It’s getting to be that time of the year when Iowans start thinking about booking a vacation to a warm destination during the cold winter months.
Kyle Potter, executive editor at ThriftyTraveler.com, says if you book flights now, there is very little risk as long as you make sure the flight qualifies for free changes or cancellations.
“Almost every airline, especially the big airlines, Delta, American, United, any ticket purchased by the end of the year can be changed or canceled for free, and if you cancel, you get a voucher,” Potter says. “So that means if you buy before December 31st, you can get a good deal hopefully to each destination and then let things play out.”
Potter says the worst-case scenario would be that you get a voucher that you can use up to a year later.
He says Mexico is the only international destination with no significant restrictions on Americans.
“You have to fly, you can’t drive there right now, but flights have been going from the United States to Mexico and back pretty much undaunted for the last several months and there is no testing required to get in,” Potter says, “though for some people, that’s a bad thing.”
He also suggests when you’re booking things like hotels, rental cars, excursions, and other things that they also have a free cancellation policy.