Who does not love to travel! Getting to see a new place, experience new things, or even just unwind and relax at a beach you never get to visit. However, for many, the cost of airfare is a limiting factor in where you can travel.
Perhaps that is you. But the very fact that you are here, right now, means you have already swallowed the red pill of financial truth; that you can find a lower price for anything. If you take care to plant the following seeds of wisdom into the gardens of your mind, you will be harvesting the mind grapes of cheap flying in no time!
- Shop for Airfare in Advance, But Not Too Far in Advance
- Set Up Google Flight Alerts and Find Out as Soon as Fares are Cheap
- Be Flexible with Your Travel Dates
- Avoid Flying on the Weekend
- Avoid Flying on the Holidays
- Search for Flights Bundled with Resorts
- Try to Fly Out of A Major City
- Sign Up for Flight Deal Services
- Look at Booking Sites as Well as Directly with the Airlines
- Be Patient and Give Yourself Enough Time to Shop and Compare
If you are planning on flying out of town tomorrow, chances are you are going to get stuck with quite the ticket price. Planning in advance and shopping for tickets far ahead of time can save you hundreds of dollars on airfare. However, planning too far in advance can end up getting you overcharged as well. So what is the sweet spot? About two months in advance will usually get you the best savings.
Ticket prices have a tendency to fluctuate quite often and seemingly at random. However, Google has gone out of their way to help you find the best ticket prices. Setting up an alert for when your ideal destination comes up as a super cheap ticket can help you be one of the lucky few who get a crazy deal on their airfare. You just need to be locked and loaded and ready to buy!
For added convenience, you can even use Google Flights, Google's tool to help you search and shop for the best airfare.
Now, this does not mean be flexible with weeks or months of when you go, but even a few days of flexibility from your desired departure date can save you hundreds. Most airline searches will give you the option to look with flexible dates, making it easy to see whether or not one or two days difference could save you big money.
This is more or less common sense. Most people fly on the weekend, which means there is a higher demand for tickets. A higher demand equals higher prices for tickets. Of course, you may not have the option to fly on a weekday. After all, most people include you, too. However, if you have the option to be a bit flexible, it is definitely worth it.
This is the same thinking as flying on the weekends. On dates where most people are going to travel, you will find ticket prices will always be more expensive, and holidays are no exception. If at all possible, avoid flying the day before or the day after any given holiday. If a few days before or a few days after a major holiday can mean the difference of hundreds of dollars in savings.
Are you looking to take an international getaway? Many resorts will pair cheap flights if you plan on spending several days with them. Shopping sites like Expedia or Priceline automatically have resorts and flights bundled, so it is easy to determine whether or not a bundle might be a good cost-saving option for you.
Flights out of major airports will generally be less expensive than other airports. This is especially true if you can fly out of Atlanta, Dallas, and Chicago, which are major airport hubs.
Of course, this may be easier said than done. If you do not live close to a major city, you will have to weigh whether or not the extra cost of flying out of a regional airport is better or if the cost of getting to a more distant airport is worth it. At times, the savings are so large that renting a car and getting a hotel room the night before in order to get to a major city will still be cheaper than flying out of a regional or smaller airport.
Some people make it their literal job to scour the internet in search of the cheapest flights. Services like Scott's Cheap Flights is a paid service that, in exchange, can find you rock-bottom pricing for international flights.
These kinds of services have their pros and cons. For one, you have to pay in order to use the service, though the pricing is generally inexpensive (something like $30 a year). However, there is not a guarantee that they will find a better price than you would or a flight to where you specifically want to go. It somewhat akin to gambling in seeing if paying the upfront fee is worth it or not.
Sometimes booking sites will offer different pricing than directly with airlines, but it does not always mean it will be less expensive. Sites like Kayak compare both booking sites and direct airlines all at once, giving you a decent snapshot of the available pricing of your desired airfare.
This is probably the most practical and important step you can take in making sure you get the best price possible for your airfare. If you are rushed and pressed to get a ticket, you almost certainly are not going to find the best deal possible. Be sure you compare airlines, booking companies, and even use sites that compare all at once for you. Due diligence, hard work, and plenty of time is the best way to make sure your airfare price is the best possible.
