Why it’s not too early to book your family’s Christmas vacation

01.04.2024 - 15:19 / thepointsguy.com / Airlines

The flowers may have just started to bloom, and your vacation plans for this summer may still be up in the air, but it's not too early to start planning — and booking — your family's Christmas vacation.

Even though the holiday season is not for another eight to nine months, you may find that your ideal vacation destination is already booking up, especially if you're trying to use your points.

Even if you are not 100% sure where you want to go just yet, you may want to plan a few different vacation options and then figure it out later. I have a few different December vacations already booked, as I am not yet 100% sure which direction we are going; some of it also depends on other vacations we end up booking for 2025.

While some of them require me to cancel 60 to 90 days out, that still gives me another five to six months to finalize my plans. But by booking something now, I have a better chance of ensuring I can use my points and miles as life unfolds.

If you are yearning to get away for the holidays this year, here are some tips to consider if you want to start planning now.

Many hotel chains now follow a dynamic award pricing model, or one with off-peak and peak pricing, when using points. This means that during peak times, such as Christmas week, you may be forced to redeem a higher number of points per day.

However, even during the holidays, you may find that some dates fall into the off-peak or standard award chart.

If you have some flexibility in your schedule, you'll find more availability and potentially less expensive hotel pricing if you can go on the earlier or later side of the holidays.

For example, when looking at the Grand Hyatt Baha Mar, which still has availability during the holiday time frame, you'll find that traveling through Dec. 20 will save you a decent amount of points versus traveling over Christmas.

Know, too, that all Hyatt properties offer a points calendar that'll show you the number of points required per day (though that doesn't guarantee that a standard room is available). Be sure to put that calendar to use if you want to cash in as few World of Hyatt points as possible

Over the past few years, airlines have softened their change and cancellation policies — for the better — and many airlines will allow you to book flights on points and miles and then cancel later for no fee.

Although every airline operates a bit differently, there's a good chance that your airline of choice has a flexible policy, allowing you to lock in airfare using your miles now without a penalty if your plans change later.

Major airlines — including American Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines and JetBlue Airways — allow you to cancel your award flight without any fee,