Twelve ways to tame high holiday airfares

— -- For six years, Kate Stone has flown home to her parents place in Salt Lake City for the holidays. However, this year, the Boston resident thinks she may have to cancel the trip because of the high cost of airfare. "In the past I never paid more than $400 for a ticket, but after months of closely watching airfare prices this year, I haven't been able to find anything below $600," says Stone. "Once I factor in the time I have to miss from work and other holiday expenses, it doesn't leave me with a lot of wiggle room to spend on airfare. This is supposed to be the most joyful time of the year, but instead I'm stressed out about how I'm going to get to see my family."

This year, in addition to the usual holiday travel pressures including increased competition for seats and the potential for bad winter weather, two extra constraints—sharply higher prices and reduced capacity—are likely to create the perfect storm for holiday flyers. It will be both harder to find affordable airfares and avoid flying related hassles this Thanksgiving and Christmas.

"It's grim out there," says Mike Fridgen, director of product management at Live Search Farecast. "Compared to 2007, fares are up 31% for Thanksgiving, and up over 30% for Christmas and New Year's. We've seen year-over-year increases in the past but not by this much."

"There is no slack in the system right now," says Clem Bason, vice president of merchandising for Hotwire. "Domestic air capacity will be down by about 15% year over year in November and December. If weather causes delays or flight cancellations, travelers may well have to wait hours (or perhaps even over 24 hours) for another flight with empty seats to their destination."

While flying won't be cheap or easy this holiday season, travelers can take some measures to ensure they don't pay more than necessary and can even have an itinerary that minimizes the potential for trouble at the airport. Here are some key tips from the experts.

1. Book as soon as possible. Overwhelmingly, air travel experts say you should book your holiday tickets now if you haven't already. "The most important factor in getting the best price is always to book early," says Amanda Hoffman, spokeswoman for Expedia.com. "Also, the further ahead you book, the better your chances of finding nonstop flights and flights with fewer layovers."

"There is little hope for holiday sales [this year]," says Bason. "I advise consumers to book as soon as possible."