Holiday season travel is always hard on the traveler’s wallet, especially for those who book within the last few weeks. Knowing that most of us are going to be on the road, the airlines take a sneaky opportunity to raise prices and squeeze out a few extra dollars, making a typically inexpensive trip shockingly costly. It’s gouging in the finest form and there’s nothing that we can do about it.

Thus, the best strategy for dealing with New Year’s travel is to unfortunately prepare for the worst. Supply is even and demand is high, so economics 101 says that the consumers are going to pay more. After you’ve accepted the fact that your pocketbook is going to take a pounding, try these quick strategies to minimize the pain.

First, you need to be flexible with your schedule. In principle, the concept is pretty simple: Think about when most people want to fly (i.e., demand is high). It’s the day before and after the holiday; avoid those days. People also want to fly in the middle of the afternoon when they can sleep in. Try flying early or late.

It’s true that traveling on the day of a holiday is typically a bit cheaper. This year’s Thanksgiving fares, for example, were dramatically cheaper for departures on Thursday (the day of) versus Wednesday (the day before). With New Year’s day on a Sunday, some of those savings may be canceled out, but try looking for the 6 a.m. return when most partiers are still asleep. (Hey, you can sleep when you’re on the plane.)

Another handy tip is to be flexible with your airports. As with any air itinerary, your chances of finding a cheap ticket are higher if you broaden you net of possible departure points. Kayak has a little button below the From and To search boxes on their site that says “Add Nearby Airports.” Click that button and you might find find a hidden deal. Just make sure you have a ride to the airport.

Once all of your possible constraints have been removed, it’s time to start booking. Airfare prices usually rise dramatically at 14 and seven days prior to departure, so the sooner that you can book that ticket the better. While you’ve got a low chance that your fare might go down, you’ve got a huge chance that the price is going to go up (by a lot), so bite the bullet now and pull out your wallet. The extra cash that you spend now is insurance against stress for the next several weeks.