusively about perfecting the skill of getting paid to chill when you have time to kill.

✈️ Looking for a new travel credit card this year? See today’s top offers below:

The Criteria for Getting Paid for Getting Bumped

It’s important to know the difference between “paying” bumps and “non-paying” bumps. Getting paid means qualifying for something called involuntary denied boarding compensation after an airline has asked you to give up your seat on an oversold flight. Here’s what’s needed:

  • You have a confirmed reservation.
  • You checked in for your flight on time.
  • You showed up for your departure gate on time.
  • The airline is incapable of getting you to your destination within an hour of your flight’s scheduled arrival time.

It’s equally as important to know when you’ll be barking up the wrong tree when you ask for compensation after getting bumped. Not every flight hiccup means a payout is coming. Here are the scenarios where you won’t quality for payment:

  • Your airline had to substitute an aircraft due to some type of operational or safety reason.
  • You were bumped due to weight or balance restrictions.
  • You were downgraded to a lower seating class. While you won’t get special compensation, you will at least get a refund for the price difference.
  • You were traveling on a charter flight that isn’t part of an airline’s regular schedule.
  • You were traveling on an aircraft that maxes out at 30 passengers.

Next, take a look at the tips for increasing your odds of getting paid to get bumped. While these tips don’t offer any guarantee that a payday is coming your way, they will help to boost your chances of getting cash in exchange for a little inconvenience. Let’s power through some bump-worthy tips.

Tip #1: Fly With the Airlines That Are Notorious for Bumping Passengers

The Bureau of Transportation really does most of the hard work for you on this one.

You can look up data on “denied confirmed space” for all major carriers for the most recent year reported to see exactly where airlines stand with miscalculating room to sit.

Here’s a look at how involuntary denied boardings looked in 2020 for the five worst “offenders:

  • 1. Frontier Airlines: 6.28 bumps per 10,000 passengers.
  • 2. Spirit Airlines: 5.57 bumps per 10,000 passengers.
  • 3. Alaska: 2.30 bumps per 10,000 passengers.
  • 4. PSA Airlines: 2.29 bumps per 10,000 passengers.
  • 5. American Airlines 1.95 bumps per 10,000 passengers.

It also helps to know about the “winners” for keeping passengers in their seats to avoid if you’re trying to cash in on getting bumped out.

Delta airlines actually does the best for getting you where you’re going without getting bumped by bumping just 0.02 per 10,000 passengers. Endeavor, United, and JetBlue also barely bump.

Tip #2: Make It Easier to Say “Yes” to the Bump by Clinging to Your Luggage

Checking your luggage removes some of that flexibility that’s needed for jumping at the chance for a payout by getting out.

Get in the habit of living with a carry-on bag if you’re flying with a cashing-out perspective. Of course, it’s easier to stick with this one if you’re flying on an airline that doesn’t provide a free checked bag.

Tip #3: Ask for Cash Because Cash Is Your Right

Very few airline passengers know this.

Let a woman named Allison Preiss be your inspiration for never settling for anything less than cash when you’re offered compensation from an airline.

Allison Preiss made headlines in 2018 when she was given a $10,000 voucher from United Airlines after turning down a $2,000 voucher that was offered to her after getting bumped from her flight. However, Preiss only got the $10,000 voucher because she asked for cash when she turned down the $2,000 flight voucher.

Preiss was the rare passenger who actually knew that she was entitled to ask for cash under federal law. The amount she was entitled to for this flight was around $650. Uneager to part with the cash value, United came back to her with an offer for a $10,000 travel voucher that represented the maximum payable amount under United’s compensation policy. The bottom line is that you can’t lose by asking for cash. There’s a good chance you’ll end up with a bigger voucher even if you aren’t wowed by the cash amount.

Tip #4: Relax by the Gate

Fortune favors the alert when it comes to getting bumped for money. Gate agents often make announcements for passengers willing to be voluntarily bumped once it’s determined that a flight is overbooked. You’ll only hear the offer if you’re located close enough to the gate to pay attention. Get in the habit of hanging out close enough to be seen if you want to throw your hand up to volunteer.

Tip #5: Remember That You Don’t Have to Be Sneaky About Your Intentions

There’s actually nothing stopping you from simply walking up to gate agents to let them know that you’re happy to be bumped if the need arises.

This may actually prevent the need for them to get on the microphone to open up the offer to others. While volunteering doesn’t mean your flight will actually be oversold, you can relax a bit knowing that you don’t have to be on high alert to be first in line if an announcement is made.

Tip #6: Fly at Bump-Friendly Times

When you fly can actually determine your chances of being bumped from your flight. The big bump days are holiday travel days. You can use this to your advantage if you’re flying for a casual getaway around Thanksgiving or Christmas instead of making the rush to family gatherings like 90 percent of the travelers around you.

Mondays and Fridays are also big days for getting bumped because those are big days for business travel. Travelers getting places on Mondays and Fridays may also be trying to squeeze in weekend getaways that leave no wiggle room for getting to their destinations late. That makes you a prime candidate for being the only bump-worthy passenger on a flight if you’re not eager to get back to the grind.

Lastly, once-daily and once-weekly flights without good alternatives are treasure troves for passengers wanting to get bumped.

Tip #7: Always Check Seat Availability Before Booking

If you’re flying to get bumped, this last tip is major. You can look up how full a flight is online before you book your seat. If it looks like a flight is filling up quickly, this could be a hot one to grab. You might even want to get in the habit of booking at the last minute for this reason. A flight that’s practically empty just before departure day doesn’t offer great chances for being bumped.

Final Thoughts on Getting Bumped From a Flight to Make Money

It’s important to go in with the mindset that there’s no sure thing when it comes to being asked to give up your seat. You should also remember that speaking with a gate agent once is enough. There’s no need to hover by the gate to try to get the inside scoop on overbooked flights. Gate agents have enough to worry about without managing expectations for payouts. The bottom line is that you should have fun with it. Just make sure you’re familiar with things like blackout dates and expiration dates before you agree to a new flight because there’s no “undoing the offer” once you give up your seat.

TSA PreCheck and Global Entry – Are they Worth the Cost?

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Airport security screening is a universally unpleasant experience, no matter how often you travel and which airports you frequent. It always takes longer than you’d like it to and can be pretty confusing, and most of us wish there were a way to avoid it.

Well, there’s no way to completely get out of going through airport security (and really, that’s for the best), but there may be ways to make the process a little less tedious. For some, that’s TSA PreCheck and Global Entry. Find out here if these programs are worth it and how to get started.

✈️ Looking for a new travel credit card this year? See today’s top offers below:

What Is TSA PreCheck?

TSA PreCheck is a program of the United States Transportation Security Administration that provides smoother airport screening. It saves members time during security checks and lets them go through without removing most items.

According to the TSA, 95% of passengers with TSA PreCheck coverage waited less than five minutes at security checks in October 2021. Typically, going through airport security takes anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes on average but can take even longer depending on which airport you’re at.

So how does it work? Basically, you answer questions about your travel history and personal life when applying for membership, and your answers are saved in the TSA PreCheck system. This allows for a streamlined check-in process because the system can automatically determine whether you present a security risk.

If you are determined to be low risk, which you must be to be approved for membership, then you will be allowed to pass through security checkpoints without presenting items such as electronics and liquids from your luggage or removing your jacket and shoes for screening.

