Holiday travel doesn’t have to be crazy expensive. If you plan ahead and follow a few simple tricks, you’ll find that holiday travel costs about the same, if not less, than traveling during other times of the year. The reason traveling during the holidays is so expensive is simple:  supply and demand. Since most people have time off during the holidays, it’s a very popular time to travel, which drives up the prices. If you are smart about where you stay and how you book,  you’ll be able to save a good amount of money on your holiday travels.

My all time favorite hack for saving money while traveling is to travel during the off season when kids are in school. Now that I have a school aged kid, I can’t get away with that! I’m not one of those parents who will take the kids out of school to travel, instead I book our vacations around the school calendar. Because of that, we have a vacation scheduled for Thanksgiving and the week between Christmas and New Years. Luckily, I have a few tips and tricks up my sleeve for saving money while traveling during the holidays.

Check out my favorite tips that will help you travel cheap during the holidays.

Easy tips to save money traveling during the holidays

Book early

No matter how you plan to travel, book everything early.

Book your flight as early as possible. If you are driving, go ahead and book hotel stays along the way. Reserve a hotel or VRBO as early as you can. By booking early,  you are able to avoid a price hike as demand grows. When it comes to holiday travel, you already know it will be a busy time of the year, so don’t put off making your reservations.

Get the best rates on flights

We all know that sites like Orbitz, Priceline, Hotwire, and CheapOair are great for comparing prices, but did you know that you can get cash back too? That’s right, the Ibotta app will give you cash back when you book through the app.

Here is how it works:

• Download the app
• Open it and go to “Find Offers” at the bottom.
• Click on “Travel”
• Compare the different cash back options and book the flight that saves you the most money

Right now Orbitz is the site with the best cash back deal at 6% back!

New to Ibotta? It’s a cash back and rewards app that helps you save time and money when shopping. No more clipping coupons! Use Ibotta for saving money at the grocery store and even for travel. Download the Ibotta app here.

Be smart when booking accommodations

Here is a great tip for all travel, not just holiday travel:  compare home rental prices to hotel prices.

We have consistently found that VRBO (Vacation Rental by Owner) is cheaper for us than booking a hotel room. As a family of 5, we prefer to have a suite at hotels which ends up being pretty pricy. For the same price, sometimes even less, we are able to find full houses with separate bedrooms for each of the kids.

Save even more money by booking a VRBO or HomeAway through Ibotta.

Still want a hotel? That’s cool too! Ibotta has all sorts of cash back offers for hotel rooms too. They have HotelStorm, Hotels.com, and Extended Stay America to name a few. Right now HotelStorm has the best deals at 8% cash back.

Book discounted activities

Use a site like Living Social to find discounted activities while on vacation. A quick search of Orlando activities brings up everything from discounted meals to a Barry Manilow Christmas concert that would be $44 and give you 4% cash back.

Save money on holiday travel by signing up with Ibotta today!

Holiday travel isn’t the only way to save money with Ibotta. Kick-off fall with cash back from Ibotta. From your closet to your tailgate, we’ve got you covered. Download the app and start earning today. 

All offers were valid as of publish date. Don’t forget to check your app for details as offers change frequently and may not be available in all areas.