Airline
ticket prices vary considerably day to day, from airline to airline. Ticket
prices sometimes vary so much that some people claim no two seats on the flight
cost the same amount unless they are purchased together. Rather than leaving
the price of your tickets up to chance and poor planning, use these strategic
tips to get the upper hand on your flight purchase. With a few helpful tidbits,
you could save hundreds or thousands on your travel around the world.
Compare prices online using accurate and
fair search engines.
Finding the cheapest flights
requires a rigorous search involving multiple search engines and airlines.
However, many airfare search engines are actually owned or operated by major
airlines, meaning unbiased searches are off the menu. Rather than sticking to
search engines you see advertised on television, look for search engines that
hunt down the cheapest fares among large airlines and small ones alike.
Try out matrix.itasoftware.com. This website was developed by MIT in the
90’s and works by searching other airfare search engines. Flight inception?
Maybe. But definitely one of the best means of finding cheap flights.
Use skyscanner.net. This neat website searches all airlines, big and
small, and allows you to look for the cheapest rates out of your local, rather
than getting bogged down with specifics. Meaning, if you know you want to go on
vacation but aren’t too picky about where, this website will provide the
cheapest flights to everywhere in the world from the nearest airports to you.
Momondo.com is a great option for searching airlines for cheap
international flights. Rather than getting stuck paying high prices for large
international carriers, this site will provide even the smallest international
carriers in its search options.
Search flights from nearby airports.
This is a
very simple and effective trick to find cheap flights. Sometimes flights from
local airport to your destination can be quite expensive while, on the
contrary, flights from nearby airports can be really cheap. For example,
international flights from Seattle are quite cheap when compared to
international flights from Vancouver and the distance between the two cities is
only 234 km (about a two and half hour drive). So driving or taking a bus to
the nearby airport is sometimes a good way to get to your destination cheaply.
Visit individual airlines’ websites.
Although
airfare search engines are great, what they don’t tell you is that some airlines
reserve their best deals for people who visit their sites specifically. Search
for a list of large and local carriers in your area, and then search each of
their sites specifically for the best deals. When coupons, discounts, or sales
are offered, they will typically only be advertised on each specific carrier’s
site and will run for only 1-3 days.
Get travel alerts.
Spamming
your email or message inbox on your phone doesn’t seem like the most organized
way to get a deal, but travel alerts often offer amazing prices you wouldn’t
otherwise be aware of. If your favorite airlines or airfare search engine
offers travel alerts sent to your phone or email, sign yourself up! You won’t
regret the few seconds it takes to delete those extra unwanted messages when
you get the ones worth several hundred dollars worth of savings.
Airfarewatchdog.com is a website run by people (not a computer) who
search for the best deals and send them to your email. You can add specific
search criteria via their site as well, allowing only deals pertaining to
certain locations or times to be sent to your inbox.
Flightfox.com is run by travel agents who individually search and
hand-pick the best deals to be sent to you. This service requires a 29$ startup
fee, but the site claims it will be fully refunded if you aren’t pleased with
your results.
Follow airlines on social media sites.
You may
feel silly adding an airline to your “liked” pages on Facebook or following
them on Twitter, but the benefit of doing so is the special offers you’ll
receive. Airlines want to reward regular customers and encourage them to
continue flying with them, so they will often advertise special low rates and
discounts via social media sites only. Follow as many airlines as you can for
the best chances of getting a sweet deal.
Search at the right time.
Turns out,
there is a best time to search for flights. After several studies of domestic
(to the US) air carriers, it has been determined that the best time to search
for flights is around 3:00pm Eastern Time on a Tuesday. Why? Around this time
is when airlines release their discounted flight options, and look to fill up
last-minute flights for the upcoming weekend. Therefore, save your flight
searching for a mid-afternoon break on the nearest upcoming Tuesday.
Search in the right time frame.
Ok, 3:00pm
on a Tuesday afternoon, got it. That’s not all though; searching a specific
number of days from your flight is also necessary for getting the lowest price.
Search at the earliest 3 months before your flight, and at the latest 18 days
before your flight. It has been determined that the best deals are posted for
flights about 6 weeks prior to their takeoff, so aim for about a month and a
half before your trip to search for plane tickets.
