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The numbers are in and Cyber Monday travel deals promise to be better than ever. From airfare to hotels, keep your eyes peeled for flash sales.
Thanks to a slow summer, experts say 2016 should offer the biggest savings yet for airfare.
Cyber Monday 2016 promises biggest flash travel sales yet. Photo credit: Alexandra Talty.
“International demand seems to be weaker," says Patrick Surry, chief data scientist at Hopper, an airfare prediction app. "People are more reluctant to travel further abroad.”
Surry predicts flights to Europe and the Caribbean will see the most savings for Cyber Monday 2016. Travel searches to those regions were down this summer, so many airlines have extra inventory that they want to sell before the end of the year. Some airfare sales will continue through the first week of December.
Stay flexible with destinations and dates
In order to snag the best Cyber Monday travel deals, Surry recommends being location agnostic. He says, " you have to be flexible with destination and dates. This isn't going to happen for Spring Break. ”
If you do have a specific route in mind, it pays to track each airline, as many kick off their flash travel sales around 9:00 a.m. on Cyber Monday and continue throughout the week. "For any particular route it can be all over the place. The only way to get the best deal is to monitor yourself or use a tool like Hopper," says Surry.
However, some airlines kick off their sales on Black Friday, so begin monitoring fights now.
Sign up for airfare sales alerts
"If you have a favorite airline, I recommend signing up for email alerts so you can see the deals as soon as they are announced,"says Jon Lal, founder and CEO at BeFrugal.
Sign up for an email alert with services like Airfarewatchdog or Hopper, which offers push notifications on your phone. They will automatically notify you when a flight hits a certain price so you can take advantage of flash travel sales.
If you are not loyal to a certain airline, Lal recommends using a coupon website like BeFrugal to search for coupon codes on airfare, hotels and rental cars. The key is to start looking the weekend before Cyber Monday through the whole week.
Research flight prices beforehand
However, just because something is promoted as a Cyber Monday travel deal doesn't mean it is necessarily the lowest possible fare. Do your research beforehand so you know what price point you're hoping to find. Hopper recommends looking for 30 to 40 percent savings.
Book direct for hotels
As for hotels, experts recommend to book direct.
"If you have a specific hotel in mind, make sure to check their website on Black Friday and Cyber Monday for special deals," says Holly Johnson, the personal finance expert behind the frugal website Club Thrifty. "A lot of hotels and resorts worldwide are offering special holiday deals on both days, but you have to book direct."
Jerry Gibson, area Vice President at Hilton Worldwide recommends signing up for hotel loyalty programs, as those customers can get advance notice about deals. Gibson says, "Book early but check back often. The best deals and rates tend to go fast, but hotels can add new inventory and availability throughout the sale period. "
Some of the best deals can found with the more expensive rooms, so use Cyber Monday 2016 as a time for an upgrade.
