Getting the Best Fare on Flights

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Topic: Flights

Does booking airline tickets stress you out? Do you find yourself asking questions like… with so many travel websites out there, which one should I use? Or should I buy that ticket now or wait to see if the price will go down in the future?

Yes, there are a lot of travel sites on the web today, but booking airline tickets doesn’t have to be stressful.  With a little perseverance, and knowledge of how and where to search using the tips below, you will be able to find great, if not the best, fares for your flight.

• If you have specific travel dates in mind, start with one of the travel search engines. Search engines, like SideStep and Kayak, find real-time fares across multiple websites (including most of the major airlines). And if you really want to have a better idea if you are getting the best price today, try a free service by Farecast, which predicts which way they think the price is going to go from its current price.  You won't actually be purchasing from any of these sites.  Instead, once you find the flight you want on their sites and click to book, these search engines will send you directly to the travel website selling the ticket, and you'll book directly with that travel website. Important Note: For some routes serviced by low cost carriers, like Southwest Airlines, you will have to check directly with them because the travel search engines are not allowed to search those sites.
• If you don’t have any specific dates and/or destinations in mind, browse for deals using deal-listing websites.  Sites, like TripMonger and Travelzoo, aggregate and list travel bargains. They dedicate a lot of resources to finding and advertising great off- and on-line travel specials.  Remember, similar to the travel search engines, they don’t actually sell you the ticket.  They simply tell you where and how to get those great deals.
• When booking a round-trip flight, try searching for two one-way tickets on different airlines to make a round-trip. Unlike the early days of ridiculously high-priced one-way tickets, today many airlines will sell you a one-way ticket at a reasonable price.  Furthermore, the low cost carriers, like Southwest and JetBlue, often have one-way fare sales on many of their routes.
• If you will need a hotel and/or car, consider booking a vacation package with one of the major online travel agencies (Expedia, Travelocity, or Orbitz).  The online travel agencies’ airline ticket prices almost always will not be cheaper (and in fact, are usually more expensive because they charge a service fee) when purchased alone, but where you can really save money is on the hotel and car.  These mammoth online travel agencies negotiate block rates and save you money on your daily hotel and car rates.  This can certainly add up if you are taking a weeklong trip somewhere.
• If you have some flexibility with your travel dates, try using “flexible date” search.  Both Expedia and Travelocity have a great tool for finding the lowest airfare. Try using Expedia Fare Compare and Travelocity Low Fare Finder.   And if you are really flexible with your travel (you are flexible with your date and airline carrier), use what the travel industry calls "opaque" pricing sites. Websites, like Priceline and Hotwire, can save you a lot of money. You won't know the airline or exact time of your flight until after you purchase, but you can use a site like BiddingForTravel.com to help give you an idea of the brand and price you can expect.
• Finally, if all the airline ticket prices are more than you want to pay, consider using frequent flyer miles to purchase the ticket.  In fact, you should always consider using frequent flyer miles when it makes sense.  In order to determine whether or not using your miles makes sense, find out (1) the price of the flight you’d like to take AND (2) how many frequent flyer miles it would take to get that flight.  Then, calculate the price per frequent mile for a flight by dividing the price of the flight by the miles required.  For example, if a flight you want from New York to Los Angeles costs $500, and alternatively, you could use 25,000 frequent flyer miles to get an equivalent flight, the value of that flight would be $0.02 per mile.  In general, you should definitely consider using those frequent flyer miles when the value is greater than a penny per mile ($0.01/mile).