Is January actually the cheapest time to book a holiday? - cosmopolitan.com

Is January actually the cheapest time to book a holiday? - cosmopolitan.com
Is the Stock Market Open Today? Here Are the Hours for Christmas Eve and Day. - Barron's
Best Buy Outlet clearance sale: Save up to 40% on AirPods, iPads, and PS4 Pro - Digital Trends

Posted: 31 Dec 2019 01:00 AM PST

Whether it's discounted flights or money off hotels, bagging a holiday bargain is one of the greatest things in life. And while we've all heard the rumours about January being the cheapest time to get your travel plans in order for the rest of the year, is that actually the case?

Lots of conflicting advice exists. Some travel experts claim that while the discounts appear the biggest at the beginning of the year because of the January sales - this might not actually convert to being the cheapest.

A former Going Places Travel Advisor told travel money specialist Equals that prices are actually bumped up post-Christmas, but then heavily discounted to make you think you're getting a good deal.

Best holiday destinations - holidays 2020

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"Normally January is the month that everyone books because many operators launch January sales but it's not necessarily the cheapest time to book a holiday," they explain.

"I've noticed that the prices generally go up in January, but you get a better discount off them which makes people think it's a better time to book and get a deal, but that's not always the case." It's a clever - and shady - tactic; make holidays more expensive and then give them a bigger discount.

Interestingly, though, Skyscanner disagree. After analysing travel travels throughout 2018, their data revealed the months of January, February and September are likely the cheapest months to fly, because "airlines want to entice travellers to take trips even before the crazy holiday season!"

How Brexit might affect European travel plans

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Elsewhere, a TripAdvisor study says bagging a cheap holiday doesn't necessarily come down to the month you book - but rather where you're going. Their report revealed with some places such as Paris and Sydney, you can get the best deal by booking two to three months in advance, where as the likes of Rio De Janeiro, Singapore and even Rome? You need to book six months ahead to guarantee a bargain.

Essentially, it can be a bit confusing. But the overarching advice would be to not be sucked up by a holiday deal just because it looks like you've got a huge discount.

If you're happy with the price and feel like you've bagged a bargain, go for it. But if you've been sucked into a big percentage off, regardless of the month of the year? Give it a miss.

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Dusty Baxter-Wright Senior Entertainment & Lifestyle Writer Dusty Baxter-Wright is Cosmopolitan's Senior Entertainment and Lifestyle Writer, covering celebrities, movies, TV and books as well as travel, interiors, food and drink on a daily basis.

Is the Stock Market Open Today? Here Are the Hours for Christmas Eve and Day. - Barron's

Posted: 24 Dec 2019 02:01 AM PST

Stocks have risen to record levels, and investors are optimistic about the first phase of the U.S.-China trade deal. The cheery news may help soothe anxieties heading into the Christmas holiday and into 2020.

If you plan on joining the rally and giving stock as a gift, you better hurry because U.S. stock markets are closing early for Christmas Eve.

Are the markets open on Christmas Eve? Are they closed on Christmas Day?

The New York Stock Exchange shuts down at 1 p.m. EST on Christmas Eve, three hours earlier than normal. The Nasdaq also closes at 1 p.m. They will remain closed on Christmas Day, Dec. 25, and resume normal trading hours on Dec. 26.

The U.S. bond markets close at 2 p.m. on Dec. 24, are closed Christmas Day, and reopen on Dec. 26.

Will international markets be closed over the Christmas holiday? Are stock markets open on Boxing Day?

Overseas, it's a mixed bag.

The Toronto Stock Exchange closes at 1 p.m. EST on Christmas Eve, while the London Stock Exchange shuts down at 12:30 p.m. UTC. Both exchanges are closed Christmas Day and Dec. 26, known as Boxing Day. Both reopen on Dec. 27.

In Asia, the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Tokyo Stock Exchange remain open throughout the holiday.

The `Santa Claus Rally'

While there's no guarantee of a so-called "Santa Claus Rally," history has shown that there are seasonal increases to the S&P 500 index's performance thanks to a spike in consumer spending.

In 2018, the S&P 500 rose 2.1% from the day before to the day after Christmas, the best gain since 2000, when it gained 3.2%, according to Dow Jones Market Data. That same year, the S&P 500 rose 2.9% during Christmas week, the best Christmas week since 1998, when it gained 3.2%.

The S&P 500 gained 0.1% on Monday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 0.34% and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.2%.

