How To Find The Cheapest Airfare Deal

Cheap Airfare No Comments »
Helen Hecker asked:


Here are some lesser known and best quick tips to help you find the cheapest airfare deal for your next flight. Today airfares are constantly changing in a dramatic way. When it comes to finding and getting the best deals, knowing how the air travel game works will make you a super shopper whether for business travel, personal or vacation travel.

One assumes that discount airlines always have the lowest fares. But that’s not always the case. While these low cost carriers can bring you some big savings, they don’t always offer you the lowest airfares. When you’re comparing prices from the various carriers you don’t want to forget to check out the airlines’ individual Web sites. Many times the airlines’ Web sites offer much better deals than the discount travel Web sites.

Make sure to calculate fees and taxes. Before you book your flight, make sure your air fare includes all the necessary fees and taxes. If your fare doesn’t include the fees and taxes, you may not actually be booking the least expensive airfare available.

Fees and taxes have always been part of the cost for air travel. Airline and government-imposed charges have risen sharply over the recent years, especially for international flights. Increasing fuel prices, fuel surcharges and security fees have made airline travel much more expensive. This can sometimes add up to more than the cost of your base ticket price, believe it or not.

Sometimes the closest airport to your home base does not offer the lowest airfares. Consider flying out of another airport that’s within an easy drive. Check the rates at any of the alternative airports. Depending on the airfare, it may be worth it to travel an extra hour or two to the airport to save you hundreds of dollars.

Fees will vary by Web site. The most popular travel Web sites differ widely in their airfares. Each travel Web site negotiates the best deals with the carriers and often has exclusive hot deals. Be sure to check the major travel Web sites as well as individual airline sites.

Airfares are a constantly moving target, with rates changing as much as several times a day. Ticket sales don’t usually last long. If you want to find the best airline deal for your business travel, personal travel or vacation travel, you’ll need to shop around.

Many people don’t know that their computer may be preventing them from getting the newest and last minute travel deals. Most Web sites use ‘cookies’, which are the text files that are placed on your hard drive by a Web page server. They tell the server that you have returned to a specified page and to go ahead and retrieve the information they have about you. This does simplify the process of recording any personal information you’ve divulged, such as billing addresses, but it also tracks the results that you were viewing.

This means that if you’re checking airfares and you go back to a previous Web site, the airfare search engine may return the exact results you looked at earlier rather than the newest results, because of the ‘cookies’.

You can take care of this by clearing the cookies on your Internet browser each time you do a search. Just go to tools, Internet options, then delete the cookies, delete the files and delete the history. This will delete your other cookies, files and sites that you’ve been to, which you may or may not want to do however. Get advice on this first if you haven’t done it before so you don’t delete anything you want to save.

Ask for the cheapest airfare deal. If you’re calling the airline directly for tickets, ask for the cheapest airfare or their last minute flight deals if that’s the case, not just the airfare for coach. There could, in fact, be a cheaper airfare that’s in a better seat!

Fly on the off days. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and sometimes Saturday are considered off days unless it’s close to a holiday. If you can fly on those days, you’ll be more likely to find a cheap airline deal.

Red-eye flights can mean great savings. Red-eye flights don’t sell out as quickly as the other flights and therefore may have cheaper air fares. While the red-eye flight isn’t the first choice of many travelers, it offers you an opportunity to sleep through the entire flight. And if you also go with a red-eye flight on an off day, you may find the cheapest airline deal possible!



Caffeinated Content for WordPress

Learning the Art of Negotiating the Best Airfares

Cheap Airfare No Comments »
Muna wa Wanjiru asked:


As many of you know buying airline tickets is an art as you will need to have many details known for a trip to another country before you can make your airline reservations. These airline reservations will allow you to fly to the country of your choice and on the date that you have chosen. There is one other item that you may have to see about and that is getting the best airfares that you are able to.

