Due to the large number of options available, finding good deals on flights over the internet is becoming increasingly difficult. Increasingly, major airlines are offering the best fares on their official websites. Finding a low rate therefore requires good research skills, a lot of patience and the ability to check the internet several times a day. Here are some tips to better target your searches.
Steps
Method 1 of 7: Search the internet
Step 1. Look around
Don't think that all online agencies have the same rates - that's not the case. Especially on international routes, there may be variations of hundreds of euros. It is not uncommon for a site to have prices and offers not available on other sites. Check all online agencies or use search engines that search multiple sites.
For example, in a test search, on the Travelocity website, Virgin flight tickets from the US to London cost $ 400- $ 470 including tax, even in peak season. These fares were only available on Travelocity, not Orbitz or Expedia (they weren't even available on the Virgin airline website)
Step 2. Check the websites of the individual companies
Airlines often have private sales on their sites where they offer discounted fares. With the exception of the Southwest company, which sells exclusively on its site, most of the airlines that use this strategy are small national companies or large international companies; but Delta Airlines did it too, and not just for a last minute weekend.
- Alaska, Air New Zealand, Malaysia, Frontier, Qantas, Singapore, SAS, Varig and others use this strategy.
- Low Cost airlines like USA3000 and Allegiant Air do not share their fares with other sites at all, even though Jetblue fares are included on Travelocity, Cheapair.com and Kayak, while USA3000 fares are on Sidestep.
Method 2 of 7: Earn money with flexibility
Step 1. Try searching for a flexible rate
If you are flexible, you can save hundreds of euros by simply moving your dates, even by just a day or two.
- Travelocity has one of the best search options when it comes to flexibility as it searches rates for 330 days; although it does not include international flights (it is limited, like many other agencies, by the exclusion of Southwest and other small companies such as USA3000 and Allegiant Air). To use this strategy, click on "flexible dates"; usually found under the "from" "to" fields on the flight search engine (check this step on the instructions if you are not sure how it works).
- Try Travelocity's Australian partner, Zuji.com. Contains international searches in dollars (there are also installments for business or first class flights).
- Cheapair.com offers flexible search options but for an extra $ 10 while Travelocity charges $ 5.
- Orbitz has a limited flexibility feature, which looks for rates for 30 days only (click on flexible dates).
- Expedia offers flexible date searches for only a dozen major cities (click on "my dates are flexible").
- Sidestep.com and others have no flexibility options. However, airline sites are introducing these criteria more and more.
- American, AerLingus, Air New Zealand, Spirit, and USA3000 have acceptable flexibility criteria while Southwest and US Airways have better ones.
Step 2. Combine weekend rates
Last minute weekend rates are usually great deals, but many people don't realize they can build their own itinerary by combining two of these rates. For example: you want to fly from Boston to Sant 'Antonio next weekend and you have checked all the sites you have found but there are no offers on this route. However, if there is a flight from Boston to Atlanta for $ 128 and one from Atlanta to Sant 'Antonio for $ 108, then clearly you have found a discounted fare on the route you want too! Just buy two different flights (Travelocity to and other similar sites do a really good job combining weekend rates like this). You can also combine the fares of two different airlines, but make sure you have enough time to transfer from one flight to another, even if you are delayed.
Method 3 of 7: Bring Offers to Your Inbox
Step 1. Subscribe to newsletters and site alerts
Southwest offers a daily alert called "ding": an alert that pops up on your pc every day (heralded by the "ding" sound, hence the name) that saves you even more than their lower rates. Search at https://www.southwest.com/ding. Frontier Airlines has started sending similar fares by email. In both cases, the fare expires the same day it is announced but it is also great for trips that you intend to do in the future. Frontier does not make its rates visible everywhere but only on its flyfrontier.com website.
Method 4 of 7: Search for the package
Step 1. Buy flight / hotel packages
Usually, a full package flight / hotel is cheaper than an air fare alone, without the hotel.
- Site59.com is the best site in this field. Travelocity owns Site59, so you will see the "complete trip" option on Travelocity in the search criteria. Don't ignore these offers! Usually, they are more convenient for trips involving two or three people, since hotels are based on double rooms. They are especially useful for last minute trips.
- Local tour operators and travel agencies also offer packages that may save you money, even if they are not necessarily last minute deals.
Method 5 of 7: Search at the Right Time
Step 1. Find out the best time to do your research
Some of the best rates are found on Saturday mornings. Here are the best theories as to why:
- On Saturdays and Sundays, airlines can change fares only once a day (at 5pm). So, if you want to take out the competition, you should wait for the last fare change on Friday, which appears on Travelocity, Orbitz, etc. around 1:00 or 2:00 on a Saturday morning. Until the Saturday update at 5pm (which appears on the sites at 8pm or 9pm) no one will have access to the same rate as you!
- Airfare analysts work under pressure, and when they are most, they are more likely to inject a particularly affordable fare into the system. The most frequent time is probably Friday night, after a long week of work, with the 22:00 update (in the end they are human beings, they had a hard day, and mistakes happen to everyone). And these Friday night "mistakes" remain available until the Saturday night update, so you have all day Saturday to book!
Step 2. Check rates often
As these fluctuate on the market, it is worth checking them every day, sometimes even two or three times a day, if you really intend to save. Airlines change fares three times a day (at 10:00, 12:30 and 20:00) and once on Saturday and Sunday (at 17:00). However, remember that international rates are only changed once a day.
Another little tip: make sure you delete the "cookies" from your internet browser (on Explorer you can do this by searching under the "tools" menu and then under "internet options"). Why do this? If a rate changes between two separate searches made on the same PC, some IT tools may result in the previous rate being compared to the new one or lower
Method 6 of 7: Combine the Rates
Step 1. Combine two different rates instead of buying a single one
For example: you want to go from New York to the Bahamas. Search for a single rate on a large portal such as Expedia or Orbitz (for example, from JFK to Governor's Harbor in the Bahamas) and then launch two separate searches (from JFK to Nassau and from Nassau to Governor's Harbor). (As JetBlue covers JFK / Nassau routes you might as well search on JetBlue's website) Chances are good that this strategy will save you a lot of money! This also works for international flights between Asia and the USA or Europe and the USA: fly to London or Manchester on a fare and then book a low cost European line to reach your final destination. To search for all air routes consult the Airfarewatchdog connection map.
Keep in mind that this approach only works if you can have enough time between flights so you don't miss the second plane. If you can't, it will be your problem to get yourself a hotel to spend the night and book a new flight. Even in the best case scenario, you will need extra time to collect and re-check your baggage
Method 7 of 7: Beware of Refunds
Step 1. Buy tickets on a site that refunds you the difference if the fare drops
Let's say you tried your best to find the lowest rate, but the day after purchase the price drops by $ 100. If you ask, you can certainly get a refund by proving that you do not change the dates or time of your flight; but it is known that many airlines have an administration fee of even higher than $ 100 for domestic flights and even $ 200 or $ 300 for international ones. This way you won't have any savings. United Airlines is a company that refunds you the full difference without taxes, as is JetBlue, which instead gives you a voucher for future travel. American and Delta have taxes of $ 100- $ 300; Southwest doesn't charge taxes but reimburses you. Even the less generous companies, if duly consulted through kind requests, could refund the difference between the fares at no additional cost, so it's worth a try.