TSA PreCheck members do not need to remove or present the following when checking in:

  • Shoes
  • Light jackets
  • Belts
  • Laptops
  • 3-1-1 liquids

This program is family-friendly. Children under the age of 12 can accompany their parents in TSA PreCheck when traveling and do not need to be members themselves. Children between the ages of 13 and 17 may also go through TSA PreCheck lines with their parents if they are traveling on the same reservation, provided that they have received a TSA PreCheck indicator on their boarding pass. These are given randomly, so there is no guarantee that a child of this age will get one.

TSA PreCheck is not available at all airports. As of right now, there are more than 200 airports with over 80 airlines allowing TSA PreCheck, including most major airports in all 50 states.

Anyone can apply for TSA PreCheck, but approval is not guaranteed. This program is restricted to U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents only. Membership is valid for 5 years.

What Is Global Entry?

Global Entry is a program of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection that allows members to travel more quickly through security screening when entering the United States. Members enjoy reduced wait times and shorter lines than non-members and do not have to present paperwork when going through security.

Global Entry membership also comes with TSA PreCheck membership for everyone enrolled. If you apply for Global Entry and are determined to be low-risk, you are approved as a member and granted expedited clearance when flying or traveling by boat into the United States.

Global Entry enrollees use designated kiosks at 75 different airports to go through security. They then use the kiosk to scan their passport or U.S. permanent resident card and fingerprints and fill out a digital customs declaration. Upon completion, members receive a receipt and can proceed to get their bags and leave.

There are not usually lines at these kiosks and in the event that kiosks are down, Global Entry members can jump to the front of the line at standard security.

You can apply for Global Entry if you are a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, or foreign national. Membership is valid for 5 years.

What Are the Differences?

TSA PreCheck and Global Entry are very similar. The TSA PreCheck is an entity of the Transportation Security Administration and Global Entry is an entity of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, but they’re both classified as Department of Homeland Security Trusted Traveler programs.

They also offer many of the same benefits to members including shorter lines and wait times.

The primary difference between the two is that TSA PreCheck is used when members are flying out of a U.S. airport and Global Entry is used when members are flying into the U.S. from an international destination.

Here are the key similarities and differences between TSA PreCheck and Global Entry:

TSA PreCheckGlobal Entry
Air travel onlyAir, land, and sea travel
Flights out of U.S.Travel into U.S.
Open to U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residentsOpen to U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, and some foreign nationals
5-year membership5-year membership
$85 enrollment fee$100 enrollment fee

All Global Entry members are also TSA PreCheck members but not all TSA PreCheck members are also Global Entry members.

How to Apply for TSA PreCheck

You can apply for TSA PreCheck in person at one of more than 400 TSA PreCheck application centers including 50 airport locations and 350 designated office locations. Appointments are not required, but having one may reduce your wait time. You can optionally pre-enroll before arriving to save yourself more time.

The first thing you will need to do is fill out an application. You’ll answer a series of questions demonstrating proof of citizenship and identity during this step. If you are able, provide one of the following unexpired documents to prove your citizenship status and identity:

  • U.S. Passport
  • Enhanced Tribal Card
  • Free and Secure Trade Card
  • U.S. Enhanced Driver’s License or Enhanced Identification Card
  • Permanent Resident Card or Green Card
  • Foreign Passport and Immigrant Visa with I-551 annotation showing permanent residence of one year
  • Re-Entry Permit

If you do not have one of these documents, you will need another form of photo identification as well as proof of citizenship. Valid photo IDs include:

  • Driver’s license issued by a state or outlying possession of the U.S.
  • Temporary driver’s license and expired driver’s license
  • Photo ID card issued by the federal government, state, or outlying possession of the U.S.
  • U.S. active or retired military ID card
  • U.S. military dependent’s card
  • Native American tribal document with photo
  • Department of Homeland Security/Transportation Security Administration Transportation worker Identification Credential
  • Merchant Mariner Credential

Valid proof of citizenship documents include:

  • Birth certificate
  • Certificate of Citizenship
  • Certificate of Naturalization
  • Citizen Identification Card
  • Consular Report of Birth Abroad
  • Certification of Report of Birth Abroad
  • Expired passport that is within 12 months of expiration

After providing these materials, you will have your fingerprints scanned and undergo a thorough background check. If your application is accepted, you’ll receive your unique Known Traveler Number that you will use when booking flights and checking in at the airport. Note that applications can take up to 60 days to process. You can check the status of your application online.

When applying for TSA PreCheck membership, be aware that you will likely not be accepted if you have a criminal record or history of security violations. Also, you need to re-apply for membership every five years. You need to visit an enrollment center again to renew your membership.

The cost for a five-year membership is $85. Most people need to pay for TSA PreCheck enrollment, but certain travel credit cards provide membership as a benefit.

How to Get Free Membership

Many travel credit cards and loyalty programs offer TSA PreCheck as a benefit to members. Membership may be free to cardholders or cardholders may be eligible to pay the fee with points or rewards. We’ll list a few of our favorite cards and rewards programs that qualify here, but you can visit the TSA PreCheck site to see the complete list.

Credit cards that offer free TSA PreCheck include:

  • Capital One Venture Card
  • Chase Sapphire Reserve Card
  • American Express Platinum Cards
  • Bank of America Premium Rewards Card
  • Delta SkyMiles Platinum and Reserve American Express Cards
  • Southwest Rapid Rewards Performance Business Card
  • United Club Infinite Card

Loyalty programs that offer TSA PreCheck include:

  • IHG Rewards Club
  • Marriott Bonvoy
  • Orbitz Rewards
  • Radisson Rewards
  • United MileagePlus

How to Apply for Global Entry

Global Entry applications include an exhaustive background check as well as an interview. To apply, start by creating a Trusted Traveler Program account. Then, complete the online application that will ask you questions about your background and history. There is a non-refundable $100 fee for applying.

Once your application is complete, it is reviewed and either rejected or conditionally approved. With conditional approval, you can schedule an interview at a Global Entry Enrollment Center where you will meet with a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer and learn more about Global Entry. Bring your driver’s license or ID card and valid passport. The officer will ask you questions about why you’re applying for membership and review your application. 

At select airports (called an Enrollment on Arrival airport), you may be able to complete an interview after your next international flight. This is subject to availability, but you can view a list of Enrollment on Arrival airports prior to your next trip.

If you want to be a member of both programs, apply only for Global Entry. This application is longer and more involved, but it gives you faster screening at more locations (not just airports) and includes TSA PreCheck. Plus, certain populations, such as Mexican Nationals, may be able to qualify for TSA PreCheck by first becoming Global Entry members. However, be aware that Global Entry applications take a while to process and you might wait several weeks for an interview.

Pros and Cons

One of the main advantages of these travel programs is that they are affordable, especially when you consider how much time they can save you at airports and that membership is valid for five years.

The long membership also means that you won’t have to go through the application process often, making the programs useful even if you don’t travel a ton. If you do a lot of traveling, you can save many hours at airports and enjoy a generally smoother check-in experience.

One of the main disadvantages of these programs is that not all airports participate. Although many major airports and travel ports accept TSA PreCheck and Global Entry, some airports and airlines choose not to. For example, some smaller airports and certain international airlines don’t participate. It’s always worth checking before you travel so you know what to expect.

