7 On Your Side: Tips for last-minute Labor Day travel deals
NEW YORK (WABC) -- The long Labor Day Weekend is next week, but if you haven't booked anything yet, don't worry.
7 On Your Side went hunting for some last-minute tips to get away and found as long as you are flexible with your dates, there are still great rates for both hotels and flights. You can squeeze in one more trip before the sun sets on this summer, especially on places where demand is low.
Pauline Frommer, of the Frommer family whose books have guided travelers all over the globe, says eleventh hour travel requires and open mind.
"I'm calling them desperation discounts," Frommer said. "Be flexible with where you're going and when, but surprisingly, Labor day travel has become cheaper lately."
"You've got people headed out of town for last-minute vacations, but there's also less demand for hotels an airfare overall because a lot of people have headed back to to school already," said Hayley Berg.
Berg is an economist who works for Hopper, a mobile app for forecasting and tracking flights and hotel prices.
Hopper found travel deals for over the the Labor Day holiday from New York to Montreal for $270 roundtrip and to Nassau, Bahamas, for $429.
That's Wednesday's price -- expect the fares to climb every day. Prices will spike about $8 a day between now and Labor Day, but there are still deals to domestic and international destinations.
Berg says their research found flying out domestically on the Saturday before Labor Day is the cheapest, but for taking off for international destinations, Friday is the better day.
7 On Your Side checked Google Flights and found fares from New York to Orlando still available Saturday, Aug. 31 for $271 roundtrip -- on Friday, getting to Florida costs $314.
It is the same for Las Vegas -- Friday departure on United from Newark nonstop costs $487 and dropped to $373 for the same flight on Saturday.
But the key is you have to return Tuesday for these prices since Labor Day will be a peak travel day.
If you don't want to fly, there is no better time for a staycation. Rooms in big cities away from the beach are bargains. The inside tip from Frommer is to wait until the very last minute and be prepared to hop to a different spot to save the most.
"Come into the city, you will not have business travelers here and hotels cater to them, so you could be in a very cushy place for very little money," Frommer said.
The Big Takeaway:
For the best hotel rates, check in Saturday and check out on Tuesday.
Start tracking flight and hotel deals for last-minute alerts. Use search engine apps so they can send out an alert when the price drops.
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