It can be challenging to find the best travel deal this year, with domestic airfares running 5% higher year on year and international fares 10% higher on average. Hotel rates were also up year on year by about 3.5%, boosted by a jump in business travel.

Airlines have no intention of letting fares drop with the price of oil this time around, as they will actively be cutting back on the number of seats this fall. Fall is a slow travel season anyway, and despite efforts by the airlines to keep prices up there will still be plenty of travel deals if you know where to look. Veteran travelers have learned plenty of tricks to stretch their travel dollars, and many of these involve using new online tools and apps to ferret out the best deals. Regarding airfares, how much you pay is directly related to which days you fly and when you buy your ticket.