Five Tips for Booking Holiday Travel Now

Want to spend the holidays at a resort and escape the cold of winter? Or do you want to spend them with friends or family who live far away?

Either way, now's the time to book travel: mid-October is the sweet spot to find deals and get preferable flight times. According to a recent article on ABCNews.com, this is when deals start appearing for holiday travel.

September and January are also good times to head almost anywhere on the planet, because it's right after the high season for North American travellers and rates are low.

So when you're looking for deals, keep these tips in mind:

1. Try to book on off-peak days - if you can avoid travelling the day before a holiday or on Friday or Sunday you'll save money. Mid-week travel is generally the most affordable days to find low-cost flights.2. If you see a good deal, take it. Don't think that you may get a last minute deal - unless you want to fly very early in the morning, late at night or overnight.

3. Sign up for alerts from your favourite travel providers - whether it's Expedia or Travelocity or a specific airline like Air Canada or Westjet, you'll find out the latest deals through their email newsletters for subscribers, or more frequently via their Facebook fan pages or Twitter.

4. if it makes sense, consider a smaller airport - such as Toronto Island Airport - where you may get additional deals as it tries to compete with the main airports.

5. Research on a Monday, as many deals are sent out early in the week. Many airlines pick Tuesday as the day to announce sales.