Opinions

What's the Deal on Airfares?
By ifab - April 14, 2001

So how do you get a good deal on airline tickets? The goal of this message is to help you do just that. Predictions are that with big airlines it will soon be more difficult to find a cheap ticket so you'll need some strategies. "Kiplinger's" suggests a "two pronged" approach: One: use the internet and Two: be flexible (about travel dates as well as airports).

Internet sites can help you to get the best deal. Here are some to check out: Travelocity.com, OneTravel.com, TravelByUs.com, Expedia.com. Each one has it's little quirks and advantages. For instance: Travelocity.com lets you search for the best fare to your destination on ANY date and TravelByUS.com lets you search for travel in and out of nearby airports. If you were planning to fly into Orlando but didn't mind driving a bit you could also search the prices to Tampa. Sometimes the websites show fares that are no longer available but you can use this information and call the airlines directly to find out if it may still be available at another time.

Be flexible about the times you wish to travel. The day and the hour you fly DO make a difference. Kiplinger's reports the best fares will be found on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. If you want to go away for a long weekend they suggest Sat - Tues rather than Fri - Monday. Don't be so quick to book months in advance either. It is to your advantage to wait until about 4 weeks before your planned trip (except during holidays and peak vacation times) because airlines will discount seats that have not sold. You may also be eligible for a refund if your previously bought seat qualifies for a new lower fare. You can use Travelocity's Fare Watcher to help you monitor newer, cheaper rates. They will send you an email to let you know if the price drops.

Techniques that airlines seem to be cracking down on are "hidden city" tickets and "back to back" tickets. The first case occurs when it is cheaper to fly say from Boston to Savannah than Boston to Charlotte but you stop in Charlotte on the way to Savannah. The second case occurs when you can't stay over on a Sat. night so you buy two sets of tickets and use half of each set of tickets and throw away the rest. In other words if you buy Fri (6th) - Fri (13th) and Mon (9th) - Mon (16th) you could fly out on Monday (9th) and return Fri (13th). To see any savings though the sat. stay fares have to less then half the non-sat stay fares which I guess they often are. But airlines are getting picky and it is risky to use either of these strategies. I only mention them because I hadn't ever thought of doing this because I didn't realize the difference could be so great between fares. Now it is suggested you use an airline that doesn't charge extra if your not staying a Sat. nite. Such an airline is Southwest.

Airlines sell seats they can't book to consolidators at deep discounts. Internet sites for consolidators are Bestfares.com and Economytravel.com. So check these sites out too. They are often best for international travel. Flights going to Disney (being as popular a destination as it is) would probably not wind up on these sites but it couldn't hurt to check.

The risk takers among us should not forget sites such as Priceline.com, Expedia's Pricematcher and Hotwire.com. These sites are auction type sites. You name your price, dates, and enter your credit card and your bid is entered. You are obligated without knowing the airline or flight times. You can try to specify the number of connections but you have to allow for at least one connection. Hotwire will give you up to 30 minutes to purchase.

One more way to find a cheap fare is the new breed of mega search engines. Check out AirlineGuides.com, FareChase.com, Qixo.com, and SideStep.com. These engines search nearly 100 travel suppliers. Using these sites can be slow as there search covers much ground. You may need to download software to use these sites and they are still in their "beta" stages.

Well these are the best tips I could find for getting low fares. GOOD LUCK!