Last-minute summer travel tips | 7 On Your Side

NEW YORK (WABC) — We’re just at the start of the summer season, but there’s still time to book a summer getaway.

7 On Your Side’s Nina Pineda has some tips on how to book last-minute summer travel without breaking the bank.

Some good news is that it’s cheaper to fly right now and your wallet will notice some savings. Hotels are also down.

One thing that is more expensive is renting a car. That’s up 3%.

Hayley Berg with Hopper shared some tips. If you can leave early in the day and be flexible, you can save some money.

“Most summer weekend travel are going to go from Thursday or Friday to Sunday, so if you can fly on midweek days like leaving on a Monday or a Tuesday, that’s when you are going to find the really low, like under $100 deals,” Berg said. “Airfare to Europe is down about 16%, so travelers who took a trip last year should definitely feel the savings when they book this year.”

Her other tips include:

– Book ASAP

– Freeze a price

– Fly midweek

– Book the first flight of the day

– Add disruption/cancellation protection

– Avoid peak weekends & holiday weeks

Consider the fall “shoulder season”

What if you need to protect your trip?

“Trip insurance typically helps with costs associated with a medical event while you are abroad, lost luggage and you need to buy new clothing or toiletries. It doesn’t always cover things like missing your connection because your inbound flight is delayed, so we suggest disruption assistance which is a much more assistance-focused product. If you’re delayed, if you’re canceled, if you miss a connection, you can rebook yourself immediately on any available airline, not just the airline that you booked with, or you can take a refund and use that money to get a rental car to get to your destination, a hotel stay if you need one,” Berg said.

Disruption or cancellation protection comes with an added fee, but it’s necessary.

Trip insurance is way more expensive, but that’s good for longer trips.

Just remember, if you were planning on going anywhere, the prices are only going to increase from now through July and August. You should also try to avoid holiday weekends like July 4 and Labor Day.

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