Although few things beat cheap airplane tickets, discount hotel rooms, or cheap vacation packages, certainly a free trip is one of them. If you are keen on seeing your parents or child, a flight home for the holidays could be a great gift. Trip gifts are also greatly appreciated when the destination and timing of the trip is left up to the recipient.
However, if you dont want this gift to turn into an expensive nightmare, you need to be smart.
The following are some travel gift options:
An airline gift card is probably a better gift than purchasing the actual ticket. If you purchase a ticket without the person knowing in advance, that person may not be able to fly on the days or times showing on your ticket. It is very costly, usually $150, to make changes to domestic tickets, plus paying the fare difference when a new reservation is made.
If you decide to purchase an airline gift card do some checking to confirm that the airline you are selecting flies out of the persons airport and offers a reasonable number of flights to where the person will be going. Also check to see if your airline gift card will have an expiration date, if there is a fee to redeem it, and whether it can be used to make a purchase online.
Another gift idea is to purchase miles as a gift, so long as the person receiving the gift has a frequent flier account.
You could also use your own miles to buy a ticket. It is usually cheaper to purchase the ticket yourself with your miles then giving your miles as a gift which often triggers a fee. Remember though not to actually buy that ticket without first confirming the travel days and times with the recipient of your travel gift.
The advantage of purchasing a gift card from a company like American Express is that the card can be used for travel on any airline that accepts American Express.
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