These different airfares can be found when you visit your travel agent or the airline ticket reservation desk itself. In some cases you will be able to see what the best airfares for various airlines are when you look on the internet. These various airfares will be based on many items.

In some cases the airfares are dependent on the various sectors that the various airlines are flying to. Promotions and various taxes can also play their part in deciding on the different airfares. You can look at each of these airline fares and see if you are willing to pay for these types of airfares. Unless you are in a hurry you will be able to shop around for the best airfares that you want.

This type of hunting should be taken carefully as some airfares have hidden costs that you won’t realize until you have paid for the airfares. As you look through the many web sites for good airfares that will give you a comfortable trip with you can also find out if any types of promotional offers are being given as well.

In some cases the promotional offers that are linked to the best airfares from various airlines. With these promotional offers and the best airfares that are low in price but not in value you can go on fabulous holiday destinations.

There will be time when you can visit countries that you have been dreaming of like Egypt or Australia. As these linked promotional airfares that will take you to different countries for great holidays, may be for a short period of time you should see about taking these types of tickets only if you have the time to go on these holidays.

Even if you can’t find any promotional benefits with the various airlines, looking for the best airfares can help when you are on a limited budget. For this reason you may want to book your flights when you have found an airline that will take you to your destination and you have found a good deal for your airline tickets.



Caffeinated Content - Members-Only Content for WordPress

Discount Airfare To Frances: Some Tips On Getting The Best Deals

Cheap Airfare No Comments »
David Faulkner asked:


France is undoubtedly one of the most interesting places to visit on Earth. Boasting an attractive and varied landscape, as well as a rich assortment of wines and cuisine, France is definitely a major tourist destination.

In order to experience the sights and partake of the delicacies the country offers, you would have to prepare a sizable budget. Obtaining discount airfare to France will help you save cash to get the most of your European vacation.

Discount airfare to France can be availed of by purchasing tickets from a discount website on the Internet, or by inquiring directly from your favorite airline company. These two popular sources of discount airfare to France will yield rather comparable results in terms of the savings you will acquire. However, each method has its own pros and cons.

If you choose to get your discount airfare tickets to France via the Internet, you will be presented which much lower prices for the tickets themselves, but on some sites, you will need to pay more for hidden fees and undisclosed taxes.

Getting discount airfare to France at the airline companies themselves will cost a little bit more, but you can be certain of the service - and usually, they will present you with more options on customizing your flight details.

This brings us to the planning of your trip. Before you set out looking for discount airfare to France, you will first have to lay out your schedule as thoroughly as possible. As far as six months before your planned departure, you should have a general idea of when you are leaving, what your cities of departure and arrival would be, and how many of you will be traveling together.

You will have a much better chance of obtaining great discount airfare to France though if you do not have a definite date of departure yet. Most websites and airline companies offer special discount airfare to France or other countries on certain days of the week. Off seasons will also have more discount airfare to France than holidays or summer.

If you can find out when the airline is offering discount airfare to France, it would be more practical to schedule your trip around those dates. Traveling in groups or in pairs will also give you more opportunities of acquiring discount airfare to France. For more info see http://www.knowdiscountairfare.com/Cheap_Discount_Airfare_Ticket/Cheap_Discount_Airfare_Reservations.php on Cheap Discount Airfare.

A helpful tip in looking for discount airfare to France is to consider taking a series of connecting flights rather than a direct flight to your destination. While it is not that convenient, traveling this way will oftentimes prove to be more economical and in effect give you more affordable discount airfare to France.



Caffeinated Content for WordPress

How to Get Low Airfares

Cheap Airfare No Comments »
John Mac asked:


There is no doubt that the arrival of the so called “low cost airlines” have changed the face of short haul air travel & although it pains me to say it, as they have taken away a lot of my revenue, for the better in my opinion.

I have been running my own travel business for over 12 years now, mainly dealing in discounted airfares. It used to be the case that if you wanted low cost airfares that you had to stay a minimum amount of time & especially a Saturday night. This was impossible for people who only wanted to travel for short periods, wanted to travel during the week or simply wanted one way travel. Now you can get low airfares staying as long or as little as you want, travel when you want & even for one way travel, this was unheard of only a few short years ago.