Fly on multiple airlines.
Looking
for flights on single airlines may be the easiest, but you may have better
results if you look into flying on multiple airlines. Try taking one airline to
your destination, and a separate one from. Or, include a layover with another
airline mid-flight. Breaking up your trip and splitting it between carriers is
likely to save you money, which is worth the extra time and hassle it will cost
you.
Book multiple items at once. You
need your flight, a hotel, and a shuttle to and from each? Rather than spending
time organizing each item separately, save money and time by booking them
together. Although it may seem like a good way to spend more money, studies
show that you actually save money by booking multiple travel items at once in a
package deal.
Use your miles.
If
you’re a frequent flier, chances are you’ve gathered quite a load of frequent
flier miles. These miles are redeemable for, as they suggest, free miles on an
airplane to a destination of your choice. Sign up for a frequent flier card via
your favorite carrier, or keep track of your miles with an air miles program.
With enough saved up, you may even get a free flight!
Check for student discounts.
That’s
right, student discounts go beyond the movie theater and football games these
days. Sites like statravel.com focus on finding flights at a discounted rate
for students only. Don’t let the high prices of textbooks and tuition prevent
you from travelling any longer; keep up with student discounted flights and
head off on your adventures whenever you’d like.
Fly out on the right day.
Sure,
leaving on a Friday promptly after work or heading on vacation on a Sunday
after a relaxing weekend might be ideal, but it turns out these are the
absolute worst times to fly. High air traffic on these days means that airlines
jack up the prices. Plan your flights so that you depart on a Wednesday if
possible, followed by a Tuesday or a Saturday. Mid week departures are the
slowest, so carriers know they will have to accept lower costs in order to fill
their seats.
Fly out at the right time.
As
with most of these search related parameters, turns out what we want the least
is what makes the cheapest flight. The earlier your leave on a flight, the
cheaper it will be. Red eye flights (in the middle of the night) are by far the
cheapest, followed directly by early morning flights. Although you might luck
out on a rare evening steal, typically the later in the day you depart, the
more expensive your ticket will be.
Stick to economy. Possibly
the most obvious way to save money on a ticket is to simply sacrifice the
desire for creature comforts. You can save hundreds of dollars by flying in 4th
or 5th class, rather than opting for 1st or 2nd with any airline. Although leg
room and the dinner menu might be lacking, your wallet will thank you for the
hefty amount of money you will have saved.
Keep your dates flexible.
Many
airlines have specific requirements for a minimum and maximum total number of
days to be spent in a location in order to get the best deal. For the cheapest
flights, stay for a minimum of 2 nights and a maximum of 30. Try to stay at
your destination over a weekend, as flights that bookend a Saturday night are
cheaper than those that lack a Saturday stay.
Indirect flights are the way to go.
Although
layovers can be a hassle - especially if you have several of them - flying
indirectly to your location decreases the total cost of your flight. Direct
flights are in high demand, and are therefore made more expensive by airlines.
Keep at least one layover open as an option, and prepare to save more money by
considering multiple layovers for a single flight.
Look into neighboring airports.
The
nearest major airport is a mere 20 minutes from your house, but several smaller
airports are located within an hour’s drive. Rather than relying on the nearest
or largest airport only, look into neighboring airports as well. These smaller
airports aren’t controlled as heavily by large airline carriers, and have more
ability to adjust their tickets and offer lower prices. Spend a few extra
dollars to drive to an airport further away, and you may save several hundred
on your flight bill.
Don’t be afraid of the little guy.
It’s
easy, and sometimes perceived as safer, to rely on large airlines as the sole
means of air transportation. Instead of only considering large airlines,
consider using small budget carriers. These small, area-specific airlines may
offer lower prices as an incentive to choose them over the big guys. Do a
search of budget carriers in your area or destination and see if they also
offer lower prices.
Look into alternative routes.
Slightly
different than flying indirectly with layovers, if you aren’t in a time crunch
consider taking alternative routes to your destination. If you can get a
cheaper flight flying from Seattle to Boston, and then from Boston to London,
then book two separate flights. Breaking up your travel will lengthen the
amount of time you have to spend journeying to your destination, but it could
be one of the best ways to manage saving money.
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