Each year, more travelers purchase their airfares online. Travel agents have known for years the
tips to finding the best deals, but when you're booking airfare yourself, it helps to know some of
the same tricks. The best deals come when your travel plans are flexible, but there are many other
ways in which you can save money.
Frequent Flier: If you have a frequent flier number, make sure that you login/register
with us so that we can add that to your reservation. If you're spending money on a ticket, you might
as well earn miles with every purchase!
Last Minute Traveler: As a general rule of thumb, last minute tickets can be pretty expensive. With availability shrinking, the few seats that aren't sold are generally discounted heavily a few days prior to departure. If you're willing to be flexible and can fly on short notice, you can grab some big savings!
Budget Seats: When an airline has unsold seats in the next few days, they typically load those fares between Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning. This is the best time to look for last minute fares and can make your spontaneous weekend trip a little easier on the budget!
Alternative Airports: Consider flying into or out of an alternative airport. For example, flying into Orange County instead of Los Angeles, Chicago Midway instead of Chicago O'Hare, or Baltimore instead of Washington, DC can save you up to 50% on flights.
Saturday Night Stay: If your plans will allow it, consider staying over a Saturday night in your destination. Savings can reach up to 50%. Even though some airlines are no longer requiring this for certain low rates, most tend to keep the lowest fares for itineraries that include the Saturday stayover.
Flexibility Helps: If your travel plans aren't flexible on the dates, consider changing your flight times. There may be more availability on flights either before or after your desired time.
