There are a number of strategies that can be used to search for a cheap airline ticket. Remember to always check the refund policy of the airline ticket that you’re thinking about purchasing.
Search Early – The earlier you begin to search for airline tickets, the more options you will have. More airlines will be available, with more routes and connection possibilities. In addition, most airlines offer a lower price for early bookings, although this is becoming less important when finding cheap airline tickets. An increasing number of airlines are offering cheap airfares at the last minute. (Click here for discussion on last minute airline deals.) Many trips must be planned in advance because of work schedules, family responsibilities, and school.
Check Discount Airlines – If there are discount airlines which fly from your departure location to your destination (i.e. Jet Blue, Southwest, Midway airlines, etc.), go to their web site and note the airfares for your desired trip.
Check Alternative Airports – First, check for airports that are near to your departure or destination area instead of the major airport. For example: Ft. Lauderdale rather than Miami, Oakland rather than San Francisco, Providence rather than Boston. Second, check the major airlines and web-based airline travel services. Many times the major airlines will match deals from other carriers. For example, while planning a trip to Orlando I found an airfare to Tampa for $200.00 less then the cheapest airline ticket to Orlando. An another trip, I saved $150.00 by flying into Ft. Lauderdale rather than Miami. Both trips were on Delta - so I also earned frequent flier miles and a meal.
Flexible Dates and Time – If you are flexible on the date and time of your flight, you may find a cheaper airline ticket. For example, you may find cheaper airline tickets on Tuesday or Thursday than on Monday or Friday. When you search websites for a cheap airfare they will usually have an “anytime” option available for preferred flight times. This will give you the cheapest airline tickets possible within a wide range of dates and times. Often, the early morning or late night flights have more open seats, and airfares will be cheaper.
Saturday Stay – Arranging a trip over a Saturday night could lower the airfare considerably because most business travelers plan to be home for the weekend. Some airlines are considering doing away with a Saturday stay.
Search Internet Airfare Sales Sites –The three largest internet airfare service sites are Travelocity, Expedia, and Orbitz. All three provide a number of choices for airfares, times, and airlines. They are also able to provide airfares on other dates near your suggested date and time in case there is a cheaper airfare available on these expanded dates.
Bid on airfare – On Priceline.com you may bid on the airline tickets you want. In order to make more than one bid for an airfare, you would need to change part of the original bid (like changing the start date, return date, the departure airport or the destination). Remember, if you accept the bid it is non-refundable once it is charged to your credit card. On Hotwire.com, you are given an airfare before you purchase your airline ticket. You will not be given the schedule or the airline name until after you have booked the flight. Remember, it is a non-refundable airline ticket upon purchase. On Hotwire, if you purchase an airline ticket you will be flying on one of nine carriers: Aloha, American, American West, Continental, Delta, Hawaiian, Northwest, United and U.S. Airways.
Reading the Newspapers (particularly on Sunday) – Your local Sunday edition of the newspaper or online news sites such as USA Today and The New York Times will sometimes advertise some good airfares. Additionally, your local area may have a radio travel program which could offer some good airfares.
Most airline websites have mailing lists from which an individual can receive e-mails about changes in airfares, new travel options, and cheap travel fares. You can easily be removed if you no longer wish to receive these e-mails. These types of sites send an e-mail about airline travel and provide a link to unsubscribe to the mailing list at the bottom of the e-mail.
Other Resources:
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