The great thing about shopping for travel? Not getting trampled by a soccer mom at Walmart! Now’s a good time to sign up for emails from travel vendors (airlines, hotels, tour companies, etc.) and follow them on social media. Full disclosure: I earn nothing if you book with any of these companies.

Twitter Handles

Alaska Airlines – @AlaskaAir
American Airlines – @AmericanAir
Delta Air Lines – @Delta
JetBlue – @JetBlue
Southwest Airlines – @SouthwestAir
United Airlines – @United
US Airways – @USAirways
Virgin America – @VirginAmerica

These are my picks for best Black Friday/Cyber Monday travel deals:

Airlines

• Cathay Pacific’s countdown clock to Black Friday has been promising deals “bigger and better than ever!” Take a tour of those offers if Hong Kong or one of the other 40 countries the airline flies to is on your 2014 “to do” list. (SOURCE: usatoday.com)
• Virgin America will be holding an 8-hour Black Friday sale with holiday and winter fares starting from $49 each way (restrictions apply). (SOURCE: usatoday.com)
• A possible 15% off airfare for travel on Cathay Pacific. The airline has announced that they’ll be doing another Black Friday/Cyber Monday sale this year, but what the discount will be is a surprise. If it’s anything like the previous years, they’ll offer 15% off bookings plus entry in a prize drawing. (SOURCE: jaunted.com)
• Special sale fares on select South America flights with LAN. This sale is Cyber Monday only and only on their dedicated sale site. (SOURCE: jaunted.com)
• Up to 50% off flights via Priceline.com, as the travel booking site unloads “select seats from unsold inventory” for non-holiday travel. Check their last-minute travel page. (SOURCE: jaunted.com)
• Up to 50% off airfare and hotels. Expedia isn’t clear what sort of Black Friday sales they’ll offer, but the special Black Friday page allows for airline-only, hotel-only, and airline+hotel searches. Deals are strictly available on Black Friday, Nov. 28 from 9 a.m.–9 p.m. PST. (SOURCE: jaunted.com)
• Slashed airfares found via TheFlightDeal (major airports) and FareDealAlert (secondary airports). Regardless of the day, these sites use an equation to discover hidden deals and have standards, such as a guarantee that their highlighted airfares cost 6 cents per mile or less. We scan them every hour or so for updates and just booked a winter roundtrip to Aruba for under $250 total. So yeah, it works. (SOURCE: jaunted.com)

Hotels & Tours

Hotels.com

Save up to 50% in the pre-Black Friday Two Day Sale on New York, Las Vegas, Chicago, and Los Angeles hotels. Hotels.com also offers a free night stay after you book 10 nights on their website.

Omni Hotels & Resorts

You can save on stays at Omni Hotels & Resorts around the country, with rates starting at $89 a night, during Omni’s Seasons of Savings Package. Valid on stays now thru Jan. 31, 2015 when you book by Dec. 1st. (SOURCE: budgettravel.com)

Hotel Tonight

Hotel Tonight is having an $7 a room sale with rooms starting at $70 a night through Cyber Monday. Available in almost 50 destinations, hotels are located in middle of all the action in NYC, San Francisco, Chicago, and more cities around the U.S. and in the U.K. The sale starts at 7 a.m. on Friday and goes until the $7 rooms sell out, so don’t wait. Keep an eye out for hotels marked “Black Friday Blowout” on their site. (SOURCE: budgettravel.com)

Gate 1 Travel

I booked my Dubai and Abu Dhabi tour through Gate 1 and was very happy with the tour guide and activities. Gate 1 Travel’s fifth annual Black Friday sale gives you the following:

• $50 off when you spend $500 or more with promo code BLKFDY50
• $100 off when you spend $1,000 or more with promo code BLKFDY100
• $250 off when you spend $2,000 or more with promo code BLKFDY250
• $500 off when you spend $4,000 or more with promo code BLKFDY500$1,000 off when you spend $10,000 or more with promo code BLKFDY1000.

Sale is online only on Nov. 27th, then available by phone (call 1-800-682-3333) between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. EST on Nov. 28th. Please call 1-877-900-9977 if you’re interested in booking a Discovery Tours vacation. (SOURCE: budgettravel.com)

Rail Europe

Rail Europe is offering several specials you can book between Dec. 1st and 5th, including $100 off Global Eurail Passes (use promo code EURAILCYBER14 when booking online). Their Eurail Global Pass Off Peak promotion also lets you save an additional 20 percent if you’re planning to travel by Mar. 31, 2015. Another sale lets you save $75 on Swiss Passes by booking between Dec. 1st and 5th and using promo code SWISSCYBER14. You can also sign up for their email newsletter for exclusive access to Rail Europe’s Black Friday specials. (SOURCE: budgettravel.com)

BedandBreakfast.com

BedandBreakfast.com is offering a $50 Restaurant.com gift card free with a $100 BedandBreakfast.com Getaway Gift card purchased between Nov. 28 and Dec. 1 with the code MERRYGC. The Trump Hotel Collection is offering 30 percent off all suites booked between Nov. 28 and Dec. 1 for stays Jan. 1- March 1, 2015. And Gate 1 Travel is offering discounts of at least 10 percent on purchases between $500 and $10,000 made with a promotion code online Nov. 27 and by phone Nov. 28. (SOURCE: huffingtonpost.com)