Summer's nearly over—make holiday travel plans now

You might still be enjoying the last bit of summer, wearing flip-flops, swimming with the kids, and barbecuing in the backyard. Christmas probably isn't on your mind—but it should be if you want to hop on a plane this holiday.

If you want a good fare, or even a seat, now's the time to start researching and maybe even buying tickets.

Start researching fares. It's smart to start tracking air fare prices now and then when a good deal comes up you'll know it.  If you saw a $500 round-trip in early August and then that same flight dips down to $300 in September, you'll know to grab that ticket. Sites such as Bing, Yapata and FareCompare can help you track prices and will even send alerts when a ticket price goes down.

Buy after Labor Day. Ticket prices often go down after the three-day weekend holiday. If you see a good price, buy it—especially if you want to visit a popular destination such as Disney World or Hawaii. Flights going to these places fill up fast and prices are likely to only go up. With less popular destinations, you might have some time to shop around and wait to see if prices dip.

Book tickets with frequent flier miles now. Airlines release a limited number of seats that can be purchased with frequent flier miles and they go fast. If you want to go to Hawaii on miles, you're probably already too late, but you can still score seats on less popular routes.

Photo: gracey / Morgue File