Taking Advantage of Holidays for Travel

While working in corporate America has its many perks, many are subject to the negatives of a limited vacation policy. But, we are here to tell you that you can still travel frequently with limited paid time off by taking advantage of holidays for travel. This is a fantastic method to allow you can travel more throughout the year.

As you are likely aware, there are many federal holidays throughout the year that many companies observe. These are basically free days that do not count against your yearly vacation days. While your company may not observe all of the federal holidays within a year, it is likely that you will get a few.

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Benefits of Holiday Travel

Like we mentioned previously, when we see a holiday, we see a free day off to travel. Booking travel over a holiday can allow you to take long weekend trips domestically without using a single vacation day. Or they can even allow you to book a 9 night epic adventure using only 4 vacation days!

in the same way, taking advantage for holidays to travel can give you extra time to relax (if you go that route). Or it can help you squeeze one more stop into that incredible multi-stop bucket list trip.

Depending on the holiday you are traveling on, you also get the experience of celebrating that holiday in a different country and taking part in their customs. This could be experiencing a European Christmas Market or trading in your backyard fireworks for watching an incredible fourth of July firework show in Oahu.

And of course one of the biggest benefits of holiday travel is making special memories with your family.

Planning Ahead

If taking advantage of holidays for travel is for you, then I cannot emphasize this section enough: PLAN AHEAD.

If your PTO strategy includes utilizing your holidays, then start planning a year in advance. I am serious.

First things first, sit down with your travel partner and start planning. Here are some things to answer:

• How many vacation days are you allotted for the year?
• Where do you want to go?
• Which destination matches with the holiday?

Planning out what you want your PTO and holidays to look like in advance will help you budget for the trips you want to take for the year and will help you always have a epic trip on the horizon.

Download our 2024 Monthly Calendar to help plan out your adventures for the next year in advance!

Save on Flights

The main reason why people push back about traveling over the holidays is because they believe that it comes with a hefty price tag. They’re not wrong. If you start looking for flights 2 months prior, the cost will be high. But, if you start looking at pricing well in advance, it is more than possible to find great deals on airfare and hotels.

Not only do you need to look ahead, it also helps to think outside of the box. This looks like leaving on Thanksgiving day vs the Saturday prior. Flight prices for Saturday through the following Sunday on Thanksgiving week are historically very high. But, leaving on Thanksgiving morning or late Wednesday night and returning the following Wednesday has much lower rates. I can’t not brag about the deal that I found for this Thanksgiving…roundtrip from DFW to STT for Thanksgiving for $350 per person #steal.

Planning ahead, will give you time to monitor flights. You can set up Google Flight alerts for your airfare dates and book when the prices dip. When the airfare hits a reasonable price, book it. Most airlines have a 24 hour hold available, so put that air on hold and then call your spouse.

Save on Hotels

In addition to flights, you need to look into booking hotels early. Remember that many people have this time off and popular destinations may be fully booked months ahead of time (especially if you plan on booking with points). Booking early can help you save as prices will increase the closer you get to the holiday.

Utilize points and miles can be cost effective when traveling. No matter how far ahead you plan, there will always be a price tag on flights and hotels. Unless you are made of money, anyone who wants to travel frequently should consider a credit card that earns travel rewards points (sorry Dave Ramsey). There are many credit cards that earn extra points on different spending categories. Pick the card that earns at high rates on the things you spend the most on, pay it off at the end of every month, and take free vacations. Yes, its that easy.

If you are new to the points game, we recommend the card that gives you the “blue bank” (leave us a comment asking for more details and we will send you some more information). This card allows points transfer to many major airlines and hotels – one of these being Hyatt, which has great point valuation. If you are looking for an additional card to add to your wallet, my second choice would be the Amex Gold. Even though it has a higher annual fee, it has fantastic transfer partners and great earning on grocery stores and restaurants.

Don’t forget to budget! We usually travel on a combination of points and cash which makes things much more affordable when you are trying to travel frequently.

Staying Organized

Find ways to organize your travel planning which will help keep you on budget and not loose track of your available paid time off.

This could look like a physical calendar noting when you plan on taking your PTO and the company holidays, a list of where you want to go, or an excel sheet noting prices on different travel portals for a hotel room.

Or all of the above, like us.

Choosing the Right Holiday

Depending on how much you want to travel throughout the year and what you want to experience, mix in short and long trips while taking advantage of holidays for travel. Here are some holiday travel ideas:

• MLK or President’s Day: perfect ski season. Take a long weekend and head up to Colorado for a ski trip.
• Memorial Day: kick off summer with a long weekend trip to the beach. Leave on Friday night and return on Monday night and you have plenty of time to relax on the beach, body surf, eat some shrimp, and get sunburned. Or head to Europe for a week long bucket list vacation during shoulder season to beat the crowds.
• Independence Day: want to experience fireworks over a beach? Head out to Hawaii or maybe hop on over to the Bahamas (they have fireworks there too). Kids out of school? Maybe this is the time to head to Europe with the kids since they will be out during summer break.
• Labor Day: end the summer with a trip to the beach or head to the mountains for some hiking (whatever floats your boat).
• Thanksgiving: easily have an entire week of vacation by taking only 2-3 days off. Head down to Grand Cayman for a week or head over to Europe for the kick off to the Christmas market season.
• Christmas or New Years Eve: snow on your mind? Take your family to the mountains or create epic Christmas memories at a destination that fits your lifestyle. Memories are the best presents anyways.

Making Memories

Holidays are for making memories with your family-by-blood or your family-by-choice. Choosing to travel over holidays will likely leave many more lasting memories than unwrapping another present from under the tree. Give the gift of lasting memories and don’t forget to take pictures along the way to share with your loved ones years later.

A few things to remember:

• Plan out your PTO strategically.
• Book travel early.
• Consider a travel rewards credit card.
• Find a way to stay organized.
• Make those memories with your people.

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