Travel Tuesday tips: Here’s how to get the best deals

Scoring deals on Travel Tuesday

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are over, but Travel Tuesday is here and it’s all about saving money for your next vacation. Kellie Cowan reports.

TAMPA, Fla. - If you have a big trip in mind for 2025, Travel Tuesday is a great day to take advantage of some major deals being offered by different airlines, hotels, and cruise lines.

Experts recommend reading the fine print on travel deals. Some of the deepest discounts out there offer the least flexibility should your travel plans change. Many deals are also subject to blackout or travel windows.

"Reading the fine print is always good advice, but it is especially good advice during Travel Tuesday when you're looking at these deals," said Katy Nastro, spokesperson and travel expert for the Going travel app. "Oftentimes these deals are restricted to certain dates, they are restricted to certain itineraries or cruises or destinations, and you just really want to be 110% sure that you're able to take that trip you’re buying."

It’s also important to use a search engine like Google to check whether you’re truly getting a deal. Several sites are offering discounted rates on things like hotels right now, so the "sale" offered by one site may not end up being the best rate out there.

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"Be aware that the 30 percent or 25 percent that you're seeing is only on the base rate. That does not include taxes and fees, which as we know in recent years have definitely increased. And that resort fee, you're still going to have to pay for that in some instances. So just being aware that those discounted prices are only on the base rate, not on the total rate that you're going to be paying," Nastro warned.

This is also a great time to take advantage of the post-holiday travel lull where flight prices generally fall significantly for travel between January and March.

"We are seeing some of these European carriers like SAS, promote these January and February and even slightly into March deals that you can take advantage of for ski season. Some fares right now are below $500 round trip so this is a time period where you can be taking advantage of a really slow period in travel for the northern hemisphere," stated Nastro.

Anyone looking to cross the Atlantic for their ski holiday will also find much lower rates on lift tickets compared to popular US resorts.

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If you’ve done quite a bit of traveling over the last year, it’s a good time to check for hotel and flight deals using points.

"People shouldn't just be looking for cash deals. Also, be looking for points, bonuses from various hotels as well as air carriers because this is a currency that you can use, even if it's just on a night stay," said Nastro. "You might end up getting a free night stay or even getting a one-way flight that’s a better points deal versus paying the cash price. A lot of people forget that they might have racked up quite a few points in miles over the course of their spending habits this past year."

Airlines Deals:

American, Frontier, Spirit, Southwest, and United have slashed fares across the country and Delta is offering extra miles and rewards.

International carriers are also getting in on the Travel Tuesday trend as well: PLAY, Qatar Airways, and Singapore Airlines have are offering 20-30-percent off today on select routes.

Hotel Deals:

Hilton: 25 to 50-percent off stays at thousands of properties around the world.
Hyatt: Save up to 25-percent off hundreds of hotels through December 9.
Marriott: 25-percent off stays when using the Marriott Bonvoy app.
Wyndham Hotels & Resorts: 20-30-percent off stays of two nights or more.

Cruises:

Celebrity: Up to 75 percent off the cruise fares of second guests that are in the same cabin.
Holland America: Up to 25 percent off select itineraries.
Norwegian: Up to 50% off voyages.
Princess: Up to 50% off fares on select 2024, 2025, and 2026 itineraries.
Regent Seven Seas Cruise: Save up to 40 percent on select 2025. Travelers will also receive up to $1,000 of onboard credit per suite.
Royal Caribbean: Up to $800 off per stateroom and 75% off second-guest cruise fares.
Virgin Voyages: Buy one fare and get the second for 80 percent off. The promotion also includes up to $300 in free drinks depending on the length of the sailing.

Car Rentals:

Avis: Up to 25 percent off on rentals of three days or longer, plus one free day on a future rental.
Hertz: Up to 25 percent off thousands of vehicles in their fleet.

More Deals:

Sites like Booking.com, Priceline, and Expedia have slashed prices from 15-50% of thousands of hotels.

Not ready to book just yet? Memberships for the travel company Going are up to 50 percent off right now. The app will alert you throughout the year when prices drop on airfare for your selected departure airports. It’s a great way to score the biggest flight deals and find out about "oopsie" fares before they sell out or are removed from inventory.

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