How to Buy Cheap Airline Tickets Online. Flexibility is the key to buying cheap airline tickets online. Traveling mid-week, off-season, adjusting your arrival and departure dates or flying out of a different airport can yield lower air fares. You must, however, be diligent in your search. Low fares require immediate action in order to seal the deal.
Select your arrival and departure dates so you can begin your online search for cheap airline tickets. Perform an initial check by typing "Search for Cheap Airline Tickets" in the search bar. Enter your travel information and preferences. Make a written note of the search results and these fares will provide your baseline for comparison.
Pick alternate dates if you have flexibility in your travel days. Repeat the same search procedure but with slightly different arrival and departure days. Often a day or two before or after your first choice can yield lower rates.
Fly mid-week for greater savings. Generally, traveling Tuesday through Thursday will boast cheaper fares.
Use a different airport and reduce your air fare. Don't limit your search to one airport. Search surrounding airports, too. The cost savings may surprise you.
Book early to take advantage of many of the cheaper airfares. Many airlines require making reservations anywhere from one to six weeks early to get the lower rates. International flights should be booked at least a month in advance.
Add a weekend night to your itinerary. Some cheap airfares are only available if one Saturday is included in your plans.
Name your own price on websites. You submit a bid and Priceline does the work to secure it. If your bid does not yield positive results, you must wait one full day before proposing a new one. Be sure to amend your variables when re-bidding.
Take advantage of Expedia's Fare Alert. Download the program and set your fare price limit. The program does the rest and notifies you via a desktop icon whenever a fare within your price range becomes available. You also can activate the program whenever you want by double clicking the icon.