The low cost airlines & their low airfares have had a huge impact on air travel & peoples flying & holiday habits with more & more people now taking lots of short breaks instead of the traditional 2 weeks in the sun during the summer. As a result of this impact the long established Airlines are following suit in offering low airfares for travel for any durations & one ways.

We have all probably heard of or seen the ridiculously low airfares of £1 (or less ! ) plus tax to fly to many destinations across europe, but how do you get these low airfares ? Well I will tell you (although I’m not sure why ? )

First & foremost you must plan well in advance, 6-9 months or even longer if possible. The low cost airlines will generally have very low airfares for their lead in prices to grab your attention & get the headlines. However they will only have a handfull of seats available at the low airfares, once these seats are sold you will have to pay more. Maybe the next fare level will only be £10 more so still a low airfare but again once a small amount of seats have been sold at this price the fare will rise again. This will keep happening until the fares are most definately not low airfares so it pays to book in advance. Lets face it at £1 or thereabouts plus tax if your plans change & you can’t travel you are not loosing much are you ?

Next, get yourself on the e mail list of the low cost airlines such as Easyjet, Ryanair, Jet2, Bmibaby etc. They will then e mail you when their flights are about to go on sale for up coming seasons. This should enable you to get first pick of the low airafres when you want to travel. Familiarise yourself with the low cost Airlines that fly from your local airport & get on their e mail lists. You will find this information on your local Airports website.

If you are not sure where you want to go then try websites such as skyscanner where you will find a facility to find out where the low cost Airlines fly to from your local Airport including the low airfares. You may find yourself travelling to places you would not have thought of simply because you cannot pass up the low airfares to that destination.

Try travelling during the week or be flexible in when you want to travel, play around with dates on your low airfare searches & you may be pleasantly surprised at how much you can save.

New destinations are often added by the low cost Airlines & to promote these destinations they are generally offered with low air airfares. again this is where you will benefit from being on the e mail lists of the low cost Airlines as you will be the first to find out when new desinations are being launched.

Follow the above advice & you will find yourself clocking up those air miles travelling to well known as well as not so well known destinations all over Europe & in taking advantage of the low airfares & often cheap prices across Europe having a few days away for the cost of a good night out in the UK.



Caffeinated Content for WordPress

Discount Airfare To Chicago: Where To Find The Lowest Prices

Cheap Airfare No Comments »
David Faulkner asked:


With the continuously increasing prices of practically everything in the market, including airline tickets, many people are looking for ways to cut back on their travel expenses. You can actually do this without sacrificing any of your trips by availing of discount airfare to Chicago.

Since the boom of the Internet, searching for discount airfare to Chicago has become much easier. You can just go online and type in some keywords on the search engine, and you will instantly see thousands of websites that sell discount airfare to Chicago.

With the large number of choices, surely you will be able to find a discount airfare to Chicago that fits your budget. But going through all the websites will take a significant amount of time. That is why we have listed for you a few of the online companies that offer the best discount airfare to Chicago. It is a good idea to begin your search with these sites.

1. Expedia

Many people are familiar with Expedia because of their TV commercials with those yellow pieces of luggage. This company offers great deals on discount airfare to Chicago, but in order to find out the exact price they are offering, you need to know some information about your flight.

For instance, when you go to the Expedia website, you will be asked to enter the date you expect to fly and the airports you will be using. If you are not yet certain as to the dates and locations, there is no need to fret. It can even be a blessing in disguise because you will have more opportunities to get better discount airfare to Chicago that way. You just need to have a general idea of your planned trip.

If you purchase your discount airfare to Chicago via Expedia, you need to pay an additional $5 to the company. If you want to save even more, you can use Expedia to look for a discount flight, then head to the airline company to purchase tickets for that flight.

