Getting the Best Airfaresl Money Saving Tips, Ideas and Advice on How to Reduce Your Travel Costs and Travel More Cheaply

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AIR TRAVEL - Page 2

Getting The Best Air Fares (continued)

2. If you really want to save money on air travel, your search for the lowest air fares is not yet complete. Chances are, there is more than one airport close enough to your home to be a possible departure point. It is also possible that there is more than one airport close enough to your destination to be considered an acceptable arrival point. Remember, if you are driving to the departing airport, does it really matter if you drive another hour or so to get to the airport, especially if you can save a considerable amount of money? And if you are renting a car (or perhaps even using a shuttle) when you arrive, does it really matter if you drive another hour to your eventual destination?

a. Locate airports that may serve as alternative departure and destination airports for your trip. Remember, when looking for alternative airports, make sure to consider smaller airports where some of the new “discount” carriers are flying from. Consider searching on the Internet for airports serving a particular city or region.

b. Once you have located alternative departure and destination airports, go through the same process as noted in #1 above to find out if flights are available to your general destination, and determine their schedules and fares.

c. But remember, if you do “compromise” on either the departure or destination airport, make sure it is worth your time and any extra expense (although sometimes parking is considerably cheaper at smaller airports) before you make your decision. The cost of your flight is not the only cost you need to consider.

3. But do not forget, when it comes to air fares, timing is extremely important. Once you have found a couple of airline, airport and flight choices that appear well-suited to your travel plans and offer great fares, you may still be able to save considerably more money. Air fares are impacted significantly by both when you fly and when you buy your ticket.

a. Because air fares can change dramatically for the same exact flight, it pays to start early when you are searching for (but not booking) air fares; usually 3-4 months before the flight, if possible, to start getting an idea of fare ranges. However, if you purchase your ticket earlier than 3-4 months out it may actually cost you more, because airlines have not yet started to manage their load levels by offering reduced fares. But, on average, once you get to within 3-4 months of the flight, purchasing tickets well in advance of your travel dates will lead to lower prices. Airlines will often post lower prices during the 2-4 month time frame to initially to attract passengers and sell a certain minimum number of seats on the plane. After this minimum number is sold, they will often raise prices at about 30-40 days out. So early purchases can pay off in making sure you get a reservation, as well as reasonable prices. However, purchasing at the last minute, on flights that the airline is having trouble filling, can lead the airline to provide some very low last-minute fares. Consider checking airline special offer pages on the Internet to find bargains.

b. Also, believe it or not, tickets on the exact same flight on the exact same day change prices all the time, sometimes more than once during the day and sometimes dramatically. This is particularly true of discount airlines, and seems to happen even many weeks before the scheduled flight, and well before the flight is sold out. So, to be prepared to take advantage of potentially favorable price shifts, it’s important to know what flights you want to book well before you need to book them, so you can check prices often before you absolutely need to purchase. You just might find a real bargain and, if you do, be prepared to book the flight right then.

c. It is important to note that the “old rules of thumb” about buying tickets 21 or 14 days in advance, staying over a Saturday night, or trying to fly stand-by in order to get the cheapest fares do not have near as much impact on airline pricing as they did in the good old days. Although some airlines are considering re-implementing the Saturday night stay over requirement. While often the major airlines will still give lower pricing for advance purchases based on the 21 day and 14 day limits, that is about it. And with the discount airlines, the price of a ticket is generally whatever they are quoting at the moment. With Internet booking and instant pricing changes geared to business conditions being so prevalent, knowing your flight options and checking prices often will generally lead to the best fare pricing. This is tough to do if you are using a conventional travel agent but, if you are, ask them to tell you when the best time is to purchase, let them know you are flexible on timing and ask them to get you the lowest fare they can.

d. Some good Internet sites for checking airfares offered by most airlines are Kayak.com, AirfareWatchDog.com, SideStep.com, FareCompare.com and Momondo.com. While you cannot book fares directly through these sites, they do provide an easy way to keep track of the latest fares offered by the airlines. A new site, InsideTrip.com, also assigns a rating based not just on price but also on number of stops, legroom, aircraft age and more. However, keep in mind that Southwest Airlines’ fares are generally not tracked by these sites, nor are some of the smaller discount airlines. You will need to go directly to the airline for this information.