Plan well in advance. If you can make travel arrangements at least three to six months in advance you can save hundreds of dollars. Airlines appreciate customers who can agree to reserve a seat well ahead of time.
Use the net. The internet has many web consolidators who will let you compare and contrast various airfares to the same destination. For example, if you use kayak.com you can input the date of your expected departure, expected arrival, destination and ticket class preference. After you fill in the data the website will bring up various airfares from multiple sources for you to look at more closely. You can also add factors such as the time of day you prefer to travel, your desired airports and if you want to travel to more than one city in a single trip. Kayak will take a small fee for booking the flight for you. Sources used include airline websites and other consolidation sites such as priceline.com. You can book months in advance or at last minute.
Be open about your itinerary. One of the best ways to get cheap airfare is to have as much flexibility as possible. If you can travel on weekday rather than a weekend, agree to a red eye flight, or allow yourself to land at airport a little further away from town you can get cheap airline flights. If you can be even more flexible and choose from more than one destination rather than a single destination, you can also save money on airline travel.
Travel on standby. Standby travelers agree to travel last minute. A standby airline passenger typically agrees to take the seat of someone who has a last minute cancellation. Airlines prefer to fill as many of their seats as they can in any given flight. If you can block off a section of time and agree to wait until a seat opens up for your chosen destination you can find less expensive airline trips this way.
Work with a travel agent. Travel agents have experience working with airlines. A travel agent may have access to cheaper flights that are not listed on websites. Some airlines will reserve specially discounted seats for travel agents who can agree to guarantee they will be filled.
