Here are a few facts you should know about airline tickets:
1. Not all seats, (in the same class economy, first class), are the same price. Airlines only sell a certain number of seats at the cheapest price. There will be several price levels for each flight. Only a limited number of seats will be available at each price level. So the person sitting right next to you may have paid half as much for their ticket as you did.
2. Non-stop flights will cost you more then flights that require you to stop and change planes. There are definitely advantages to non-stop flights so you will need to decide if those advantages are worth the extra cost.
3. Non-stop flights are not the same as a direct flight. A non-stop flight means just that, you will go from your departure city to your arrival city with no stops in between. With a direct flight your plane will touch down in between your departure and arrival cities but you will have to get off and change planes.
4. If your airline tickets involve more then 2 airports you will pay a much higher price. This is called a “open jaw” ticket and they are not cheap. An example of an open jaw ticket would be if you left out of Los Angeles and flew to New York - then drove Boston and flew from Boston back home to Los Angeles. In this situation it might be cheaper to purchase 2 one way tickets. One for Los Angeles to New York and one for Boston to Los Angeles.
When booking your tickets be aware of your arrival time. Most people concentrate on their departure time but your arrival time is just as important. This is especially true if you will be going to a place you are not familiar with. If you arrive late at night there will be less resources and help available for you. Help desks, money exchanges, bus serves and tourist offices may be closed. You will also have to make your way to your hotel in the dark. Even if you catch a cab, its still can be a little intimidating traveling around at night when your not familiar with the area. You will feel much more comfortable arriving during the day time and during business hours. There will be a lot more people out and about and you won’t have to worry about anything being closed.
Advance Booking
Airfare is going to be one of, if not the biggest, vacation expenses you will have. One of the easiest ways to save on airline tickets is by purchasing your tickets at least 21 days in advance. Anything after this, the prices will start going up. You should never buy tickets less then 7 days in advance if possible. Last minute tickets are very expensive. In order to get the cheapest possible price you will need to start searching well in advance so you can purchase your tickets before all the cheaper seats are gone.
Travel Seasons
There are 3 different travel seasons - low season, peak season and the shoulder or mid season. Airfares between these 3 seasons can differ greatly.
Travel during the peak season will be the most expensive. This season falls during the summer months when the kids are out of school - June thru September. The cheapest tickets will be during the low season months which are the winter months - December thru February. The shoulder season runs from March thru May and October thru November. You can find some great deals during the shoulder season and often you find some of the best weather as well.
Even though Christmas fall within the low season, it is the most expensive time of year to travel. Starting about 2 weeks before Christmas and 1 week after, you will see airline ticket price jump way up.
Ways to Save on Airline Tickets
Most business travelers travel during normal business hours which are from 8am to 5pm. Traveling during these hours will cost you more. So try to travel early in the morning or at night.
The day of the week you travel will also affect the price of your ticket. Some days cost more to fly on then others. The cheaper days to fly are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. So its best to fly mid-week if possible.
The airport you fly out of and into can affect the cost of your ticket. When you do your search be sure to check all the airports in your area. Don’t rule out some of the smaller airports, they often have some of the best deals. However something to keep in mind is at the smaller airports if something happens and your flight gets cancelled there will be less options available for you to get on another flight since smaller airports will have less flights each day.
When deciding which airport you will fly into you might want to choose a major airport, especially if you are not familiar with the area you are flying into. At a major airport you will have more resources available to you and more people around to help you.
If you will be traveling with a tour group or on a cruise, it will be much cheaper to purchase your airline tickets separately. Tour and cruise companies charge a flat fee based on your city. Not only does this price include a certain amount of profit but also a little play room just incase the ticket cost them more then they anticipated. Of coarse if the price is right on target or cost them less, they aren’t going to refund any of that money to you. You also won’t have any say in the schedule or be able to choose which airlines you want to fly on. You have to take whatever they give you. If you book your own airline tickets you should fly in the day before your tour or cruise starts. Since you booked your own airline tickets you will be responsible for getting to your tour meeting point or to the ship on time. Anything can happen at the airport, delays, cancellations, you never know what might happen. By flying in the day before you will give yourself extra time just in case something goes wrong.
Keep in mind the cheapest price is not always the best deal. Some people say they don’t care about the flight details they just want the absolute cheapest price available. Then they complain about what a nightmare the flight was. The price may be great but if what is normally a 7 hour flight takes you 15 hours and 3 planes to get there, is it worth the money you save? Of coarse only you can answer this. In some cases it might be worth it sometimes it won’t.
Off Season Travel
You can find some great deals for travel during the off season. Just keep in mind it’s the off season for a reason. You may be very hot or very cold, so make sure you know what to expect before you buy tickets. Also if there is a specific site you want to see make sure it will be open during the off season. Sometimes sites will close for the winter and check before you buy your tickets. You don’t want to spend the money and do all that traveling just to find the one site you really wanted to see is closed.
