(WTNH) – Even though it’s still summer, now is the time to be thinking about booking your holiday travel since it can be complicated to figure out the best way to get the best deals.

We are Stretching Your Dollar with tips from experts.

While it’s still summer, it may feel early to book holiday vacations, but experts say now is the time to get started.

“Prices are still too high, so you don’t want to book yet, but start monitoring the price of your trips for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s and expect to book in mid-September to mid-October. If you’re booking after Halloween, you’ve waited too long. Prices will be extremely high,” Hayley Berg from Hopper said.

Berg said she is forecasting a busy holiday travel season this year.

“Airlines are operating even more flights and seats available to book this year than they were at this time last year. So, we can expect that the holiday season will be jam-packed with a lot of travelers,” Berg said.

If you’re looking for the best dates to fly for Thanksgiving, Berg says you can typically save hundreds of dollars if you fly the day before or on Thanksgiving day itself.

Christmas is on a Monday this year, so she suggests booking flights on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday of the week before Christman to get the best airfares. If you haven’t decided yet where you want to go, an overseas trip may save travelers even more money.

“We typically see that international destinations, especially around the holidays, can see huge price drops in the couple of months before the holiday season. So, if you are flexible, you may be able to save significantly by going where the deal is instead of the destination,” Berg said.

Berg doesn’t anticipate the chaos and technical meltdowns we saw during last year’s holiday season, but there are things you can do to help your trips go as smoothly as possible.

Build in a buffer day when you’re booking your flight and try to book the first flight out in the morning. If you depart before 8:00 am, you are 50% less likely to be delayed or canceled than everyone departing after 8:00 am.