Cheap Air Flights Travel Tips
Cheap Air Flights Travel Tips | Find cheaper travel every time.
Many people treat buying air travel like going to the grocery store. Stop by at the last minute, expect a big selection at an affordable price. That strategy might work at the grocery, but it will cost you if you’re booking air flights.
With nearly a million airline frequent flyer miles earned, here’s
a list of cheap air flights, travel tips and strategies we use to
book fights.
Cheap Air Flights Travel Tips
- Book early. If you know your travel dates and when you’d
like to go, book your flight as soon as possible. By booking at least
14 days – and
21 days early is even better—you can save a heap on advance
fares.
A recent comparison – even on a discount carrier- shows the advantage.
-Round-Trip between Los Angeles and Cleveland with a 21 day advanced purchase, $320.00. Purchased with less than 7 days notice, $618.00. That is a difference of $298.00. By waiting until the last minute, the exact same airline seat on the exact same plane costs you 198% of the original fare. It pays to shop early. - Stay Flexible. Keep your departure and return
window as large as possible in terms of times and dates. Round Trip
fares between
two cities can vary
vastly
depending on how specific your needs are. If you’re willing to stay
an extra night or leave latter in the day, you could save hundreds of dollars.
If
you can travel midweek – except around holidays – you should
find the cheaper fares.
- A weekend away will be far less expensive Thursday
to Monday rather than Friday to Sunday.
- Direct flights might cost more: If you’re willing to take
2 or even 3 flights to get to your destination, you might save a
lot of money because there
are more
airlines able to compete for your business.
Check Discount Carriers:
JetBlue and Southwest only sell their seats on their websites. Orbitz.com
isn’t going to always show you
the cheapest tickets available. This is an often overlooked "Cheap
Air Flights Travel Tips".
- Use Major On-line Ticket Brokers:
A trip to Orbitz.com or Travelocity.com could save you thousands
over booking directly with the airline.
- Book Online: Many airlines
charge a fee to book by phone or at a ticket counter. Rather than
give people a discount when they book
flights
on line, most airlines are charging an additional transaction fee to
customers who insist on booking their travel by phone.
- Check Nearby airports: Travel a few extra miles and save a bundle.
A recent search between Boston and DC, one of the most traveled routes
in the U.S., returned these results for traveling on the same dates
at
roughly the same time.
-Travel between Boston and Washington’s Dulles airport = $409.00
Travel between Boston and Washington’s Regan National = $186.00
That’s a savings of $223.00 and a distance of less than 10 miles between airports. - Book a Roundtrip Flight: Even if you’re flying one way, book
a round trip flight: Often a one-way ticket will cost considerably
more
than the round trip. Book the return flight and just don’t
use it.
- Use Aggregators: These services are relatively new and growing
in popularity. The sites use your travel dates to compare flights
directly
from the
airlines. This is a great way to see what the best fares available
are. Interestingly, you actually book your flights directly with
the airline
instead of using Kayak.com as a travel agent.
- Check for Senior or Student Discounts: If they’ve gottem’ us’em.
American Express is well known for offering students travel discounts
that can save hundreds of dollars. Being a member of AARP might save
seniors on fares.
- Package Deals: Many cruise lines, resorts and spas offer packages
and discount each service purchased. Adding a flight, hotel and rental
to
a vacation might save you 10-15% on each. Most cruise lines include
the flight as part of the package costs.
- Stay Together – Travel as a group. Many airlines offer discounts
for the purchase of multiple tickets. If you’ve got 12 people
heading to niece Janet’s destination wedding you could save
thousands by traveling as a group. And I’m sure that Janet
will appreciate you buying her a better wedding gift.
- Military discounts: If you’re an active duty military member,
don’t
forget to take advantage of any service discounts. Most airlines
will discount travel for military members relating to service travel.
- Pay Attention – One of the most expense parts of travelers
is not doing your research and not double checking their travel information
before they ‘push the button’.
- Enjoy – After you’ve booked your flight, enjoy your vacation. Checking and rechecking to see if you could have gotten a better deal is only going to make you upset and frustrated. On almost every plane you are flying on, there is someone who paid less. Its an unavoidable side effect of the multi tier travel system used by airlines.
We hope these Cheap Air Flights Travel Tips are helpful and get you the affordable trip you deserve.
Take advantage of these Cheap Air Flights Travel Tips.