Some locations such as tropical places, the weather is pretty much the same all year around so traveling during the off season is no big deal. The main thing you will have to be aware of is hurricane season. If you will be traveling to a hurricane prone area, especially if you will be cruising, keep in mind there may be unexpected changes made to your itinerary.
Some people love traveling during the off season, not only because of the great prices but because there are les tourists so its not as nearly crowded as it is during peak season. Besides that, winter time can be very romantic in some locations.
Starting the Search
Once your ready to start looking for airline tickets, where do you begin? The best place to start is with 3rd party travel sites. My favorite sites are Yapta, Kayak, Vayama and Expedia but there are plenty of other sites out there as well. Examples of some other sites are: Travelocity, Cheapseats, Hotwire, bookingbuddy and Sidestep.
Whichever sites you favor you should always search several different sites. In some cases you will find the price pretty much the same on all the sites while other times there can be very big differences in prices between the sites.
As an example, I searched for airline tickets going from Los Angeles to London on September 7 and returning on September 15.
Results:
Yapta.com - $920
1800flyeurope.com - $829
OneTravel.com - $803
The difference in price was $117. That’s $117 per ticket so if you are buying 2 or more tickets, that adds up really fast.
Sites such as Yapta, Expedia and Travelocity have fare tracking. You enter the information for the flight or destination you want and they will notify you when the price of that ticket drops.
If your travel dates are flexible, try playing with different dates to see if it makes a difference in the price. Sometimes leaving a week earlier or later can make a big difference in the price.
Once you have determined the best price on the 3rd party travel sites your next step is to go directly to the airlines official website. Sometimes their prices will be higher sometimes they’ll be cheaper so its always worth checking. Airlines will often run internet only specials that are available only on their website.
On the airlines website, if there is a “specials” or “deals” section make sure you check it out. Sometimes this special pricing won’t show up when you do a regular search. Also there may be special pricing on a flight very similar to the one you are looking for, that would work for you.
If You Like it Buy it.
Once you find a price you like, buy the tickets and then stop searching. If you find something cheaper later on its not going to make any difference to you. The cheaper, discount tickets are not refundable so the only thing you are going to accomplish is stressing your out.
If you find a price you like but wait to see if the price will drop some more you will run the risk of loosing those tickets and the price may go up rather then down. I have seen people find a price they like, sit and talk about the tickets trying to decide if they should buy them or wait, decide to go ahead and buy them only to find someone else snatch them up. Remember just because there are seats left on the plane it doesn’t mean there are any seats left for that price level. So if you find tickets that you like that fit within your budget, buy them and then move on.
Air Miles
It seems like it is getting harder and harder to use your air miles. The best thing you can do to improve your chance of getting the tickets you want is to start looking as early as possible. Airlines only set aside a few seats for miles rewards so you need to start looking early. If you are flexible in your travel dates you will have a better chance of finding rewards tickets.
Some airlines charge more miles if you call in and have an agent book your ticket over the phone. Remember you can use your miles on partner airlines who may charge fewer miles then your airline.
Most airlines give you the option of purchasing a ticket using half miles and half cash. However I have never found this to be a good deal. Even though you will only have to pay half of the price in cash, that’s half off the full fare price not the discounted, cheaper price. In most cases it is cheaper to just pay for the discounted ticket.
Upgrading
Of coarse we would all like to fly first class but most of us can’t afford it. But that doesn’t stop me from trying. I always ask about an upgrade at the airport. If you ask at the check in counter most likely they will tell you that you (if there are any seats available in 1st class) that you will have to pay the different in the price between your ticket and a 1st class ticket.
I usually ask the gate agent if they are offering any upgrade deals. A lot of the time they say no. But sometimes, they say yes. On a trip my son and I took going from Los Angeles, California to Cairo, Egypt, the business class cabin was empty so the gate agent was offering upgrades from economy to business class for only $300. That’s a long flight and an amazing deal. We jumped right on it. On another flight going from Johannesburg, South Africa to Los Angeles, California the gate agent was offering upgrades from economy to premium economy for $100. Which also was a great deal. On Virgin Atlantic the difference between economy and premium economy is huge. The seats were only 1” narrower then the 1st class seats. You also had more leg room and got the same food that was served in 1st class. It never hurts to ask, you never know what you might find.
If you are a elite or gold rewards member you can often get a free 1st class upgrade at the airport.
Credit card companies often offer a bonus of flyer miles for signing up for their credit card. Most charge a yearly credit card fee but a lot will wave that fee for the first year. You can always cancel the card before the end of the year. You won’t loose your miles for canceling the card. Some of these bonuses are fairly nice. Many will offer up to 25,000 air miles to sign up.
