Travel Archives - How Life Works

Travel can be a lifesaver. The right vacation at the right time can revitalize your whole year, not to mention your body and mind. But, in today’s economy with airlines adding new fees almost daily, and ticket prices sharply on the rise, many have written off travel as too expensive. However, with a few savvy tricks and a little research, there are still lots of great deals to be had on airline tickets and more.

Early Bird Gets the Deal. Travel experts say that there are certain times of day when more deals are available. Airfares can change three times a day, as airlines adjust their prices to fill up flights. Early morning is when the fares tend to be lowest, but it is a good idea to check every five hours to track prices as they change throughout the day. Also, it’s a good idea to check again at 5PM when the airlines are trying hardest to fill empty seats.

What Wouldn’t a Business traveler do? Flying when business travelers don’t can save you a bundle. Most business travelers fly on Mondays and Fridays, so Tuesday and Wednesday are the best days. Airlines will usually lower their prices on these days to aggressively try and fill empty seats.

Avoid the Crowds. Fly to popular places at unpopular times. The slowest time of the year for travel is in the Fall between Labor Day and Thanksgiving. Again, to try and fill more vacant seats, the airlines will lower prices and offer better deals to get people to fly during this time of the year.

Right place, “wrong” time? By flying to popular destinations at unpopular times, you can secure the best prices from travel companies and airlines. Here’s where flexibility in your planning can pay off. Going to the airline websites and planning your vacation around the best ticket prices offered can result in a fun, cost-effective vacation and maybe widen your horizons to a place you might never have considered before.

Package Deals. Many times the best deals on airfare can be found as part of a package rate. Most travel sites have package rates available, and they are definitely worth a look. Often times, the entire package (hotel, airfare, rental car) is cheaper than just the plane ticket on another site. Even if you don’t need the rental car, with the money you saved on the flight, you can’t afford to not pick it up. These deals are especially good on last minute bookings.

With a little inside knowledge and some good timing, you can get yourself a steal on a ticket to the vacation you thought was out of reach.

Click on the links below to get some great travel deals and plan your trip today:

For millions of Americans the idea of getting on a plane and flying is one of the most scary imaginable. People all over the world struggle with this fear, which recent studies ranked number three on the list of the top ten phobias.

Statistically speaking, flying is 29 times safer than traveling in a car. Thousands of flights safely and routinely take off and land at airports around the globe every day. Yet fear of flying still strikes millions.

There are many homemade remedies that frightened travelers have concocted to help them survive a flight.

Most include either alcohol or over the counter sleep aids that allow the traveler to sleep their way through the anxiety of a trip. There is a better way to conquer your fear of flying. Psychologists have identified the four most common thought patterns in people who fear flying, and provided some techniques to combat them:

Rumination: This is when you obsess about how bad the situation is, dwelling on your fears. Psychologists say the best way to combat this type of thinking is to find something positive about the experience, no matter how small, and refocus your thinking on that thing. It could be the nice view out your window or the movie being shown. Whatever it is, moving your thoughts outside the situation can help calm your anxiety.

Self-blame: This is when the person focuses on their failures and allows them to feed into their fear. In this case, it might involve chastising one’s self for being afraid of flying. The best way to combat self-blame? Remind yourself that you are achieving an incredible breakthrough by taking the trip, and that progress is a slow and steady process.

Resignation: This is when a person allows themselves to feel hopelessly out of control of the environment around them. This creates a mindset where the person can feel paralyzed with fear, unable to relax. The best way to combat this type of fear is to re-affirm that you do have control of the situation. You can control things like your breathing and use muscular relaxation techniques to relieve stress.

Catastrophizing: This term refers to fear that causes a person to envision how bad the situation is or could become. Those who are afraid to fly often say this is the most common type of thought, imagining a disaster that is statistically almost impossible. The best way to combat this type of fear is acknowledge your fear and challenge it. Remind yourself of another time where you faced up to something that scared you or stood tall in the face of a problem. Challenge yourself to conquer this fear just as you did another before it.

Flying is statistically the safest means of travel, so don’t let your fears stand in the way of your life and getting where you want to go.

Category: Travel

Tricks to Finding the Cheapest Flights

How to Conquer a Fear of Flying