It’s getting late to make travel plans for the Fourth of July – last year, the peak time for searching out such holiday deals was the second week in June – but the good news is, it’s definitely not too late.

There are deals.

Cheapest Day to Fly for July Travel is the Fourth

Did you know the cheapest day to travel for the Fourth of July is the holiday itself? That’s because there’s not a “peak travel airline surcharge” on July 4 (the only day that doesn’t have one all summer until after August 22nd).

Some quick tips:

• Search for flights that include travel on the Fourth of July – which have no no peak travel day surcharges
• Search for flights departing Tuesday, Wednesday or Saturday – cheapest peak travel day surcharges ($20 roundtrip — other days as high $60 roundtrip)

Here is just a sampling of some of the deals available, right now:

Cheap Flight Deals Around the July 4th Holiday

Airline sales and deals come and go quickly, and can be short and restrictive: for example, recently AirTran had a 24-hour only sale for the Fourth of July – and Southwest’s great new sale is good only for flights in late summer and fall.

A quick way to follow the best deals from you airport is to checkout our getaway air travel maps or if you have a few cities in mind — signup for realtime price drop email alerts to those dream destinations. Here are a couple of sample deals to get you in the patriotic travel spirit:

• Frontier’s 4^th of July Sale: Prices start at $49+ each way, good for travel from July 2 through July 6 only. Sale ends July 1.
• United’s “Town and City” Sale – this sale features deals on flights to smaller cities like Durango, Hartford, Savannah and Tucson, for travel through Sept. 1. Sale ends June 23.
• American’s Summer Sale – airfares start at $69+ to destinations like Orlando, Atlanta, Boston and more, for travel into November (note that July 6 is a blackout date). Sale ends June 29.
• Use Twitter and Facebook – excellent sources for exclusive last minute deals and a guide to getting better customer service via social media.
• Daily hand picked deals and specials – check out FareCompare’s Deals Blog every day (add it to your favorite RSS reader).

July 4th Sneak Getaways

Everyone wants to find a hidden gem on their next trip — whether a super cheap ticket price or that perfect restaurant. Google recently said that consumers shop over 20 travel sites before making a purchase which tells me the internet is both a treasure trove and a bunch of noise — hopefully we can help you cut through some of that static for getaways on the 4th.

• Continental’s 4^th of July Deals – Sales on flights throughout the country, good for travel between June 24 and July 4 only. No “sale end” date, but don’t delay – these prices won’t last.
• FareCompare’s “Where to Go” Flight Finder – Perfect for those who just want to “get away” – see instant prices to destinations in the U.S. and around the word, from your home airport.
• Local Destination Deals – Tourism sites are terrific resources for local deals on hotels, dining, ticket discounts, free stuff and more. Especially good sites include the Orlando Travel and Visitors Bureau, Discover Los Angeles, Visit Las Vegas and I Love New York.

All Inclusive Vacations and Packages

While shopping for packages in Europe is the norm (even at corner travel shops), we don’t see that much here in the U.S. which is a shame. Almost every airline has a packaging site (along with their main site) and they toss in cheaper airfare – especially for last minute travel because you can’t really tell if the hotel or airfare is discounted.

This is a huge win for you on last minute holiday purchases or even for that crazy emergency when you see airline tickets hitting $1000 or more:

• Las Vegas – Continental offers air/hotel vacation packages for several big-name hotels that include free show tickets and more. Book by July 1. I have also found that US Airways packages site has great deals to Vegas as well, especially for nonstops.
• Orlando and Disney: United features deals on vacation packages to Disney properties where families can save “$200 per kid”. Travel before August 14.

Cheap July 2010 Cruises

We are not cruise experts and don’t pretend to be, so we defer to your favorite cruise ship sites in this category. However, some of these deals look intriguing, and so we included them.

As with any travel package, be sure to read the fine print so you know what is included and what is not, in the total price.

• Celebrity Cruises: Specials on cruises to Alaska, New England, the Caribbean and more, in July.
• Royal Caribbean: Deals on cruises from Ft. Lauderdale to Key West and Mexico starting July 8.

July Flights to Europe

Looking for a price break on a flight to Europe? You have to look toward the late summer and mid-October for the better deals as you can see on this Europe airfare pricing chart, but there are still some good prices available for the summer.

Even in July. Here are a couple of sales underway now. And definitely check out our Flight Finder to Europe, also listed below.

• United Luxury Deals: Specials on business class flights from United to cities throughout Europe. Book by June 30.
• Delta’s Europe Sale: Flights to numerous European capitals on Delta from New York. Book by June 28.
• FareCompare’s “Where to Go” Flight Finder to Europe: Check out the prices to all cities in Europe from your home airport.