Another disadvantage is that it can take a while for your applications to process and your interview to be scheduled. You could be waiting several months to hear back about your application and it can be tedious to gather everything you need to apply, especially if you are not a native U.S. citizen.

Final Thoughts

We feel that TSA PreCheck and Global Entry are well worth the time and money to enroll. Although the processes to apply are no walks in the park, it’s very doable for most people and you can save a significant amount of time at airports. And since most major airports participate in these programs, you don’t really need to plan travel any differently.

TSA PreCheck and Global Entry are not the same and you may benefit from one more than the other. Global Entry is best for people who take regular international flights and TSA PreCheck is best for people who travel domestically a few times a year. We recommend looking into credit cards and loyalty programs that include TSA PreCheck as a benefit if this program makes the most sense for you.

Southwest Airlines Vacation Packages: How much can you really save?

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image credit: southwestvacations.com
Full disclosure: We may receive financial compensation when you click on links and are approved for products from our advertising partners. Opinions and product recommendations on FlyerGeek are those of our writers and have not been influenced, reviewed or approved by any advertiser. Learn more about how we make money.

Are you the type of traveler who books all of your travel separately? If you do this every time you travel, you might be spending more money than you need to.

Fans of Southwest Airlines — keep reading — because we’re going to be talking about Southwest Vacation packages.

These travel packages allow passengers to book flights, hotels, rental cars, and even activities at one time. Here, we’ll talk about what a Southwest Vacation package includes, whether the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, and how to book.

✈️ Looking for a new travel credit card this year? See today’s top offers below:

What Is a Southwest Vacation Package?

A Southwest Vacation package is a travel product that includes:

  1. ✈️ air and
  2. 🚐 ground transportation as well as
  3. 🏨 hotel or resort bookings.

You can build and customize a vacation package to meet your needs and fit your budget. All flights in packages are through Southwest Airlines, but other travel accommodations are booked by Southwest on your behalf through third parties. These packages give members savings and additional perks for their trips.

You do not need to be a Southwest rewards member to book a vacation, and there is no additional fee for using this platform. However, rewards members benefit most when booking these packages. Previously, you could only earn rewards points on the flight portion of a vacation package, but now you can earn points on air travel, hotel bookings, car rentals, and even experiences. More on earning points soon.

What Does a Vacation Package Include?

Vacation packages may include flights, hotel bookings, car rentals, activities, and extras such as amusement park tickets, experiences, and travel insurance/purchase protection. You can create a package yourself or choose from all-inclusive resort packages with pre-selected flights, resort bookings, and accommodations. There are two vacation types: single destination trips and multiple destination trips.

Each package comes with exclusive perks unique to each property as well as two Southwest guarantees: no change fees and two free checked bags on flights. These Southwest benefits are included in the price of a package, but all other offers are determined by the hotel or resort.

Benefits may include:

  • Rate discounts
  • Complimentary amenities
  • Complimentary room upgrades
  • Food and beverage or experience credits
  • Kids stay free
  • And more

How Much Do Vacation Packages Cost?

After comparing many vacations through Southwest and other travel booking sites, we found that Southwest Vacations can often save you money. Sometimes the difference in price is significant and sometimes slight, but you’ll usually save when you book a vacation through Southwest even if the savings are in the form of complimentary extras.

Southwest Vacation Package – Riu Palace Costa Mujeres all-inclusive resort. Image credit: riu.com

Here’s an example where the price difference is significant. You and a partner are traveling to the Riu Palace Costa Mujeres all-inclusive resort in Cancun, Mexico, for a seven-night trip.

When you book this vacation through Southwest Vacations, you pay $1,568.75 per person or $3,137.50 total. This price includes a Junior Suite Partial Ocean View room and resort fees and a round-trip flight in Wanna Get Away class. Members earn 3,273 each. You can pay for this package in full when booking or in monthly installments of about $73 per person. Changes and cancellations are not permitted.

Booking these items separately would be quite a bit more expensive. For just the resort booking, the price would be $2,786 at the current non-refundable promotional rate. The flights would cost $869.02 total. This comes out to a total of $3,655 or $1,827.50 per person. With the exclusive discounts through Southwest, you could save up to $517.50 for the very same vacation even with the resort offering its own discount.

Southwest Vacation Package – Waikoloa Village, Hawaii. Image credit: hiltonwaikoloavillage.com

But the savings are not always this good. Here’s another example where the price difference is negligible. Let’s say you’re flying out of Chicago to Hawaii and staying at the Hilton Waikoloa Village, a beachfront resort property on Big Island. For a booking of seven consecutive nights, the price per person for the Southwest Vacations package is $3,443.79 or $6,887.58 total.

This price, which is discounted by $150, includes the hotel rate for a Palace Resort View room with one king bed and a round-trip flight. The departure trip is a Wanna Get Away flight out of Chicago with one layover in San Diego and the return flight is a Wanna Get Away flight out of KOA airport with one layover in Phoenix. Also included in the price are a $45 daily resort fee and a $30 per room, per vehicle daily valet parking fee. Members earn 7,096 points each for this vacation.

When you book through Southwest Vacations, you get a non–refundable room rate and are not permitted to change or cancel your reservation. You may pay for the trip upfront or pay over time in monthly installments of $384 at a 15% interest rate.

Now let’s say you’re booking each part of this same trip separately. Starting with the resort, you’d pay $5,866.51 total for the same room at a non-refundable (the lowest) rate including taxes and fees. You must pay for this trip in full at the time of booking. The round-trip Wanna Get Away flight would cost $515.60 per person or $1,031.20 total. The grand total for this trip would then be $6,897.71.

As you can see, this difference in price is not significant at only about $10. However, what we found is that Southwest Vacations packages tend to offer a bit more flexibility at roughly the same or a slightly better rate. In this instance, you do not need to pay for the entire Southwest vacation in total when booking and you get free Southwest perks like free checked bags.

About the monthly payments. Though both of these packages qualify, this option is not available for every trip. Only purchases over $1,200 are eligible and some destinations do not allow monthly payments. These loans are offered through Uplift and initiated through Southwest. A credit check is required.

How to Save

If saving money is your bottom line, there are a few ways to find Southwest Vacations at the best prices. First, start your search in the deals section.

Always browse promotions before booking a trip, especially if you’re not picky about which hotel or resort you stay at. This is often where you can save the most money and score freebies such as complimentary nights and food and beverage credits.

Usually, popular destinations such as Mexico and the Caribbean and Disney Parks are discounted pretty much year-round. Southwest may also choose to provide discounts for certain hotel or resort brands like MGM or destination hotels like the Bellagio in Las Vegas. Here are all the Deals categories:

  • Las Vegas deals
  • Mexico and Caribbean deals
  • Hawaii deals
  • Disney Parks deals
  • Ski and outdoor adventure deals
  • Promo code deals
  • Last minute deals

If you select “View all deals” at the bottom of the deals tab, you can browse all discounted trips. Then, try filtering by location and sorting by recommended, hotel rating, or hotel name.

