Consumer Alert: Big sales right now on fall travel

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Wanna get away? If you can wait, you can save hundreds! Southwest surprised us all with a big sale last week. But it only applied to travel after August 15. That’s because folks stop traveling in September, but if you can wait until the fall the savings are phenomenal.

The Southwest sale was from June 13 through June 15 to celebrate the airline’s 52nd anniversary. So now several other airlines are matching the Southwest sale this week. According to the Points Guy, here are the airlines running specials right now to warm destinations like Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. The include Aeromexico, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Copa Airlines, Delta Airlines, JetBlue and United.

Some of the best deals those airlines are offering are leaving from large cities like New York City or Washington D.C. But I also found some amazing fall deals right out of Rochester. For example, let’s say you’d like to take a little jaunt to Los Angeles. If you went in July, the height of the travel season, the cheapest flight I could find was $404. But if you could wait until the middle of September, United is selling a flight to L.A. for less than half that, $184.

And I just discovered a new tool by KAYAK that really does simplify your search for flights, especially if you have flexibility when you travel. KAYAK says this software can sift through and compile information from billions of searches and tell you when is the cheapest time to travel.

So i put it to the test. I plugged in Rochester to Cancun and it says September is best because the flights are cheaper, the weather is nice and the crowds have dissipated. And it provides the proof. It shows me the cheapest flight in September is $377 and gives me a handy-dandy graph that compares that price to other months. It even gives me the range of hotel prices.

I usually go to several search sites to find the cheapest flight. This new KAYAK tool really takes the work out of the search. Most travel experts say when you find that cheap flight on the search site, it’s best to book that flight directly through the airline because it will be easier to make changes if needed.