7 ways it pays to book ahead this year

05.01.2025 - 19:25 / thepointsguy.com

With the holidays behind us, many people are planning trips for 2025. Traveling is often stressful, but there are things you can do to make it feel less so.

Here are seven ways to book ahead and save this year.

Lyft and DoorDash users who link their accounts can take advantage of several perks throughout the year, including:

Lyft typically offers time-sensitive travel promos throughout the year, so be sure to check your Lyft account for those rollouts.

To participate, link your DoorDash and Lyft accounts here.

Uber rolled out two options for airport-bound travelers to save money. It reintroduced the option to book an UberX Share at 10 airports, specifically:

Riders who book UberX Share can save up to 25% on regular UberX fares, even if they're not matched with a co-rider.

For riders traveling to and from New York's LaGuardia Airport (LGA), consider booking an Uber Shuttle. For $18 one-way, users can book a shuttle to the airport, up to four seats. Users can book an Uber Shuttle up to seven days in advance and just five minutes before scheduled departure on three different routes to or from LGA. Service is available weekly every 30 minutes, from 5 a.m. through 10:45 p.m.

To get the best airfare deal, book airfare and hotel reservations for domestic itineraries at least one or two months in advance and around three or four months in advance for international trips.

In addition to using points and miles to book your travel reservations, consider monitoring your bookings to see if the price drops. If it does, pending your reservation type, you can cancel and rebook at the new price. Be sure to read the terms and conditions of your reservations to verify this is an option. For example, many basic economy fares are nonrefundable.

Although all airlines offer a 24-hour free cancellation window, you're subject to varying individual airline policies 24 hours after booking.

Typically, full-fare economy tickets or higher-class tickets are the most flexible, with basic economy tickets being the most restrictive.

American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines all allow passengers to change their tickets without paying a change fee. Generally, you can rebook and get airline flight credits for any price difference between the two flights.

Alternatively, certain higher-level tickets offer full refunds.

Some ultra-low-cost airlines relaxed change and cancellation fee policies in 2024, making it easier to cancel and rebook.

If you book using airline points or miles, policies usually refund you the points or miles.

Due to overcrowding, many airport lounges provide the option to reserve a spot for entry (and some even require it).

For example, the reservation system is now live at the Capital