By George Hobica, Airfarewatchdog.com
It used to be all so simple. Back in the days when the peppy
stewardess (that's what they called them back then) would pin little
plastic pilot wings on you, airfares changed so infrequently that
airlines actually printed them on their schedules. You'd call your
favorite travel agent to find the best deal, pack your bags, and jet
off. And there were only two kinds of fares: coach and first class
By George Hobica
Hunting down the best deal requires patience and perseverance, but by
gaining industry insights and utilizing a broad array of travel
resources, flying costs can be kept to a minimum.
Now, with airfares changing literallyby the second and an alphabet
soup of different offers, finding the "best" deal is a challenge. And
it hasn't helped that some airlines have removed their fares from your
favorite travel websites. But don't give up hope. This step-by-step
guide will get you ready for takeoff this summer.
Sign up for free airfare alerts
Why do all the work hunting down a low airfare yourself when you can
have someone else do it for free? Many airfare search and listing
sites, such as TripAdvisor.com/flights, Travelocity.com,
Farecompare.com, Hotwire.com, and Bing.com/travel(and, of course,
Airfarewatchdog.com) offer e-mailed airfare alerts when prices go
down. This is just a partial list; do a browser search for"airfare
alerts" to see what's available. These alert services all work in
slightly different ways. Some will let you specify airline, nonstop
vs. connecting flights, andother criteria. Yapta.comwill let youchoose
a specific flight to track (although that flight may or may not be the
best deal compared to other flights). Others just let you know when a
fare on a route you specify has gone down in price, regardless of the
airline or flight time.
Get e-mail from your airlines
Next: Sign up for e-mails and frequent flier programs from as many
airlines as you can tolerate. Sure, you already get enough e-mail, but
you want to fly cheaply,right? Here's why: Airlines are trying to woo
customers to book directly with them by offering special deals when
you sign up fortheir newsletters and e-mail lists. One way they do
this is by offering"promo code" deals that are redeemable only on
their websites.It might be 10% off, or $10 off, oreven a half-price
sale. They also alert you to special deals that can only be booked on
their sites or that are only available to membersof their loyalty
programs.
Once that's done, let the search begin.
Next step: ask yourself, Are you a flexible flier?
If you answer yes you're in luck, because you'll get the lowest airfares.
Let's say you've been promising your sister you'd visit her sometime
this year. But whenever you search for a good airfare, the prices are
out of reach. If it doesn'treally matter when you go, then you need to
search on a website that caters to those with flexible travel dates.
Start by clicking over to Travelocity.com, Orbitz.com, Hotwire.comor
Cheaptickets.com(all of which are "online travel agencies or OTA's in
industry parlance), and check the "flexible dates" button or link. On
Travelocity, enter your origin and destination and hit search. You'll
see the lowest published fares for travel dates up to 330 days into
the future. You'll then need to click on the fare calendars to see
when those fares are actually available. Orbitz, Hotwire and
Cheaptickets do a flexible date search over any 30-day period you
choose. Keep in mind that American Airlines is not currently listed on
some sites (notably Expedia, Orbitz, and Hotwire) and of this writing
Delta isn't appearing on CheapAir.comor Farecompare.com, although
those exclusions are subject to change at any time. After you find a
fare, see if Southwest, which onlylists its fares on its
Southwest.comwebsite, has a better deal (remember that Southwest
doesn't charge for the first two checked bags, so you need to factor
that inas well as the fare). Southwest, too,has an excellent flexible
date tool (look for "Low Fare Calendar" on the site's homepage). And
check out AllegiantAir.comto see if Allegiant Airlines flies where
you're headed, since it, too, only sells tickets on its own website.
What if you're not flexible in your travel dates? The
above-mentionedsites can be helpful in that case as well, but you also
might want to trysites such as Kayak.com, Tripadvisor.com/Flights, and
Momondo.com. These are "meta search" fare sites, and although they
don't offer quite the travel date flexibility as some others do, they
often include fares that the airlines sell only on their own websites.
None of them include Southwest's fares, however, or fares on the
smaller but growing Allegiant Airlines.
DIGITAL TRAVELER: New player shakes up online airfare search
"Meta search" vs. online travel agency (OTA) By fare the safe way to
shop is get and idea of prices on the internet and go to the local
airport or flight service and check prices - then contact a Travel
Agent or Airline Agent for best deal or price - remenber in The United
States we have Coach and or First Class - if you want Business Class
check with International Carriers - and ask about Travel Insuance as
the weather is in changable to the airlines coverage of luggage - and
read disclaimers.
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