Plan Your Summer Vacation Early!

According to the Wall Street Journal, as airlines reduce their capacity and prices are projected to go up, now is the time to book your summer vacation. In the past it may have paid off to buy tickets at the last minute, but this year, insiders are predicting a "summer seat squeeze."


There is some good news, however: since hotels cannot cut capacity as easily as airlines, domestic rates are still staying low. According to Bing Travel, rates at high-end hotels are down 10 percent this year. Travelocity said rates are down slightly, averaging $144 per night compared to $145 last year. Certain parts of the country have seen significant drops on room rates, such as Maui, Orlando and New York City.


"Travelers are going to find higher airfare rates across the board, but if they look into destinations with lower hotel rates they could save on the total trip cost," said Joel Grus, a fare expert at Bing Travel to the Wall Street Journal.

If you are planning you trip well in advance, you will also have the advantage of securing your trip insurance well in advance, which means you will be covered if something happens to cause you to cancel or delay your travel plans. Can you say Eyjafjallajokull? Ok, me neither…