To give you an idea of the kinds of discounts you might find, here are a few deals that stood out to us:

  • Dreams Aventuras Riviera Maya by AMR Collection – Up to 40% off room rates + $200 in resort coupons and kids stay free
  • Walt Disney World Swan – Up to 45% off room rates
  • Doubletree by Hilton Alana Waikiki Resort – Complimentary room upgrade (subject to availability) and 50% off resort and parking fees
  • Riu Santa Fe – Up to $200 in instant credits + complimentary shared roundtrip airport transfers, $35 spa credit, and kids stay free
  • Secrets St. James Montego Bay by AMR Collection – Up to 40% off room rates + $20 spa treatment and $200 in resort coupons

Prices for flights and bookings are always changing, so if you are able to take a bit of time hunting for the best rates, we recommend doing that. You might even get a better price in the same day if you just check back later.

If you are viewing a promotional package, be sure that the promotion code auto-populates on the search page. If it doesn’t, you should be able to find the code in the package description. Contact customer support if you have trouble applying a discount.

Another great way to save more is using a Southwest co-branded credit card. There are six types of Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards® Visa Credit Cards offered through Chase Bank.

If you use one of these cards to pay for your vacation, you can earn points on the entire purchase. This includes tier qualifying points that can help you qualify for elite. Plus, each card gives you travel savings. The Priority card, for example, pays you back 3x points on all Southwest purchases, 2x points on hotels bookings and car rentals, 25% back on inflight purchases, and 7,500 bonus points per year.

How to Book a Vacation Package

To book a Southwest Vacation package, start by signing into your Southwest account. Then, use the search tool to input your dates and destinations and search for Flight + Hotel packages or Flight + Care packages. Alternatively, you can select “Deals” or “Destinations” from the top of the page to browse current promotions and popular destinations such as Hawaii, Cancun, Jamaica, New Orleans, Phoenix, Las Vegas, and more.

If you start your search in the Deals or Destinations sections, select a hotel, resort, or experience to get started customizing your package.

Starting with the search tool will take you to the hotel page where search customizations are shown on the left side of the page. You can filter your search by selecting for different amenities and experiences, sorting by hotel class and price range, or showing only results within a certain distance from points of interest. You can even enter a hotel name and select “Find.” If you don’t customize the search at all, Southwest will just show you their top picks first. This will default to the lowest-priced hotel reservations, flight tickets, and car rentals.

Select a hotel to read more about the property such as included amenities, room types, and cancellation/change policies. Make note of resort fees, valet fees, and other charges in addition to the starting room rate. Select the “Rooms” tab or click “Select Rooms” in the yellow box at the top to view available rooms. To the right, the “Price Per Person” will show you the additional charge for every room type on top of the starting rate for the hotel as well as the change in points for each traveler.

After you’ve chosen your room, you will be taken to the flight page. Here, you can choose a flight with ideal departure times and stopovers and change your flight class as needed. The running total for your package will change depending on how you customize your package and which items you select. The only way to guarantee the lowest rate or base rate is to keep everything as is, meaning economy class (Wanna Get Away) and the cheapest rooms. Once you’ve picked a flight, select “Continue.”

The next page is the Cars page. You can add a car to almost any vacation package, but it is not required. To the right, you can see the overall total and per day total for each car. Select a car or navigate to the “Add Extras” page to skip. Extras are also optional, but it’s not a bad idea to check them out because some offer great deals. On the left side of the screen, you can filter for different categories such as Sightseeing and Tours or Water Activities and narrow your desired price range.

Extras might include:

  • vouchers for local excursions or tours
  • hotel ground transportation
  • boat trips and fishing
  • snorkeling or diving
  • unique immersive experiences such as swimming with dolphins

To book an extra, just select “View options” and choose how many people in your party will be participating. Then, add to cart. The price of your vacation will automatically adjust for the price of extras at this time.

On the checkout page, confirm your selections and make any final changes. The total package price might be a little different now if something you selected is no longer available or has increased in price since you started booking. If you don’t want to book the vacation now, you can print or email your itinerary or save your search to your Southwest Vacations account.

How to Earn Points

If you’re a Rapid Rewards member, you can earn rewards from any vacation package. Flights, hotel bookings, and car rentals are all eligible to earn points. You can see how many points a package qualifies to earn when booking, below the rates. If you are traveling with a group, each Rapid Rewards member qualifies to earn rewards.

Note that points earned via vacations do NOT count as elite tier qualifying points toward A-List or A-List Preferred status.

You can either enter everyone’s account numbers when booking the trip, online before the trip begins, or at the airport checkout counter or gate. You must request Rapid Rewards points when checking in for your flight, hotel, or car rental and provide account information to guarantee.

Just make sure that every member is checked in because you can’t always apply points retroactively to a trip. If you find that points you should have earned for a vacation are missing 30 days after the trip has concluded, you have up to twelve months to request them.

Select packages qualify to earn bonus points or higher earning rates than most. For example, travelers who book a vacation at a participating MGM Resort location in Las Vegas are eligible to earn 600 bonus Rapid Rewards points per room on stays of more than one night.

Advantages and Disadvantages

One of the primary advantages of booking a vacation through Southwest are the exclusive perks. These include private transfers from plane or car to hotel, VIP excursions such as tours and events, and complimentary room upgrades at select destinations. These are only available to Southwest travelers and vary in value, but they can definitely help you save money and travel more comfortably. And don’t forget about the free checked bags. When you book a custom vacation package, your first and second checked bag–including golf bags, fly for free and there are no change fees for modifying eligible transportation or hotel bookings.

Southwest Vacations also include 24-hour traveler assistance. While you’re traveling, you can call a dedicated customer service line to get in touch with a representative about booking issues and concerns. In some big cities and popular tourist destinations, there are even local customer service representatives you can go talk to.

You can save serious cash booking through Southwest as well. Although not every vacation is heavily discounted, you can usually save at least a little bit of money on your flight or hotel reservation or, at the very least, make things easier on yourself when traveling. Plus, Southwest offers a lowest price promise on all packages. This means that if you find an identical package elsewhere that is priced lower than theirs, Southwest will pay you the difference in future travel credit if you book with them. So always, always shop around. And don’t knock the discounts in the extras and experiences sections.

The Rapid Rewards program is a generally solid rewards program, so this is another advantage in and of itself. Not only is each point valued at 1.3 cents, which is decent, but Southwest offers flexible and rewarding redemption opportunities. This airline offers unlimited reward seats on every flight and no blackout dates on standard fare tickets booked with points. Travelers who book a Southwest Vacation package can score major savings on future flights, especially if they’re strategic about earning as many points as possible.

But even though we like that Southwest Vacations earn points, this program doesn’t let you redeem points for vacations, and this is one of the biggest disadvantages. Southwest Vacations packages are not eligible to be booked with points, and that could be disappointing especially if you’re traveling with a group of Rapid Rewards members with points to spend. You can, however, use travel funds from canceled flights to pay for part of your Vacations package by providing your confirmation number at checkout.

Likewise, you can’t use hotel rewards to book a Southwest vacation. You might be able to earn hotel points from your trip, but there is no way to easily do this and no guarantee that you’ll get those points.

Also disappointing is the fact that vacation points are not tier qualifying points, so they don’t help you qualify for elite status. Although you can earn plenty of points booking vacations, you can’t reach elite this way no matter how many trips you take.

