Top 5 Tips for Holiday Travel

Traveling over the holidays can be notoriously busy, expensive and stressful, but don’t let a roadside emergency like a flat tire, dead battery or lockout get you down.

Whether you’re heading home for the holidays or escaping to a relaxing getaway, you can ease some of your travel headaches and get some peace of mind with a bit of foresight and some Thanksgiving travel planning.

 

Top Tips for Traveling During the Holidays

 

1. Travel late in the day

You may think waking up a little earlier to hit the road or catch a flight would help you in avoiding crowds, but everyone else has the exact same idea. By traveling at night, you’ll find the roads less congested and airports much less crowded.

Remember, the day before Thanksgiving is the busiest time of the year to travel so be smart when making arrangements!

 

2. Be prepared

With a little preparation, there’s no need to stress out over potential bumps in the road (both figuratively, and literally). Allstate’s Good Hands Rescue Service saves you the trouble of signing up for additional insurance programs, and thankfully you don’t even need to be a current Allstate customer to reap the advantages.

Towing, lockouts, tire changes, and jump-starts are all covered, and never paid for unless you use them; with this back up protection, such inconveniences don’t have to be a major setback.

 

3. Download travel apps

Taking the extra couple minutes to download helpful travel planning apps can help assure you’ll be cool, calm, and collected before and during your travels.

Our top picks? GateGuru will keep you up-to-date on flight statuses and security wait times, while GasBuddy allows you to find the cheapest gas prices along your route and maps directions directly to the gas station.

The Good Hands Rescue Service app is also a must-have, with on-demand roadside assistance at the touch of a button. Automatic GPS locating means no more making desperate attempts to explain your location in the middle of nowhere, and there’s no membership fees – only a flat rate should you ever need need to use it.

Allstate is even offering the service for only $2 for the first 1,000 requests for standard vehicles* the day before Thanksgiving!

With the unnervingly high costs of the holidays, saving in the smallest ways can offset some your year-end expenses.

 

4. Plan for children

Reuniting families for the holidays can be the most joyous time of the year, but you want to arrive at your destination with your sanity intact.

Prepare for long car rides with fun travel-oriented games and bring a portable battery charger for electronic gaming devices; on planes and in cars, you won’t have access to power outlets.

Even if you don’t have kids of your own, given the season it’s likely that you’ll be around families traveling with them at one point or another; on planes or long car rides, ear buds can make the difference between a stressful trip and a and relaxing one.

 

5. Travel on less popular days

While some schedules may not allow much leeway, try to avoid making trips on high-travel days, like the day before and after Christmas, and the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Inflated hotel rates and high numbers of car accidents can all be costly and cause unexpected delays.

If you’re flying, taking the possibility of severe weather delays into consideration is even more of a reason to depart a day or two earlier than usual. A little extra vacation time never hurt!

 

 

* Promotional pricing available only for first 1,000 requests on 11/23 from 12:00am to 11:59pm CT made from m.goodhandsrescue.com or the Good Hands Rescue app in the United States. Applies to standard vehicles only; no commercial, RV, extra weight. Towing limited to 5 miles; additional miles priced at $4.25/mile. Fuel costs extra. Must have valid credit card. Subject to terms, conditions, and availability.

 

This post was written as part of the Allstate Influencer Program and sponsored by Allstate. All opinions are mine. As the nation’s largest publicly held personal lines insurer, Allstate is dedicated not only to protecting what matters most–but to guiding people to live the Good Life, every day.