Make your travel plans as early as you can. If possible, book flights between two and three months before travel as fares have a tendency to rise quickly during the last four weeks before departure. As of March 2011, a return trip from New York JFK to Los Angeles LAX with Delta costs $717 per person in economy when booked one week before departure. The same trip booked three months in advance costs $533.
If you are making a last-minute booking check carefully for last-minute bargains. Travelgrove says that seats are sold off at "rock-bottom prices" if airlines cannot fill them in any other way. For example, as of March 2011 a return ticket between New York and Los Angeles for travel within one week of booking could be obtained for around $460 on the website fly.com. This involved one stop but was considerably cheaper than the $717 fare quoted by Delta for the same dates.
If you can travel within a date range rather than on a specific date you stand a better chance of getting a cheap fare. For example, as of March 2011 a return trip between San Francisco and Las Vegas on Southwest booked six weeks in advance costs as much as $273.10 per person or as little as $190.10. This is for a four-night trip. The more expensive fare involves leaving on a Monday and returning on a Friday. The cheaper fare involves departing one day later on a Tuesday and returning one day later on a Saturday.
Do not let a bargain airfare escape. If you are planning a trip and you see a competitive price online book it straightaway. Remember, everyone is looking for that elusive bargain, so low-priced seats will not stay on the system for very long. If you leave it and go back to the booking engine a few hours later the fare may no longer be available.
Remember to look at alternative departure and arrival airports. For example, if you're flying to New York check fares to and from JFK, La Guardia and Newark. Try various combinations. For example, it might be cheaper to purchase a single to JFK and a single return flight from Newark than to buy a return flight using JFK only. However, when doing this remember to factor in the cost of transport to and from the airports you are using.
Travelgrove recommends booking international flights three months in advance to obtain the best possible fare. The website says if possible these reservations should be made no less than three weeks in advance as fares tend to rise rapidly after this. This also applies to flights within countries outside the US. As of March 2011 a tourist taking a flight from Dublin to Paris as part of a European vacation will pay around $123. If booked three months in advance the fare will be around $70.