Southwest offers a fairly expansive range of options, but this program is still somewhat limited in terms of availability. You may not find a hotel brand you’re looking for or packages available in certain destinations

Another potential disadvantage to note is that Southwest Vacations packages don’t always offer as much booking flexibility as you might be looking for. Because most hotels and resorts are at promotional rates, they are sometimes non-refundable and cannot be changed or canceled. Some properties may let you select for rooms that do qualify for refunds and changes, but you won’t be getting the low prices that make Southwest Vacations packages so attractive.

Final Thoughts

Overall, booking travel through Southwest Vacations isn’t a bad way to go. From savings to exclusive perks, these packages are often more rewarding than booking separate travel and there are more than enough destinations and experiences to choose from. We recommend checking out Southwest Vacations the next time you’re planning a trip and following the tips in this article to score the best deals.

✈️ Looking for a new travel credit card this year? See today’s top offers below:

9 Easy Ways to Get Hotel Elite Status

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Some hotel loyalty programs are better than others, but elite status is always a good thing. Elite members are VIPs. They can save money on hotel bookings, get complimentary perks and upgrades, and even get special treatment with partner loyalty programs. If you do a lot of traveling or even just stay in a hotel a few times a year, it’s worth working toward elite status.

Generally, loyalty programs reset every calendar year but may extend a couple of months into the new year. Most membership programs require you to earn elite status every year unless you’ve achieved lifetime status, so you should always be earning points.

We’ve rounded up the nine easiest ways to get hotel elite status for you here. These apply to most programs and give you many opportunities to earn points beyond just staying at hotels.

✈️ Looking for a new travel credit card this year? See today’s top offers below:

Best Hotel Loyalty Programs

Before we get into how you can work your way up to elite status, let’s go over which hotel brands have loyalty programs that are worth earning elite status for.

The best hotel programs year after year generally are:

  • Marriott Bonvoy,
  • World of Hyatt,
  • Hilton Honors,
  • Radisson Rewards, and
  • Wyndham Rewards

These programs (above) are not only popular because they are part of the biggest hotel chains but because they also offer:

  • high rewards values,
  • a variety of ways to redeem points, and
  • great perks.

If you’re a loyalty member of another program, it’s a good idea to research that program’s requirements for elite status and redemption options. Every program is a little different, and you never want to miss your own points.

Book Eligible Stays at a Hotel or Resort

The most straightforward way to earn hotel points is to stay at a hotel. Points are usually calculated using the amount you have paid for a stay and how many nights you’re staying. The more expensive your room and the longer your stay, the more points you qualify for.

And often, a hotel will give you bonus nights for longer stays.

Wyndham Rewards, for instance, is giving members 7,500 bonus points or the equivalent of a free future night when they stay at least four nights at a participating location. Bonuses like this usually have date ranges that you must travel within to qualify, but most give you about a year to redeem a free night.

Just make sure to read the fine print about nights and spend that qualify. Certain room types, hotel locations, and travel dates might not be eligible to earn points. On the flip side, some rooms and locations may qualify you to earn extra points.

And the hotel stay itself isn’t the only purchase that can earn points. There might be other ways to get points on the property. World of Hyatt, for example, lets members earn up to 5 points per dollar spent on dining, spa, and other purchases at participating locations.

Book With a Travel Partner

Flights, car rentals, and cruises are just a few of the ways you can earn hotel points while traveling.

Hotels and airlines often partner up to give members double rewards when they travel. In fact, most major hotel chains have several airline partners and vice versa. Many airlines partner with multiple hotel chains, so you’re likely to be traveling with a hotel partner no matter what major airline you choose.

Hyatt and American Airlines, Marriott and United Airlines, and Hilton and Delta Air Lines are power travel partnerships you might recognize. Just remember that you must be a member of both the hotel and airline loyalty programs to earn hotel points for flying. Usually, you get to choose whether you’d like to earn miles or hotel points for a flight.

Spend With a Hotel-Branded Credit Card

One of the easiest and most rewarding ways to earn hotel points to reach elite status is using a co-branded credit card. This makes it possible to rack up the points even when you’re not traveling and being a cardmember usually means additional perks like rate discounts, free nights, and bonus points for annual spending. You may even get complimentary elite (or close to it) status just for being a cardmember.

Here are some of our favorite hotel credit cards.

Wyndham Rewards Earner+ Visa Card

Earn up to six points for every dollar you spend on Hotels by Wyndham bookings as well as select gas stations. Plus, you can earn four points for every dollar spent on eligible dining and grocery store purchases and one point per dollar on everything else. The current bonus offer for signing up is 45,000 bonus points when you spend $1,000 in the first 90 days. There is a $75 annual fee.

World of Hyatt Visa Card

Earn four points for every dollar you spend on Hyatt hotel bookings plus five points per dollar on top of that if you’re a World of Hyatt member. This card also gives you two points for every dollar spent on eligible flights, dining, rideshares, and everything else (up to $15,000 annually). The current bonus offer for signing up is 30,000 bonus points when you spend $3,000 in the first 90 days. There is a $95 annual fee.

Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Visa Card

Earn six points for every dollar you spend on Marriott hotel bookings plus 10 points for being a Marriott Bonvoy rewards member and another point if you have Silver Elite status. All other purchases are eligible to earn two points per dollar. This card also gives you 15 elite night credits and automatic Silver Elite status every year. The current bonus offer is for 125,000 bonus points and one free night when you spend $5,000 in the first 90 days. There is a $95 annual fee.

Related: Check out the 15 best Marriott Luxury hotels to book with points in 2021!

Hilton Honors American Express Card

Earn seven points for every dollar you spend on qualifying Hilton hotel bookings; five points per dollar on dining, grocery, and gas purchases; and three points per dollar spent on almost anything else. Cardmembers automatically get Silver status just for having the card and Gold status if they spend at least $20,000 in a year. The current bonus offer is for up to 130,000 bonus points: 80,000 when you spend $1,000 in the first 90 days and another 40,000 if you spend $5,000 or more in the first six months. There is no annual fee.

Eat at Partner Restaurants

We don’t usually need to be convinced to go out to eat, but it doesn’t hurt when you can earn points while dining.

Many hotel loyalty programs allow users to earn points when eating at select establishments. This takes a bit of advance planning, but finding a place to eat that will qualify to earn points is usually as simple as searching participating restaurants in your location.

Eat Around Town by Marriott Bonvoy is just one example. This program features over 11,000 participating restaurants where members can earn up to six points for every dollar spent. Plus, you can get 6,000 bonus points for your first three dines. Hilton Honors Dining works similarly but also has a VIP program. VIP members can earn up to eight points per dollar and have more restaurants to choose from than non-VIPs. To become a VIP, you just need to eat at 11 qualifying restaurants in a year.

If you plan to eat and drink your way to elite status, be sure to sign up for these programs. You are not always enrolled automatically when you join a hotel’s loyalty program and you usually need to link a credit card and use this every time to qualify.

Host Events

Do you host a lot of events or meetings? Most of the big hotel rewards programs give members opportunities to earn elite qualifying points by hosting their events at their conference rooms and event centers. If you have a business meeting coming up or a party to throw, see if you can’t make it happen at a hotel.

The Wyndham Rewards “go meet” program lets you earn one point for every dollar spent on events, including any hotel rooms you or people in your party book or any food and beverage you purchase.

Radisson Rewards for Business features over 550 Radisson locations that allow you to host points-qualifying events. Travel agents and small/medium businesses can earn up to 10 points.

per dollar on room bookings, and meeting and event planners can earn up to five points per dollar on event bookings.