The good tidings came to the market even before Christmas. Although a calendar oddity meant a later-than-usual Black Friday, consumers started spending earlier this holiday season. Americans spent 16% more than last year in the five-day period from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday. Almost 190 million shoppers took advantage of the heavy discounts offered during that time, according to data from the National Retail Federation.

And online shopping dominated. Salesforce says online sales on Black Friday in the U.S. jumped 14% to about $7.2 billion.

Best Buy Outlet clearance sale: Save up to 40% on AirPods, iPads, and PS4 Pro - Digital Trends

Posted: 31 Dec 2019 06:18 AM PST

The 2010s are finally finished, and following the annual Black Friday and holiday sales, the end of the year is a great opportunity to hunt for some more deals to spend your Christmas money on. Retailers are always eager to draw in post-holiday shippers who have lots of cash and gift cards to burn, and big-box stores such as Best Buy and Walmart also like to dump their remaining stock around this time in order to make room for new inventory.

Walmart is currently running such a clearance sale and Best Buy just launched its own as well, offering up to 40% off of open-box, professionally refurbished, and clearance items like laptops, iPads, AirPods, video games, and more through January 12. There's a lot on offer and much of it's already out of stock, however, so if you don't feel like sorting through it all just to find that one special item, we'll save you some time. We already combed through all the offerings to round up the best tech deals of the bunch that are still available, and we've got them for you right here in one place.

Laptop and Desktop PC Deals

Lenovo Yoga 730 13-inch review — Mark Coppock/Digital Trends

Apple MacBook Air — The MacBook Air is arguably the best value you're going to find in an Apple laptop, and with its 13.3-inch display, Intel Core i5 CPU, and 8GB of RAM, it's a great featherweight machine for all-day use. This model is already on sale for $800 ($200 off) new, but you can save more by buying a like-new open-box unit for $752.
Lenovo Yoga 730 2-in-1 Laptop — The Lenovo Yoga 730 combines solid modern hardware and a traditional 15.6-inch display with the versatility of a 2-in-1 convertible thanks to its fold-down touchscreen. It's on clearance for $697 ($153 off) new or for an even cheaper $606 in like-new open-box condition. If you plan to do a little gaming, the variant with a GTX 1050 GPU is available for as low as $982 in like-new condition, saving you more than $500.
HP Spectre x360 2-in-1 Laptop — The HP Spectre x360 13 remains one of our favorite 2-in-1 laptops, but it's a premium piece of equipment so discounts are always welcome. Normally $1,250, Best Buy has this awesome convertible ultrabook on clearance right now for $1,063 after a nice $187 discount.
iBuyPower Nvidia RTX 2080 Gaming Desktop Bundle — Desktops still reign supreme in the world of PC gaming. Unlike many pre-built desktops, this one from iBuyPower comes with an ATX motherboard (and not some cheap proprietary one) so you can keep it upgraded for years to come — although with its i7-8700K CPU, 16GB of RAM, and Nvidia RTX 2080 graphics card, you won't need to any time soon. Best Buy has it on sale for $1,530 ($270 off), and you even get a free gaming keyboard and mouse.
Lenovo Intel Core i3 Desktop — For a simple, solid PC that's all business, you can do a lot worse than this desktop computer from Lenovo (its nice aesthetics don't hurt, either). An Intel Core i3 CPU, 8GB of RAM, and 1TB HDD provide everything you need for work and general use, and Best Buy has it in open-box like-new condition for just $400 at the moment, saving you 50 bucks.
Dell Inspiron 7000 2-in-1 Laptop — Convertible 2-in-1 laptops are looking to be the way of the future, and this Dell Inspiron 7000 is a great way to jump on board without sacrificing the comforts of a traditional full-sized laptop. It packs a 15.6-inch touchscreen along with an i5 CPU, 8GB of RAM, and a generously sized high-speed 512GB SSD, and it's on sale now for $700 ($150 off) new. You can also grab a like-new open-box model for $630, bringing your total savings to $220.

Tablet Deals

Apple 12.9-inch iPad Pro — The 2018 iPad Pro is Apple's best tablet if you're willing to pay for it, but it'll cost you. Luckily, you can score the 12.9-inch 64GB model in like new open-box condition for $890 and save $110, and the 256GB model is also on sale in open box condition for $1,023 ($127 off) if you want some extra on-device storage.
Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 — If Android is your flavor (meaning that Apple tablets are simply a no-go), the Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 is the best iPad alternative you're going to find. It'll cost you more than the iPad Air and almost as much as an iPad Pro, however, but this open-box deal lets you snag one in like new condition for $679, saving you around 50 bucks.
Microsoft Surface Pro 7 — Although its experiment with Windows phones was ill-fated, Microsoft successfully broke into the tablet space with its excellent Surface Pro devices. The new Surface Pro 7 just came out, but this open-box deal lets you grab one at a discount, with Best Buy offering the model with i5 CPU, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage in like-new condition for $936 after a $93 discount.