2. Orbitz

The price presentation on Orbitz is very user friendly, which is the reason why many people like getting their discount airfare to Chicago from this website. Once you have entered your flight details, the website will show you a matrix of prices of all available flights that fit into your specifications.

3. Travelocity

This is a very popular site for people who wish to get discount airfare to Chicago and for any other location as well. Travelocity usually offers discount airfare to Chicago that is packaged together with hotel accommodations. Naturally, packages that include the more splendid lodgings will cost a lot higher.

There are several other websites that offer discount airfare to Chicago. Just take the time to check them out. Although it does take a little effort, you will definitely enjoy your vacation more knowing that you saved a hefty amount on your journey.

There are many ways to find discount airfares. The key is to know where to look as well as taking the time to research a few things. Time is precious so when we can find a site that we are happy with it is important to remember that for the next trip.



Caffeinated Content

Find Out More About My Airfare Secrets

Cheap Airfare No Comments »
Brian Garvin asked:


Tony Morrison is a pilot with sixteen years of experience. Tony put together a manual called My Airfare Secrets Secret Airfare Guide, and by doing so has saved people a ton of money on flying all around the world. If you know the shortcuts, you can travel the way you want to and save a lot of money at the same time. However these tips aren’t available to the general public, and unless you know someone who has been there and done that, you won’t get very far.

We are ready to share with you our My Airfare Secrets Analysis and the distinctive protocols that are possible to collect Student Discount Airfares and free vouchers for tickets to fly on any airline in the world, this former pilot has been the employee on the opposite end of the phone line giving away the free tickets. There are secrets concerning how to lower your airline cost by hundreds of dollars, how to qualify for the juiciest Discount Student International Airfares and more.

The Military Discount Airfare tricks that you will learn about in your copy of My Airfare Secrets will reveal to you how to just make a phone call and learn about a boatload of discounts on your tickets. You will find out how airlines decide on discounts they propose to customers. How many times have you searched on the web attempting to encounter the lowest cost common carrier tickets for a flight that you can find? This manual will show you how you are squandering time looking in the wrong locations.

Discount Airfares

There are a couple topics that stood out for us as we did our review of Tony Morrison’s new ebook. One was the fact that he gives you a Detailed Packing Checklist. These are things that if you forget to take with you, your stay can get very complicated and drawn out or just plain uncomfortable. Also Tony being an industry insider,he is aware of things the average person could never know. In fact, you can view their Price Testing Experiments which before today only a few of the priviledged in the Airline Industry had access to.

How would you like to know the breakdown of International Travel Discount Airfares or Discount Domestic Airfares? This is one secret that airlines would never share with the general public. The best kept stories concerning airline food and beverages, a tip that can be done with your name that over a period of time can save thousands on the vacations you take throughout the year.

Do you need to know how to get free upgrades on rentals for vehicles and motels? If you are an global traveler, there are protocols to get 75% savings off of your International Discount Airfare. There are literally hundreds of protocols you can travel the world for less than you would realize. If you are simply a little selfishly interested in how airline pricing glitches end up costing them every year and not just petty amounts but thousands of dollars this data is right here for the taking.

When you get your personalized copy of My Airfare Secrets, you will find out what you should without notice check for when purchasing Cheap Discount Airfare. The expert advice that you will receive will save you from losing hundreds of dollars. Do you want to know how you can acquire parcels and other travel items and get employee discounts on these items? If so, this is the manual that will present to you so you don’t make the same mistakes as 99.9 percent of the rest of the world make.

The information that is covered will teach you how to save money on every aspect of travel, food, itineraries, items for travel, and many other things that are part of the airline business. The guide to My Airfare Secrets Secret Airfare Guide was written as a guide to saving money on any airline anywhere. The discounts are available whether it is in the U.S. or Australia. The price is only $24.95 discounted from $49.95.



airfare

One Sure Way Of Getting A Cheap Airfare

Cheap Airfare No Comments »
Stephen Campbell asked:


One sure way of getting cheap airfare is by taking a plane from an airport close to your destination. If your destination by air is to Montreal, then taking a plane to New York John F. Kennedy airport can help to cut back drastically on airfare. It’s really worth it to drive a couple of hours from where you stay to an airport close to your destination so that you can save on airfare.

