Summer travel planning time has already arrived

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Spring might have barely started in some spots of the country (and its definitely still winter most places), but it’s already time to start thinking about summer. Travel deals won’t be where they were at last year, meaning that the airlines are not dropping their fares to ridiculous lows. But there is still time to take advantage of some sales that have started.

Domestically, AirTran and American Airlines have both launched summer fare deals, but be attentive to the fine print. Some of the catches are weekday-only travel or smaller time frames to travel within.

There are many ways of finding cheaper airfares, but sometimes the quickest way to find out about sales is sign up for alerts either directly from your favorite airline’s website or from a reliable search engine like Kayak or Orbitz. These sites will let you customize your alerts to particular airports (starting from anywhere in the world, not just the U.S. like on Airfare Watchdog) as well as select the maximum airfare you’re willing to pay and search under that.

But whether or not you’re going to hit the open road or fly the friendly skies, rising fuel costs will effect you as the national average will probably top $3 per gallon. That shouldn’t stop you from taking a vacation altogether, but it is something to keep in mind when planning your budget.

Remember that the best fares are usually posted on Tuesdays. While this would be a good time to plan ahead, there are sometimes last-minute fare sales during the summer, but they usually go fast and/or have a lot of restrictions attached. So wait at your own financial risk.