Book Ride Shares

Earn hotel rewards points while getting a lift without lifting a finger. Some hotels partner with popular ride sharing programs to let members send points earned from rides right to their hotel loyalty account.

Hilton partners with Lyft to let members earn points for every ride and even pay for rides using points. Marriott partners with Uber to give members hotel points for qualifying Uber rides and Uber Eats deliveries. Link your hotel loyalty accounts and rideshare accounts for maximum earning potential.

Use Status Matching or Participate in Challenges

Keep an eye out for points-boosting opportunities within your loyalty programs, because this is one of the best ways to quickly earn enough points to reach elite.

Some programs periodically run promotions to help members increase their status faster. They may tell you that they will match whatever points you earn in a three-month period, temporarily lower the requirements to qualify for each status tier, or give you a bonus to boost your account if you reach a certain predetermined threshold.

These promotions are pretty common and most rewards programs have them at least once a year. If you see an opportunity like this, definitely participate.

Transfer Points

Another way to get more points into your hotel account is not to earn them but to transfer points you have elsewhere. Your credit card, for example, may qualify you to transfer points into your hotel loyalty account. For instance, Amex cardholders can transfer their American Express Membership Rewards to their Hilton Honors accounts.

If you don’t have credit card points to transfer, see if a friend or family member would be willing to part with theirs. The majority of loyalty programs permit points transfers between members or may let several people pool their points for a trip. There are usually limits to how often you can transfer points between accounts and how many points you can transfer at once and per year, but this is an option worth exploring if you’re really strapped for points. Some programs require you to initiate points transfers over the phone with a customer service agent.

Purchase Points

While we don’t usually recommend purchasing points for your hotel account instead of doing any of the other things on this list, this can be a good way to top off your account and finally cross the threshold to elite status.

Plus, some loyalty programs run promotions that let you purchase points at a discount. If you’re going to buy points to reach elite status, it’s a good idea to figure out the value of the points you’re getting first.

If the value of a point is much lower than the price of a point, then consider waiting until a deal comes around or earning points another way. It’s almost never worth it to purchase heavily marked-up points.

Final Thoughts

These are nine of the best ways to earn points toward elite status with your favorite hotel brands, but this isn’t all. Purchasing experiences or activities, writing reviews, and even shopping on Amazon are a few other ways that might push you to elite.

Familiarize yourself with the loyalty programs you’re a part of so that earning points for everyday activities becomes second nature. Before you know it, you’ll have elite status with your favorite hotels earning free nights, perks and freebies, and more.

✈️ Looking for a new travel credit card this year? See today’s top offers below:

Virgin Atlantic Economy Delight: How it compares + is it worth the upgrade?

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Virgin Atlantic is known for being stylish from its aircraft to its flight attendant uniforms, but if you’re like us, you’re more concerned with the comfort (and cost) of a flight than you are the looks.

This popular British airline carrier offers three different economy flight classes and two premium ones. Today, we’ll be taking a look at the highest economy option: Economy Delight.

This review will help you decide if the perks of this flight class are worth the higher price tag compared to the next lowest and highest classes. We’ll compare different economy classes and tell you exactly what is included in an Economy Delight ticket.

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Virgin Atlantic Flight Classes

Economy class options and details. Photo credit: flywith.virginatlantic.com

Virgin Atlantic offers five flight classes: Economy Light, Economy Classic, Economy Delight, Premium, and Upper Class. Premium can be thought of as Business class and Upper Class can be thought of as First class. Economy Delight seats are denoted with a “V.”

Economy Delight is available on most Virgin Atlantic flights. Virgin Atlantic flies both Boeing and Airbus planes, and the size and location of these seats depend on the type of plane (with minimal variability between planes of the same model). Here are the details of Economy Delight seats on each type of plane:

 Airbus A330-300Airbus A350-1000Boeing 787-9
Width of seatUp to 17 inches17.4 inchesUp to 17 inches
Seat recline6 inches5 inches5 inches
Seat pitchUp to 34 inchesUp to 34 inchesUp to 34 inches

Virgin Atlantic has 36 aircraft in its fleet. The majority of planes are Boeing 787’s.

Each type of plane has a different number of Economy Delight seats and organizes seats differently. The Airbus A350 has the largest Economy Delight section. These seats are located behind the Preferred seat section (which is behind Premium) and in front of all other economy seats. The Economy Delight section features two outer sections that are three seats wide and a middle section that is also three seats wide. On these planes, there will be between 36 and 45 Economy Delight seats. Note that Airbus A350 planes with The Booth (a new leisure flight cabin and social space just rolled out in September 2021) include more Economy Delight seats than planes with The Loft (an onboard lounge).

On the Boeing 787, Economy Delight seats are right behind Premium class seats. Economy Delight shares this space with preferred seating. The outer sections are Economy Delight and these are three seats wide and the middle section is Preferred seats and this section is also three seats wide. There are 36 Economy Delight seats on these planes.

Airbus A330 planes have up to 28 Economy Delight seats. These are found behind the preferred seating section in the middle of the economy part of the plane. Economy Delight seats are located in the outer two sections in groups two seats wide as well as a single row of four at the front of this section.

Perks of Economy Delight

The on-plane perks of Economy Delight include upgrades to seat type, seat selection, and seat pitch. This translates to extra legroom, the ability to select preferred seating at any time (from the time you book to the time you board), and a seat pitch of up to 34 inches. Economy Delight seats are not larger than Economy Classic seats.

In addition to increased space and comfort, an Economy Delight ticket lets you check in for your flight at the Premium desk instead of the standard desk. This usually means shorter wait times, but there are no guarantees. After checking in, you will enjoy priority boarding on all flights.

Another perk to note if you’re a Virgin Red loyalty member is that you can earn up to 100% Virgin Points on each flight. This is just the base value calculated from your flight class. You can earn even more points on top of that depending on your loyalty status. Virgin Atlantic’s loyalty program has three membership levels: Red, Silver, and Gold. With elite status, you’ll earn up to 60% more on flights and get check-in and luggage benefits on every trip.

There are no baggage perks, in-flight food and drink perks, or other included extras when you fly in this class that are not included in Economy Classic. But let’s get into what makes these two classes different and how Delight compares to premium.

Economy Delight vs. Classic and Premium

Economy Delight shares things in common with Economy Classic as well as Premium class, but it has more in common with Economy Classic.

Take a look at how these three cabin types compare from seating to Virgin Flying Club benefits.

Seating

 Economy ClassicEconomy DelightPremium
Seat typeStandardExtra legroomExtra legroom, larger seat, seat to bed conversion, leather
Seat selectionSelect standard seatSelect preferred seatSelect Premium seat
Seat width17 – 17.4 inches17 – 17.4 inches18 – 21 inches
Seat recline4 – 6 inches4 – 6 inches7 – 8 inches
Seat pitchUp to 31 inchesUp to 34 inchesUp to 38 inches
Entertainment screen13.3 inches13.3 inches13.3 inches
A/C power available?NoNoYes

All three classes include headphones, an entertainment screen, and USB power in the price of a ticket. For flights long enough to offer food and drink, Classic and Delight passengers receive standard dining options and Premium passengers receive Premium options. All passengers can make special meal requests for dietary restrictions.

