How to save big bucks on holiday travel

If you haven't booked your holiday flights, you are going to need to do so very soon or it will cost you extra money.

The longer you wait to get your airfare, the more it will cost. Before you wait too long, here's what you really need to know:

If you wait until late October or early November, the seats are going to start filling up more significantly, boosting prices for your flights.

For Thanksgiving, you need to get your tickets purchased this week. The early-to-mid October time frame is a golden period if you want some of the best deals on Thanksgiving Day airfare.

For travel during Christmas week, start comparing prices right now.

What should you do if you're just booking flights for the future-and not the holidays?

Keep in mind, the day you purchase airline tickets is important.

A recent study found that Sunday not Tuesday is the least expensive day to purchase airfare. Saturday is the second best day for cheaper prices.

Tuesday is still cheap, the cheapest of the weekdays to buy airfare. How much money are we talking on average? $71 cheaper than what you would pay on a Monday. Monday, by the way, is the most expensive day to purchase an airline ticket.

The lowest ticket prices for domestic travel are seen 57 days before you're schedule to fly. For international trips, purchase 171 days out from the time of your departure.

For holiday travel, here are the three days when airfares are going to be most expensive: Wed., Nov. 25, the day before Thanksgiving; Sunday, Nov. 29, the Sunday after Thanksgiving, and January 3, which is when most people go back to work.

The cheapest days this holiday season will be on the holiday itself: Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New Year's Day. It'll be a ghost town at the airport on those days, and it is the cheapest.