TAMPA, Fla. — Spring break season is here! You may have noticed all the extra traffic headed toward the beaches over the weekend.
While many people are coming to Tampa Bay to vacation, those of us who live here all the time may be looking for a getaway. The good news is that there are deals to be had, but you may have to sacrifice some comfort to get where you want to go.
Airports are busy as more people get more comfortable with traveling amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. According to the International Air Transport Association, airports are expecting to see 150 percent more passengers than they did last year. We talked to a couple of experts to find out how you can get the best deals.
Meet the Blinks family. Mom Diana is a family travel content creator. While their home is in Tampa, Diana says traveling is what they live to do. "We came up with the idea for 22 trips in 2022."
They've already been on their first adventure to Costa Rica. "Not all of them are going to be big trips around the globe," she said.
But when you have that many trips planned, it can get expensive. And Diana has a few secrets to saving money.
"My best hack for finding good trips is just being flexible about when you're going to travel and where you're going to go," she said.
Kyle Potter is the executive editor of Thrifty Traveler and he agrees.
"Go to a site like Google flights which allows you to look at a calendar and you can kind of move day by day and see if I depart on a Tuesday instead of on a Monday, I can save a hundred dollars on my plane ticket," he said.
Next, Diana says try buying your tickets ahead of time at the actual airport.
"This hack usually works best with more discount airlines. So I found the flights I wanted to take on Google flights. And then I went to the airport and said 'I would like to purchase this flight, how much is it?' Showed them the exact flight that I wanted and they were like yeah this is how much. And it ended up being about $400 cheaper."
However, Kyle says to set your expectations if you're flying a budget airline. Those extra fees can add up. "Do the math. To go through that checkout process on that cheap flight on Spirit or Frontier or whatever airline it is, and add every single thing you need in order to fly."
Diana and her family have also mastered the art of traveling light! "We went to Europe for five weeks, with just a backpack each, my family of five, and that saves a lot of money because baggage fees can get really expensive."
And Kyle says now may be the time to take that trip you've been dreaming of. "It's an incredible time for the people who are on the hunt for a bargain and I just don't know how much longer it's going to last."
Diana does have one rule of thumb when it comes to flying on a budget airline. If the flight is longer than three hours, they'll splurge a little and fly regular airlines. The seats are generally more comfortable and you get a little bit more space.