Wanderlust World Wanderlust World Even when the economy is stable, consumers are on the hunt for bargain airfares. Surprisingly, low prices on airline tickets are not hard to find if you know where and when to look for it. Read on to find tips that can help you save money on your next vacation or visit to see family and friends.
When you're searching for cheap flights, buying tickets as far in advance as possible is key. According to independenttraveler.com, the price for airline tickets can start to go up as soon as 21 days before the date of the flight. Therefore, once travel plans are definite, it is in the person's best interest to book their flight. In addition, airlines also tend to post cheaper fares on Wednesdays, from 12 a.m. to 5 a.m., according to Brianx.com.
It is important to keep in mind that the cost of flights can soar in summer months and on holidays. Even weekend fares can be expensive throughout the year. As a result, it is important to know when it is most beneficial for consumers to fly in order to save money. In general, flights that leave or return on Tuesdays, Wednesdays or Saturdays tend to be the cheapest. Flying red-eye flights, as opposed to regular hours, can also save passengers money.
The cheapest fares for holiday travel tend to be flights on the day of the holiday, or several days before. For example, for travel for Christmas, it is cheaper to fly on Christmas day than it is to fly on Christmas Eve. For Thanksgiving, it is cheaper to fly the Monday before Thanksgiving or on Thanksgiving day, than it is to fly the day before Thanksgiving or the day after. Being flexible with your travel plans during the holidays can save you money.
Low airfares often appear on discount travel sites, such as kayak.com, travelocity.com, sidestep.com, expedia.com and airfarewatchdog.com. On airfarewatchdog.com, consumers can type in their home cities and get a list of cities they can fly to for extremely low prices. The website lists the city, the price of the flight, and where people can go to purchase the flights. Other travel websites, such as expedia.com and travelocity.com, let the consumer type in where they want to fly and then reveal a list of available fares that they can purchase on the site.
Often, airlines will offer discount fares to customers on their sites or opportunities to earn bonus miles in their rewards program when they shop for fares on their websites. After you've searched for fares on discount travel websites, go to the airline's website that has the lowest rate on the discount travel website and search for the same flight there. Flights may be even lower there as a result of cheaper fees.