CHICAGO – Believe it or not, Christmas is less than 100 days away. While you still have some time to think about what gifts to buy, the clock is ticking when it comes to making your holiday travel plans.

In a Fox 32 special report, Dawn Hasbrouck looks at how to save some time and money when planning that trip.

The challenge of holiday planning

What we know:

When it comes to planning a trip for the holidays – any other time of the year – it’s hard not to get lost on the internet. But you don’t have to scroll your time away. There is help out there and we found some for free.

“To read through all of the reviews becomes tedious, it becomes time-consuming and then you don’t wanna get to your destination and say you made a mistake, because travel is expensive,” said Emily Petrak, founder of EP Signature Travel in Burr Ridge. “You wanna get there knowing you have the best option for yourself, for your family.”

Petrak specializes in helping moms plan vacations for their families.

“I knew that I wanted to help other moms because I had been in that position where I was trying to do all the things and it became really difficult. And so I’m trying to use my passion to help other moms who maybe planning vacations isn’t their thing,” Petrak said.

Or maybe they just don’t have the time.

Families benefit from stress-free planning

What they’re saying:

Kristy Wagner is a working mom from La Grange Park who has three young kids.

“At the time, they were 8, 6, and 1, and so traveling with kids is one thing, but traveling with a baby is another,” Wagner said.

She worked with Petrak to plan her family’s Florida vacation last year. Wagner booked the flights while Petrak handled the hotel.

“So to take that piece out of the planning load was amazing. So I could just focus on what my kids actually needed, the things we were bringing,” Wagner said.

“I had a set of requirements so that the big kids could have fun while the baby napped and that our hotel room could accommodate all of us to hang out,” Wagner said.

Wagner took advantage of the “lodging – or hotel only” option when planning her trip with Petrak that she offers for free.

“For the hotel-only option, you can book your hotel through me and I can pass on certain amenities that the hotel offers only to travel advisors. That might include early check-in and late check-out subject to availability, and room upgrade subject to availability at the time of checking in,” Petrak said.

As a trip advisor, Petrak says sometimes she is also able to pass on a hotel credit for dining or valet when booking a room. She offers this service for free because the hotels pay her a commission.

“This is for moms who want to plan their own travel. They know what hotels they want. They don’t really need a travel advisor for that, but they want to have the value,” Petrak said.

If you need to find a hotel or a book a flight, Petrak can help with that too, but for a fee.

If you are thinking about a staycation for the holidays, Petrak has some advice to share.

“You can’t be your VIP yourself, but I can VIP you. So, it depends hotel to hotel which ones are more responsive to working with travel advisors, but a lot of them are. You’d be surprised,” Petrak said.

Experts warn prices will climb soon

What you can do:

But if you are going to hit the road come December and plan to DIY your travel plans, consumer finance expert Andrea Woroch says now is the time to start putting them together.

“Booking your airfare for a holiday trip is really something you wanna do before the holidays come around,” Woroch said. “So, the sooner you book your holiday airfare, the better the price is going to be. Typically, they start increasing in prices in October, and every week you wait to book, the price could slowly creep up.”

Woroch says you can make the planning process easier by using a few apps to lighten the load.

“Trivago gives you price alerts on hotels. And then Hopper and Google Flights will give your flight tracking prices. You can also do this in Travelocity. They have a feature there,” Woroch said.

Woroch also suggests looking at a warehouse club for vacation package options.

When looking for a hotel deal, she says don’t assume you are getting the better price when using a third-party site.

“Sometimes booking directly with the hotels these days is going to offer a bigger discount because those hotels don’t want to pay these third-party booking sites a portion of your rate. So, they rather give you a deal directly,” Woroch said.

Our experts say the peak time for holiday travel will start around Dec. 18.