Rossen Reports: Big travel deals on flights, cruises and hotels 5 MIN

As more of us are vaccinated and hopefully cases continue to decline, many of you are making plans to travel later this year. We’ve found some amazing deals and some tips to save you big money.

The latest guidance on travel from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention encourages people not to travel, especially air travel, right now if it’s unnecessary.

But, many of you want to start booking trips now. Call it a mental vacation. Just hitting that book button — hearing that click sound makes you feel good. Here are some great tips and deals from the travel experts:

Flights

• Pre-pandemic, airlines would jack up prices on last-minute tickets, but now that’s flipped. Travel experts say you can find the cheapest airfares just 7 to 10 days before departure.

• If you hate hopping from site to site to find the best price on flights, make an app do the work for you. The website and app Hopper will monitor flights for the departure day you book and alert you when ticket prices are at their cheapest.

• Most airlines are still letting you change your flights without penalty; just make sure you check the policies before you book.

Cruises

• Cruise lines are gearing up to come back. The CDC has given them rules of what they need to do before allowing passengers back on board.

• There are deals out there. We found a 4-night Caribbean cruise with its prices slashed down to $169 per person. We also saw a 4-night Disney cruise to the Bahamas for a fraction of the price as well. Expedia and Trip Advisor have listings that continue to change and get better.

• Big tip: If you see a deal you like and want to book it, go ahead! Cruise lines are remaining flexible with rebooking dates and refunds. But hold off on booking everything else, like flights and shuttles to port. That way if your cruise is canceled, you don’t have to worry about cancelling everything else.

Hotels

• Major hotel groups are doing flash-sales with huge discounts on rooms. You can get anywhere from 20-40% off if you book before the end of the year.

• If you hate doing the research, make a website and app do the work for you on hotel bookings as well. Trivago will scan hotel and booking websites to find you the best deal. You can set filters by price, location, rating and how many stars the hotel has.

• Make sure you call the hotel to ask which amenities are open during the pandemic, such as the hotel restaurant or the pool.

Before booking, experts say you should read each individual cancellation policy carefully for flights, cruises, hotels and other travel items. Of course, check CDC guidance whenever you’re about to travel to make sure it’s safe.