Baggage

In terms of baggage allowances, Economy Classic and Economy Delight are exactly the same. You’re allowed one 10-kilogram carry-on bag and one 23-kilogram checked bag and you get standard baggage delivery. Premium, on the other hand, allows for two 23-kilogram checked bags and priority baggage delivery.

Extras

The included extras are mostly the same for Classic, Delight, and Premium:

  • standard security,
  • refundable tickets, and
  • no access to airport clubhouses or lounges.

The only difference here is that Economy Delight and Premium passengers get to check in at the Premium desk and Economy Classic passengers have to use the standard desk. Economy Classic, Economy Delight, and Premium tickets qualify for refunds and changes (the only fare class that does not permit refunds is Economy Light).

Flying Club Benefits

Finally, let’s compare points benefits. Economy Classic, Economy Delight, and Premium tickets are upgradeable using Virgin Points. Economy Classic tickets qualify to earn 50% points, Economy Delight tickets qualify to earn 100% points, and Premium tickets qualify to earn 150% points. Economy Classic and Delight passengers earn 25 Flying Club tier points per flight while Premium passengers earn 50.

Price Comparison

You’re probably wondering: how much more does Delight cost than Classic? Upgrading to Economy Delight from Economy Classic costs about $100 on average for round-trip flights but may cost as little as $50 or as much as $200. As a rule, only international flights include Economy Delight seats.

We searched for a round-trip flight from New York City to London in February to compare the price of Economy Delight to Economy Classic.

For the same direct flight at the lowest fare price, an Economy Classic ticket will cost you $1,086.27 and an Economy Delight ticket will cost you $1,186.67. On the same Virgin Atlantic flight, Premium tickets start at $1,733.97.

Note that Economy Delight reward seats are not available. You can only purchase reward flights in Economy Classic, Premium, and Upper Class.

You also cannot upgrade from Classic to Delight using points or cash at this time. You need to purchase an Economy Delight ticket at the time of booking. If the option to upgrade to Delight becomes available, we’ll let you know.

You can, however, upgrade from Economy Delight to Premium or Upper Class. If you’re upgrading to premium class with points, upgrades from economy bookings cost about the same whether you’re in Economy Classic and Economy Delight. During the standard season, you’ll pay between 17,400 and 27,400 points to upgrade from economy to Premium depending on where you’re going and what airport you’re flying out of. During peak season, you can expect to pay an additional 10,000 points on top of these prices.

During the standard season, upgrading from economy to Upper Class costs between 56,200 and 101,200 points. In the peak season, these prices tend to run 15,000 points or so higher.

Is Economy Delight Worth It?

Overall, we think the benefits of Economy Delight are worth the small upcharge from the next lowest economy class. These seats feel a little more premium and a little roomier than standard economy, plus you’ll enjoy preferred check-in and preferred boarding.

Economy Delight also qualifies you to choose your seat at any time and puts you closer to the front of the plane than most economy passengers. But to us, one of the best perks is that extra 50% points-earning bonus for every flight. Even if you don’t fly Virgin Atlantic a lot, that additional earning potential and the savings that come with that make the higher price worth it.

With that said, if you’re looking for luxury, Economy Delight probably won’t cut it. You’re still flying in economy class and eating the same food as economy passengers. In this case, you’re better off using your points to upgrade to Premium or Upper Class, purchasing a reward ticket, or paying for a higher class when booking.

How to Get Free Upgrades

Even though you can’t upgrade to Economy Delight from a lower economy class using Virgin Red loyalty points, you are eligible to upgrade from this ticket to a higher one. So if you’re a loyalty member, you can use your points to get into Premium or Upper Class. Award seats are limited, especially in premium cabins, but it’s always worth it to see if they’re available.

If you’re strapped for points but you want to upgrade, you can earn more in the following ways:

  • Taking Virgin Atlantic flights
  • Taking flights with a Virgin Atlantic partner airline
  • Traveling through a Virgin Atlantic hotel, car rental, or other travel partner (e.g. Marriott Hotels and Resorts, Enterprise, Heathrow Rewards, etc.)
  • Traveling through any brand within the Virgin Group (e.g. Virgin Holidays, Virgin Hotels, Virgin Games, etc.)
  • Using Points Booster to apply extra rewards to an upcoming or past flight
  • Shopping through Shops Away partners
  • Purchasing or exchanging points with another Virgin Red member
  • Using a Virgin Atlantic co-branded travel credit card

Virgin Atlantic’s travel partners are:

  • Delta Air Lines
  • Airfrance
  • KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
  • SAS Scandinavian Airlines
  • Singapore Airlines
  • Air New Zealand
  • Virgin Australia
  • South African Airways
  • Hawaiian Airlines
  • ANA Inspiration of Japan

Virgin Atlantic Travel Credit Card

You can earn loyalty points by using a Virgin Atlantic credit card. The Virgin Atlantic World Elite Mastercard, available through Bank of America, allows you to earn 3 points per dollar on Virgin Atlantic bookings and 1.5 points per dollar on everything else. There is a $90 annual fee for this product.

Right now, this card is offering a 60,000 point sign-up bonus when you spend $2,000 or more within 90 days of signing up. Plus, earn up to 15,000 annually and 5,000 points for every additional cardholder you add to your account. You can also earn tier points.

Final Thoughts

For members of Virgin Atlantic’s loyalty program, Virgin Red, we think Economy Delight is worth the price. Loyalty members will get the most benefit out of this flight class because of the higher points-earning potential, but these flights are also more comfortable and convenient than Economy Classic (the class below Delight).

From extra legroom to priority check-in and boarding, this is a good middle ground between economy and premium that gives you some of the benefits of premium at an economy price point.

✈️ Looking for a new travel credit card this year? See today’s top offers below:

Best Days of the Week to Book Flights & to Fly

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Finding the best deal on flights is more about how far in advance you book and less about what day of the week you book.

According to studies by travel shopping sites and airlines, the best time to book a flight is between three months and three weeks before you plan to leave. At three weeks before the flight, airlines are trying to reach capacity and tend to drop their prices. But after this three-week mark, you’re more likely to see tickets going up in price as people who procrastinated booking their ticket scramble for a seat.

In this article, we’ll compare prices when purchasing tickets with different popular travel sites to find the best days to book—and take—flights.

✈️ Looking for a new travel credit card this year? See today’s top offers below:

What Day of the Week Should You Book?

The myth that you can find the lowest ticket prices on Tuesdays isn’t really true anymore. So, what day of the week should you book?

The online travel agency CheapAir.com recently did a study to try to get to the bottom of this. It found that prices only fluctuate by an average of 1% from weekday to weekday, meaning no day is better than any other to book. 

In the past, you could generally find the lowest fare prices on a Tuesday or Wednesday, but these days no longer have the lowest prices on average. Pricing is automated now, so fares change with the market. Although Tuesday and Wednesday used to be the preferred days for sales and deals, there are too many factors involved in pricing these days to predict with any accuracy what days of the week have the cheapest flights.

With how much fare prices fluctuate, it doesn’t really matter what day of the week you buy a ticket. 

What CheapAir.com did find, however, is that Tuesday and Wednesday are the cheapest days to actually fly. On average, you can save $73 a ticket when flying these days. 

