There are thousands of websites out there that all claim to help you find the cheapest airfare. A common question I hear is "what website do you use to get those super-cheap tickets?". Unfortunately, that website does not exist. It takes hard work, patience, and perseverance to get the best deals. Here are some of the best tips and tricks I have learned over the years.
Some Misconceptions:
As a general rule, ticket prices do not vary from site to site. Prices for a certain flight on a certain date are set by the airline. No matter what website you use to find the tickets, the price will be the same. Prices may look different, but that is only because the websites report things differently. For example, they may or may not add taxes into the search results, or they add hidden booking fees to the ticket costs. The base ticket cost and taxes will always be the same though, because they all pull from the same shared databases, or GDS's.
Search, Search, and Search Again:
Because it doesn't matter what website we use to search, the basic strategy to find the best prices is to identify the travel "trifecta":
* Airline
* Travel dates
* Ticket purchase date/timeThe cheapest tickets are always found by identifying the right combination of these three factors. Being flexible with your travel dates and knowing when to buy are the most important factors. While there are an unlimited number of travel websites, only a few are truly useful for considering all three factors and I'll share them here.
Kayak.com is at the top of my list. It is an aggregator, so they do not sell the tickets directly like many other sites. Instead they offer a one-stop location to search all the major airline sites for the best ticket prices. They provide an amazing amount of filters that you can add to limit your searches. All the major airlines are included by default, and they will even combine tickets from multiple airlines to get you the lowest cost. The most useful feature is the ability to search flexible dates, which is how you will find the best deals. They also have a "chart view" where you can see if now is the best time to buy by looking at the fare history. Sidestep.com offers almost identical features also, in fact they are now the same company.
Another great site for your searches is Farecompare.com. It works in a very similar way to Kayak.com, flexible searches are not as simple, but the site provides a wealth of information on how to find the cheapest tickets. It also has some unique tools like searching by map from your city and the History Airfare Graph Tool.
Also be sure to check out the big three travel sites also, Travelocity, Expedia, and Orbitz (Travelocity is my favorite).
Setup Email Alerts:
Once you've paid your dues by searching all the sites, it is time to setup email alerts. Occasional drastic drops in ticket prices are normal occurrences 1-2 times per month. You can't be expected to search each of those travel sites daily to check for fare sales, but you can let them do the work for you. Kayak, FareCompare, and Travelocity offer excellent email alert capabilities. Set them up for your desired searches and they will notify you when those drastic price-drops occur. You must be ready to jump on those fares right away though, as you often only have a few hours before all the seats at that price are snatched up. I have also noticed, especially for domestic fares, that when the fare drops for just one airline, the rest will follow about 24 hours later, which often opens up wider date options. Email alerts are the key to almost all of the dirt cheap fares I have bought in the last few years.
Buy Direct!
One of the best tricks I can teach you is to buy direct. Just because you find the low fare of your dreams on one of these great travel websites, doesn't mean you have to buy it from them. If you buy directly from them you will end up paying a booking fee, and it may be a hidden one. Once you've identified your exact itinerary, write down the airline, dates, times, and flight numbers. Then visit the airline's website directly to find and purchase that ticket. You will avoid the fee, sometimes get a better price, and can often get bonus miles for booking through the airline's website. And on that same note, never call the airline to purchase your ticket. They will charge you an obscene reservation fee for something that you easily could do yourself on their website.
Go Local:
All these search tips work great for domestic and transcontinental fares. But for travel in-country or across a region (like Europe or South-East Asia) none of these websites will help you out. The best bet is almost always to search local by visiting the websites of your area's discount airlines. Regional discount airlines do not participate in the GDS databases, so you can only find and purchase their tickets by going directly to the airline's website. Regional discount airlines can be very cheap, but don't expect a classy ride! Some of the most famous are Ryan Air in Europe and Air Asia in South-East Asia. Check out Wikitravel.org for a great overview on discount airlines and regional links to their websites.