The recent years has seen a slight drop in the rate of air passengers because of the 9/11 incident. In a bid to constantly reassure their customers enough to come back, airlines offer special deals or packages. Special deals or packages are airline’s way of luring customers to their services. Cheap airfare packages are offered by various airline companies.

New deals and packages come up each day. Airlines and travel agencies are constantly striving to increase their customer base. You can use the competition in the aviation industry to find the best cheap airfare. When you are able to compare packages by these airline companies, surely, you will be able to get the best airline tickets deal.

The internet affords you the opportunity to ferret for cheap airfare. With the internet cheap airfare possibilities are limitless. You have the luxury of using a variety of travel and airline websites on the internet to help aid your search for the perfect airfare. Surf the Internet and make a comparison of their packages so that you are able to get the best travel packages.

You can boycott the cost of hiring a travel agent if you have the time to search for cheap airfare by yourself. Cheap airfare can be easily accessed on the internet. The internet is a veritable tool for the search of cheap airfare.

In searching the Internet for cheap airfare, you should be skeptical about any ridiculously cheap airfare. Airfares below a hundred dollars are usually round trip tickets. Make sure that you call up any airline offering cheap airfare on their websites to confirm it.

The euphoria of flying to your vacation spot can be dampened by the cost of airfare. Cheap airfare enables you to save enough money to spend on souvenirs during your vacation. Cheap airfare can be easily gotten as long as you know the right tricks to pull.

Blogs can make a delightful source of cheap airfare information. People looking to spill their guts on the best cheap airfare buy have blogs that can be of great help. You can get yourself a blog and share your tricks for getting cheap airfare with other people.



Caffeinated Content

Discount Airfare To Johannesburg: Experience Africa At An Affordable Cost

Cheap Airfare No Comments »
David Faulkner asked:


Originally a gold-mining center of South Africa, Johannesburg is now the economical and industrial heart of Witwatersrand. Although mining is no longer as prominent as it was years before, tourists are still attracted to the Gold Reef City of Johannesburg, which is reminiscent of the original mining towns in the area.

Johannesburg is a major city of South Africa, and if you get a discount airfare to Johannesburg, the rest of South Africa will be within your reach. You can go on exciting safaris and witness the South African wildlife with your very eyes. You can experience the cultures of the native people and even participate in some of their celebrations. Some areas of South Africa also have surfing opportunities.

The city of Johannesburg itself offers several recreational parks like the Joubert Park, the Pioneer Park, The Wilds Botanical Garden, the Melrose Bird Sanctuary and the Zoological Gardens and Zoo Lake in Saxonwold.

No matter which activity you want to experience in South Africa, the financial savings you can get from discount airfare to Johannesburg will definitely provide you more funds to spend on exploring the rest of the country.

Getting discount airfare to Johannesburg is actually quite easy. All you have to do is go online and you will see thousands of options to choose from. There are numerous websites selling discount airfare to Johannesburg and you just have to select from those flights that will match your schedule.

Looking for a discount airfare to Johannesburg a few months ahead of time will give you more opportunities of securing a better deal. You will have more choices of flights and departure dates.

In most websites, you will end up saving even more if you buy a package that includes discount airfare to Johannesburg, car rentals, and hotel accommodations as well. It is therefore very helpful if you already have an idea of the general location in Johannesburg where you want to stay.

The climate in South Africa is another factor in looking for the best discount airfare to Johannesburg. Most tourists flock to the city during the months of January to May, when the weather is better suited for outdoor explorations.

