Airfare Tips
Airfare Tips
The staff of Cruise Planners has gathered tips on how to find low airfares. Unfortunately for weary travelers, there's no real shortcut to finding cheap airfare. But if you're willing to shop around -- you could save big on your next flight. The game keeps changing, but here is our best thinking to date: our top tips to snag low airfares.
1. Buy Early
Especially during peak travel periods, making reservations late in the game can cost you a lot of money. Airline ticket prices typically go up 21 days, 14 days, 7 days and 3 days before flying, so if you're planning ahead, try to make the call before these deadlines. And if you're traveling internationally, you'll want to book even earlier -- from three to six months in advance -- for the best deals. However, sometimes you can get lucky if you wait, which brings us to:
2. Buy Late
Often you can buy tickets at the very last minute for a great price, if the airlines have failed to fill their planes. Many airlines offer weekly newsletters that feature their best last-minute deals. You can also find many of them listed in LastMinuteTravel.com. If you can stand the suspense, and if you are flexible with your itinerary, you can find fantastic money-savers to very attractive travel destinations.
3. Shop Around
Start your search by checking a few of the major online travel providers. Don’t assume that Travelocity, Orbitz, Expedia, Cheapair.com all have the same fares. They don’t. So check all the online agencies, and use multi-site search engine like , Sidestep, Kayak, Qixo, and Booking Buddy. This will give you a preliminary idea of which airline flies your particular itinerary, what the going rate is and what restrictions might apply. Armed with this information, you can head directly to the appropriate airline web site to see if the same flights are any cheaper (some airlines guarantee to offer the lowest possible fares on their Web sites). Increasingly, some airlines have “private” sales, reserving their very best fares for their own sites. While you're there, check to see if the airline is running any sales or promotions to your destination.
If you don't see anything in your preferred price range, don't be afraid to bide your time and watch the fares for a bit. Most major booking sites have alert features that will e-mail you when your fare drops to a price you're willing to pay.
4. Know When to Buy
The hardest part of booking a flight is knowing when to stop tracking fares and make that final purchase. If you're flying within the U.S., Farecast.com can help you reach that decision, offering fare predictions for more than 75 cities. Just plug in your itinerary and the site will advise you either to book now or to wait, depending on whether the fare is expected to rise or drop. Another useful site is Kayak, which displays the fare history for domestic and international flights, allowing you to see whether your fare is headed in an upward or downward direction.
5. Be Flexible
If you live close to more than one airport, check out the fares from all of the airports near you. Many online fare searching engines will ask you if you are willing to depart from or arrive in more than one city. Also, experiment with different travel dates; shifting your itinerary by a week or even a few days can make a significant difference in fares. You'll usually find the best deals on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.
6. Don't Forget the Discounters
As their nickname suggests, discount airlines can save you a bundle, but they're not always easy to find. Luckily for consumers, discounters are cropping up more frequently on aggregators and booking sites (Kayak now offers fares for JetBlue, Spirit and AirTran, for example) -- but there are still a few holdouts, such as Southwest and Allegiant Air, whose fares can't be found anywhere but their own Web sites.
8. Check Fares Often
Because airfares fluctuate you need to check them every day, sometimes two or three times a day, if you’re serious about saving money. Airlines can update domestic fares three times a day during the week, and once on Saturday and Sunday (international fares are updated just once a day). And another little tip: be sure to clear the “cookies” on your internet browser (on Explorer you do this under the “tools” menu and “internet options” sub menu). Why do this? If a fare changes between two separate searches done over time on the same route, some fare search engines may return the results you viewed earlier rather than the new, lower results.
8. Use Your Frequent Flier Miles
Why pay a fare at all when you can use your frequent flier miles? Although redeeming miles has gotten more difficult in recent years, it's still a good option to consider, particularly if you're booking early; airlines designate a very limited number of seats on each flight as eligible for award travel, and these seats go quickly.
9. Get a Refund When Fares Go Down
If fares go down after you've purchased your ticket, ask for a refund! You may not always get one, but policies vary by airline -- and many do not publicize the fact that they will refund you the difference if prices go down. It can't hurt to ask.
10. Be Prepaired
If you’re well prepared for your trip, you will have a much easier travel experience.These days, being prepared means being ready for the screening process. Here’s a reminder of what you should expect at airport security checkpoints: It’s all about the 3-1-1.
If you plan to travel with liquids, gels or aerosols in your carry-on bag, they must be in three-ounce containers or smaller. Those containers must fit into one quart-size, zip-top, clear plastic bag, which must be placed separately in the security bin.
All electronic equipment must be scanned.
All large electronic devices, in addition to laptops, must be removed from their carrying cases and placed in a separate security bin. These include full-size video game consoles, full-size DVD players and video cameras that use video cassettes.
Know what you can, and cannot, bring onboard.
In addition to liquids, gels and aerosols not in three-ounce containers, numerous other potentially dangerous items are not permitted in carry-on baggage, including guns and firearms; sharp objects; baseball bats, golf clubs; tools such as hammers, crowbars and drills; and explosive or flammable materials (except for common lighters) and dangerous chemicals.
Mail banned items home.
If you have items that are prohibited, several airports offer Mailsafe Express stations. At these stations, you can mail home or to another destination any prohibited items intercepted at the security checkpoint without leaving the security checkpoint area.
Be careful about what you wear.
The TSA suggests you avoid wearing clothing, jewelry and other accessories that contain metal when traveling through security checkpoints. All shoes must be removed and placed in a security bin, so choose a pair you can slip off and on easily. All outer garments (coats, suit jackets, Windbreakers) must also be removed and placed in a security bin.
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