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were found to be the most expensive on average, but the most expensive of these depends on where you’re going and which airline you’re using. 

With all of this in mind, let’s take a look at how to book cheap flights with different booking sites. For all of our examples, you’re taking a trip from JFK to LAX and booking a one-way flight. Here’s how to get the best prices.

Google Flights

Google Flights has one of the best flight search engines in the game (read our guide on the Google ITA flight Matrix to learn more about this technology) and offers the ability to customize your flight search down to every detail. But when should you book a ticket using Google Flights?

First off, you’re going to want to click on your date to see the calendar. This will show you the lowest prices for every day as far in the future as you want. You can compare prices throughout the week to help you decide when to fly (this is true of every booking site).

For three to four weeks from now, the lowest ticket price is the same for a one-way ticket. Three and a half weeks from now, this ticket happens to be for a JetBlue flight priced at $77. We found that it doesn’t really matter whether you book on a Tuesday night or Friday morning. 

Starting five weeks in advance, the price of the same ticket spikes up to $139 before dropping back down to $77 for the following Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. On Friday of the same week, the price goes up to $136 and down slightly to $123 on Saturday. 

After doing several comparisons, we found that Monday and Tuesday tend to be the cheapest days to fly and Friday and Saturday tend to take turns with the highest price, no matter how far out you’re booking. 

For the sake of comparison, we’ll generally leave holidays out of our calculations because patterns go out the window. Around Christmas, ticket prices are all over the place. On December 20th, a ticket will cost $149. On December 21st, $263. The prices top out at $263 on Thursday, December 23rd. 

Especially if you know that you’ll be flying during a travel peak, your best bet is to try to fly at the beginning of the week on Monday when booking through Google Flights. Prices may change every couple of hours, but the day you book will have little influence. Select “Track Prices” to receive updates.

Expedia

We also took a look at Expedia. The price calendar on this site is color-coded: green indicates the lowest prices, grey indicates average or typical, and red indicates the highest prices.

Looking for flights about three weeks out, the price of a flight was $77 on Monday,  Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, and $78 on Wednesday. Searching for flights farther out two months in advance, we noticed a theme. Tuesday usually has a low price, but Expedia claims that its lowest average daily prices are actually on Fridays. Monday and Wednesday are usually pretty comparable at a price slightly higher than Tuesday, and Sunday flights tend to be the most expensive.

But as far as when you should book, Expedia recommends purchasing your tickets on a Sunday to save the most money. Booking on a Thursday or Friday will probably cost the most.

Orbitz

If you’re looking for a cheap ticket, you might look to Orbitz. This travel site has been around for two decades and continues to specialize in discount flights on a number of (mostly budget) carriers.

Like the others, the Orbitz flight search tool has a calendar that shows projected prices by date. Across all of our searches, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday tended to be most likely to have the lowest prices. If there was a great deal, such as $77 for a flight three weeks from now, it was probably going to be the same from Monday to Wednesday. But if these days had different prices, Monday was just a little more likely to be the most expensive. Tuesdays and Wednesdays often shared low prices. 

We found the best prices as early as two weeks in advance—earlier than that and you’re paying high last-minute prices. When you hit about the three-and-a-half-month mark, the rates start going up and becoming a little less predictable.

As far as which days are the most expensive, that turned out to be either Sunday or Friday, as a rule. We were surprised to find Saturday tied for the best deals fairly regularly. 

Kayak

Kayak is probably another site you check when you need a flight and you need it cheap. This site offers bookings for just about any type of travel you might want and you can sometimes save on flights by adding hotels and rental cars to your trip.

This site works a little differently when you’re comparing prices. Instead of showing you a calendar with estimated prices for each day, Kayak gives you an expected range such as $58+, $119+, and $241+. Unfortunately, we found these estimates to be pretty misleading. For example, a ticket four weeks from the time we’re writing this says it’ll cost $58+, but when you actually search prices, the lowest is $77. This is common, so just keep this in mind.

The cheapest days to fly are usually Monday through Thursday. If you have to pick one, bet on Monday. Friday and Sunday are almost always the most expensive days and Thursday is often the second most expensive. The best time to book through Kayak is about two or three weeks in advance when ticket prices are the same every day of the week and about as low as they’re going to get (barring a last-minute flash deal, which we don’t recommend holding out for). Try to book no farther than two-and-a-half months in advance for the best deals.

Like Google Flights, Kayak allows you to track prices so you’re the first to know if a ticket you were looking at has changed its rate.

Skyscanner

Skyscanner may be a UK-based agency, but that doesn’t mean you can’t score deals on domestic US flights.

Unfortunately, this travel site makes comparing day-to-day prices just a little more difficult than the others (no convenient calendar), so we researched the best days to book so you don’t have to. 

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday have the lowest prices whether you’re booking three weeks or three months in advance. For example, we found tickets for as low as $76 on each of these days when searching for flights five weeks out. Often, Thursday is right there with these three, but it might be just a tad bit more expensive (e.g. $86). Prices shoot up on Friday, dip a little on Saturday, and go back up on Sunday. Friday and Sunday usually offer the same prices, which can be two times more expensive than the lowest price or more (e.g. $148).

This site shows you the best, cheapest, and fastest flights for whatever day you’ve selected so you can compare not just the best prices but the most convenient flights.

CheapOAir

We felt we had to include the less popular CheapOAir, the agency responsible for the study mentioned earlier, because it lives up to its name.

This site actually offers the lowest deals we’ve seen for the one-way JFK to LAX example flight we set up. Three weeks out, you can get a ticket for as low as $68.68. This price was found for a Wednesday and the Tuesday before was just $69.73. On that Thursday, $69.73. In general, we found Tuesday through Thursday and Saturday to be the best days to fly. Prices fluctuate very little across these days. You want to book about three weeks in advance when using this site to get the best deals.

The most expensive day is generally Sunday, but not by a whole lot. For example, six weeks out, you can get a Sunday flight ticket for as little as $78.79. If you don’t mind flying Spirit or Frontier or taking a longer flight, CheapOAir can probably save you the most money.

Momondo

For our final comparison, we’re looking at Momondo. This booking site has been a subsidiary of Kayak for several years, but many people choose it over its parent company.

This flight search engine stands out from the others because it displays a bar graph at the top of the search page that shows you the price for the date you’ve chosen compared to prices for the dates around it. The graph displays day-by-day prices for three weeks at a time, and you can click on your selected date to see a calendar that gives price ranges (just like Kayak). Deal-hunting was easier with this tool than any of the others.

We found that Tuesday and Wednesday usually have the lowest prices, with Wednesday having a slight edge. Sunday and Friday have the highest prices, and Monday and Thursday fall somewhere in the middle. Start searching for flights at least three weeks in advance.

Final Thoughts

Finding low prices on tickets is not really about what day of the week you book the flight. What matters most is how far out you book and when you fly. We found that many travel sites offered the same prices and tended to follow the same patterns as far as which days of the week had the lowest price, so just use your favorite agency. If you have loyalty points with an airline, you should always use those to save money on tickets and fees.

So if you came here for an answer to which days you should fly: Monday through Wednesday are the best days to fly and Friday and Sunday are the worst.

If you are able to be flexible about exactly when you depart and which airlines you use, you’ll have the best chance of saving money. Try comparing prices across different travel booking sites as well as booking directly with your airline of choice.

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