Refurbished Headphone Deals

Beats by Dre PowerBeats Pro True Wireless Earbuds — As great as the AirPods are, the Beats by Dre PowerBeats Pro might be a better pick for a pair of truly wireless earbuds for workouts and other physical activities. These ones are Geek Squad-refurbished (meaning they've been restored to like-new condition) and are hard to argue with at this price, ringing in at $150 and saving you $100 off retail.
Apple AirPods 2 — AirPods are hot for a reason, and if you've gotta have a pair, then buying refurbished is usually the best way to save. These second-gen AirPods are refurbished by Geek Squad to look and work like new, and they can be yours for $140 ($20 off) with the standard charging case. Alternatively, you can grab some refurbished AirPods with wireless charging case for $180.
Samsung Galaxy Buds True Wireless Earbuds — Samsung has always been Apple's main competitor in the mobile market, and its Galaxy Buds are great Android-friendly true wireless earbuds that give the AirPods a serious run for the money. They're actually a little cheaper than AirPods even at their usual price, but these Geek Squad-refurbished Galaxy Buds can be yours for a very attractive $70, saving you $60.
Beats by Dre BeatsX Wireless Earbuds — True wireless earbuds are all the rage now, but a wired pair of Bluetooth earbuds (that is, one with a cable connecting the earpieces) have two notable advantages: First, they eliminate latency between the two buds; second, they're usually far less costly. The BeatsX are in fact the cheapest of all our picks, coming in at $60 after a $40 discount.
Beats by Dre Studio 3 Over-Ear Headphones — It's unlikely that earbuds will ever surpass full-sized headphones in sound quality, which is why over-ear cans like the wireless Beats Studio 3 are so popular — and so pricey. Instead of paying full price, you can snag this refurbished pair of noise-canceling headphones for $252 and enjoy a $98 savings.

Gaming Deals

Sega Genesis Mini Console — The success of mini-consoles like the NES Classic Edition has proven that retro gaming is here to stay, and Sega successfully threw its hat into the ring with the excellent Genesis Mini that's the perfect way to revisit Sega's side of the infamous 16-bit console wars. Best Buy is offering it on sale for $50 right now ($30 off), but it also has like-new open-box units in stock for $42 if you want to save a little more.
PlayStation 4 Pro Console — We didn't see any breathtaking PS4 deals this holiday season, but if you've been after Sony's 4K-capable console, this offer isn't bad at all: Best Buy has refurbished ones restored to "like-new" condition for $360, giving you a nice 10% discount on what is still our favorite gaming console.
Gears 5 for Xbox One — Gears 5 proved to be a fantastic surprise in a franchise that many thought we wouldn't see again, and if you've been looking to pick up this must-have Xbox One title, Best Buy's clearance sale gives you the chance to do so for just $25 ($35 off) right now.
Sony PS4 Gold Wireless Headset with Fortnite Neo Versa Bundle — Sony's own PS4 Gold headset is the perfect add-on if you already own a PlayStation 4, and this one comes with the Fortnite Neo Versa bundle included. It's on sale for $75 — down $25 from its normal price — or you can score an open-box unit in like-new condition for an even cheaper $64.
NBA 2K20 for Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PlayStation 4 — NBA 2K20 is here, and if you've been looking to pick up the latest basketball sim from publisher 2K Games, then Best Buy has it on clearance for the Xbox One, PS4, and Nintendo Switch for just $30 (50% off).
Nintendo Switch Pro Wireless Controller — If Santa brought you a Switch this Christmas, then at some point you're going to want a Pro controller for it. That can be a pricey add-on at its retail price of around 70 bucks (especially considering the Switch itself rarely goes on sale), but Best Buy has it discounted to $56 ($15 off) in new condition as well as in open-box/like-new condition for $50.

Looking for more great stuff? Find tech discounts, New Year's sales, and much more on our curated deals page.

We strive to help our readers find the best deals on quality products and services, and we choose what we cover carefully and independently. The prices, details, and availability of the products and deals in this post may be subject to change at anytime. Be sure to check that they are still in effect before making a purchase.

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