Many of you have asked for an update on getting the best travel deals for the holiday season. Unfortunately, there's a reason Clark's been mostly mum on this issue.

This is not a normal travel year. While you can steal a deal on a hotel, car rentals are extremely expensive. The car rental companies are responding to the down economy by not adding to their fleets, which reduces the supply of available vehicles.

Air travel, meanwhile, has some real deals for fall and winter travel on the domestic and international fronts -- particularly to Australia and New Zealand.

But don't expect to find a deal during the Thanksgiving travel period for domestic travel. For example, some routes that are typically $59-$69 one-way to Florida are now selling in the $200 range -- if you can find a seat.

Her's Clark's best advice for getting something approximating a deal this holiday season:

• Have a flexible travel date. United Airlines has an online calendar that can help you suss out the best travel days, no matter which airline you're flying.

• Fly before 3 p.m. on any travel day if possible. You're likely to avoid weather delays that way.

• Beware of excessive baggage fees if you're taking presents to or from your destination. Southwest Airlines has no baggage fees at all, but they don't serve every market. Shipping packages with UPS Ground or FedEx Ground can help.

• Finally, Clark recommends searching both Kayak.com and Southwest.com when looking for fares. Southwest does not publish its fares to screen-scraper sites like Kayak.