Most companies offer better discount airfare to Johannesburg for the remaining half of the year, when there is quite a lull in the influx of tourists. However, if you choose to travel to South Africa from June to December, you might have to prepare yourself for frequent rains.

Another thing you may try when looking for discount airfares is typing in various keywords, like wholesale, cheap, discount, special airfares. These different words may net you travel sites on the internet that you have never seen before that offer even better deals than those advertising on television. There are many ways to find discount airfares. The key is to know where to look as well as taking the time to research a few things. Time is precious so when we can find a site that we are happy with it is important to remember that for the next trip.



Website content

Benefiting From Online Cheap Airfare Information

Cheap Airfare No Comments »
Stephen Campbell asked:


On the Internet, you can get information on the best way to get cheap airfare. Apart from airfare websites, you can get to read up articles on the tricks of getting cheap airfare on the Internet. Finding cheap airfare is actually a skill that must be perfected.

You cannot save costs on airfare if you fail to plan your trip properly. Proper planning can help you identify cheap airfare opportunities. Planning your air trip enables you to pick out the perfect time for you to travel and save costs on air travel in the process. Remember always to consult or make use of air travel information and resources that can be found everywhere– most especially online– because this can effectively help you to establish a better travel plan.

A lot of fare tariffs usually have a thirty-day maximum stay restriction. To save costs, pay for a ticket that indicates that you will be staying less than thirty days. If you stay more than thirty days in your destined area, your ticket will cost more. There are other conditions and programs imposed by airline companies which can bring substantial benefits for you. So, try to explore every opportunity they give.

If you do not have a flexible traveling schedule, you may not get cheap airfare because you wont be able to change reservations when you are on a strict timetable. A little bit of flexibility in your travel schedule will ensure that you get the best of flight rates.

There are websites that contains valuable cheap airfare information. You can get cheap airfare information with regards to international airfare from some websites that specialize only in international travel. There are also websites for domestic travel information seekers.

In searching the Internet for cheap airfare, you should be skeptical about any ridiculously cheap airfare. Airfares below a hundred dollars are usually round trip tickets. Make sure that you call up any airline offering cheap airfare on their websites to confirm it.

If you are looking for ways to get a cheap air flight, try breaking your journey into two. Flights that are divided into two or more stops are usually less expensive than one-way flights. You can save a lot of money by breaking up your flight journey into several stops.

Blogs can make a delightful source of cheap airfare information. People looking to spill their guts on the best cheap airfare buy have blogs that can be of great help. You can get yourself a blog and share your tricks for getting cheap airfare with other people.



Caffeinated Content

How and Where to Find Cheap Airfare on the Internet

Cheap Airfare No Comments »
Kai Vorpahl asked:


Below are some very simple and straight forward strategies you can use when searching for cheap airfare or discount airline tickets. Best of all the strategies cost you nothing and may save you not only money but also time.

Book early but not too early

Airlines will give you a better deal the further out you book. But keep in mind not to book too far in advance as you may miss any fare wars etc. For domestic US travel use the airfare prediction site FareCast to see where fares are headed.

Be flexible

As a general rule traveling Mondays - Thursdays will give you a better deal as most carriers charge more for weekend travel.

Saturday night stay

This is more important in international travel. Almost all cheap international fares require a Saturday night stay. In the US domestic markets Saturday night stay requirements have to the most extent become a thing of the past.

Alternative airports

Domestic US: Great way to shop for lower airfare is to check fares out of or into alternative airports. For example, if you wanted to go from Boston (BOS) to Los Angeles (LAX) you may also check fares from Providence (PVD), Manchester (MHT)or Hartford (BDL) and into Orange County (SNA), Long Beach (LGB)or Ontario (ONT). Some sites such as Orbitz and Travelocity offer search tools that automatically search for cheaper fares for alternative airport. Again, the more flexible you are the more likely you will find a deal.

