How To Find Cheap Airfare
- January 4, 2008
- 19,066 Views
Writer
Shannon Hunt
Voice-Over Artist
Taige Jensen
Music
Todd Mazierski
Production Designer
Dew Gueramian
Nothing makes a flight more pleasant than knowing you got your ticket at the lowest possible price.
You Will Need
- Computer with internet access
- Telephone
- Some patience
- Flexibility
Step 1: Plan ahead
Plan ahead. Airfares are usually lowest if you book at least 21 days in advance.
Step 2: Be flexible
Be flexible about departure and return dates. Fares are generally cheaper if you stay over a Saturday night.
The best fares are often available on Wednesdays between midnight and 1 a.m.; that’s when most airlines readjust their prices for the week.
Step 3: Consider alternate airports
Consider alternate airports. Say you want to go to New Orleans. Flying into Baton Rouge may be cheaper, and it’s only an hour away.
Step 4: Check online travel sites
Search online travel sites like travelocity.com, cheapflights.com, expedia.com, hotwire.com, and bestfares.com. Check at least three before making your selection, since fares can vary by hundreds of dollars.
Step 5: Check airline's website
Before making a purchase on a travel site, head to the actual airline’s website. Sometimes, booking through the airline itself can snag you a cheaper seat.
Discount carriers like Southwest and JetBlue don’t always show up on travel sites, so search their websites directly.
Step 6: Call airline's 800 number
Call the airline’s 800 number and ask for their lowest fare—without giving specific travel dates. Service representatives often don’t tell you about lower fares that are just a day or two before or after your target date.
When calling airlines, always be polite and friendly. Studies show service people will go the extra mile for you if you’re nice to them.
Step 7: Have a good trip
Pack your suitcase and have a good trip!
Americans between 18 and 34 take the most flights.
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Comments (5)
This is a pretty good video - most suggestions are good but everyone has another discount carrier that has a cheaper fare. Farecast and kayak are normally about the same as most other discounters - the best thing to do is to google discount airfare and try as many of the discounters as you can stand.
over 4 years ago by tt08929
This is very American-centric, although I suppose you have many non-US viewers…
In Europe as well as Ryanair mentioned above (in my opinion and experience, a very nasty company) there is Easyjet which has real fares ( I use them often) from about 5 euros (plus airport taxes) from, say, London to other European capitals. They tend to use smaller airports well outside the capitals, but still, it's cheap. You more or less have to book online, best is way ahead or be very flexible. Major carriers NEVER discount here, though of course they have cheap fares if you book ahead.
over 3 years ago by bripi
awesome thanks!
over 2 years ago by jesse
Great how-to, especially with airline prices continuing upwards
3 months ago by tartesso
Great tips
over 2 years ago by jeannettemukhar
good luck with this economy
over 3 years ago by KatieL
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