I start this week's post for my friend Emily as she prepares for her family vacation.
Buying airline tickets brings to mind both joy and heartburn. The joy of a new experience, a new destination and a new possibility. There's not much to it right? Make a call or log on the web right? Easy. It isn't rocket science by any means, however, to keep the most of your money in your wallet there's a few things you want to keep in mind. I personally do not like to pay more than I have to that's more money for my next trip.
Tips for the Elusive "cheap" Ticket
1. Try to buy on Tuesday evenings. I don't know why but there's a phenomena that takes place once a week, airlines have cheaper fares! They jump significantly the next day.
2. Be flexible on your travel dates. One day, an overnight stay or an over the weekend stay can save you significantly.
3. Kayak.com, Priceline.com, Travelocity.com, Orbitz.com... Are not all created equal. Each is geared toward a specific type of buyer. Formats differe as well. Try a few and see what you find the most user friendly. For the most part the pricing is all with in a few dollars of each other. I personally prefer Travelocity. One note: Priceline tends to be good for when you have very flexible dates not when you have specific dates.
4. Once you've found a price on a "travel" site. Check the airlines websites. Buying direct can save you between $50-$150 depending on who you are looking at. Southwest does not generally come up on the travel sites, you have to book on their site. www.southwest.com
5. Pay attention to the airline. Delta goes just about everywhere. Southwest & Airtran tend to be more the southern states from East to West. US Airways runs southern states and up the Eastern Seaboard. United tended to be from Chicago west.
6. Sign up for the free air miles, EVERYWHERE. You never know when you might get a free ticket, upgrade, or other special treatment just for 2 minutes of your time. It also will get you access to the airlines weekly ads that often have cut rate flights on them. If you have time to shop this is a good way to find a good price.
7. Don't buy the travel insurance unless you absolutely have to. I find this to be a rip off of $25 of my hard earned cash. I would pay for this however, if I rarely flew or I was concerned I might not make the trip after purchase of my ticket. Otherwise... most airlines will let you reuse the cost of a ticket for a change fee, usually $100-150. Note: I said most!!! Always Always read the fine print. In this case always think of your risk comfort level.
8. Buy AT LEAST 14-21 days before you travel. Anything short of that is going to cost you horribly.
9. Take into account luggage. Silly right, except the majority of the airlines are charging between $20-35 for a piece of luggage to be checked. Southwest is one of the few that doesn't.
10. Take the airport departure and destination into consideration. Bigger is NOT always better. Smaller airports are often easier to get in and out of, they are child friendly, smaller security lines and usually closer to your destination. You pay a little more for this but sometimes it's worth it.
Travel is all about personal choice. Inexpensive tickets are a great way to get to see more of the world with more money in your pocket, but ultimately comfort, speed, efficiency and attention are all up to you.
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