International: Finding an alternative airport can save you some serious money but it does require some research and “thinking outside the box.” Here are a couple of examples. When traveling to Germany considering Dusseldorf (DUS) as an alternate to Frankfurt could save you over $50 per person in taxes and fees. Germany’s second largest carrier LTU flies nonstop to DUS from several major US departure cities. Check out Brussels (BRU) or Luxemburg (LUX) as alternates to Paris (PAR).

Buying a round trip ticket

Buying a round trip ticket is almost always cheaper tan buying a one-way ticket. This may not be true for tickets that are purchased last minute or on flights that are almost sold out. Some carriers such as Southwest Airlines and JetBlue price their fares on a one-way basis.

Travel off-season

If your travel is for leisure, you can often find lower rates for off-season fares. If circumstances allow be creative in your vacation planning, and you could save big bucks over time. For example, good times to travel to Europe are usually the first 2 weeks in December and January through March. Also, when planning summer travel to Europe try to depart before May 20. Most carriers switch from shoulder season to high season fares sometime between May 20 and 25. For domestic travel, school vacation, public holidays, Christmas and Thanksgiving are considered peak travel periods and fares tend to go up.

Below are some online website resources for finding cheap airfare.

Online Newsletters

By subscribing to some of the more reputable newsletters such as TravelZoo or Smarter Travel you have great and updated access to travel deals on a weekly basis. Many airlines frequently announce new sales or deals online and you want to know about them as soon as possible. The publishers of these newsletters often receive payment from vendors for placement.

Yet Undiscovered Deal Sites

Some of the least know sites may have the “in” to the absolute best deals. One of these sites is Airfarewatchdog. This site has now been around for about 2 years and it specializes in unearthing unadvertised airfare specials. This site is run by George Hobica, a travel journalist with over 25 years of experience in the travel industry. He is a true fanatic about finding incredible airfares.

Cheap Airfare Prediction

While still in a beta phase FareCast promises to truly revolutionize the way we buy airfare and it allows some sort of parity when looking for the best time to buy. They also offer FareGuard which allows you to protect your low fare against future fare increases. To date they cover about 75 US domestic airports.

Low Fare Alerts and Flex Searches

Several of the online travel agency websites also offer low fare alerts. With Travelocity you can see fares from your departure city that have dropped by 20% or more. Alternatively you can use the Fare Finder Search to see a listing of low fares without first having to commit to travel dates. Cheaptickets allows you to set a target price for your trip; once one or more airlines offer fares at or below your target level Cheaptickets will post an alert you. Expedia also offers a flexible date search. While limited in scope this calendar based feature is pretty easy to use (make sure to check “My dates are flexible”) and quickly shows you cheap fares.

Name Your Own Airfare and White Label Fares

In addition to searching for regular published airfare Priceline allows you to “name your own airfare”. Hotwire offers white label fares. In each scenario you do not know the carrier, flights times or the exact routing. With Priceline you basically bid what it is you are willing to pay for a ticket. Once you submit a bid Priceline will see if there is a carrier willing to sell you a ticket at that price (beware: THEY YOUR OFFER IS BINDING if accepted). With Hotwire you will be offered a white label fare. Again, you do not know the carrier, flights times and exact routing. Once you decide to buy there is “NO WAY BACK” If you do not like the flights details. So, either site can save you a bundle but make sure you can stomach the consequences and be flexible.

Flying Abroad? Check Consolidators

Consolidators basically negotiate airfares directly with carriers. These are unpublished (I.e. the airlines do not publish these fares) and can only be purchased from the consolidator. Some consolidators only re-sell these to travel agents while others sell directly to the public. One of the best retail sources for consolidated airfare anywhere is www.FlightsFirst.com.

Compare Apples to Apples

IMPORTANT: When comparing fares from different sites or vendors make sure to consider all the elements. In order to get the full picture of how much a trip is going to cost you must take all taxes, fees, fuel surcharges, and services charges into account. While the base fare maybe the same at two sites taking the above into account could save you some serious money. This is especially true when traveling overseas or to Central and South America.



Website content