Cheap Flights: How to Save

Thousands on Airfare

Executive summary By Thomas Carroll

flights

One of the biggest hurdles people have when they want to travel is the high cost of airfare. I frequently use this method to save thousands of dollars on airfare. I noticed that most of the flights to Las Vegas stopped in Miami, Florida with connecting flights to Las Vegas. So searching a special software system I looked for round trip tickets to Miami from Lima and found tickets for only $306. Then I searched for round trip tickets from Miami to Las Vegas and found prices for only $227.

Since I was buying four tickets, the total savings was at least $1,868 and up to a savings of $7,868! The software I use to save thousands of dollars on airfare is called ITA Software, and it’s free. ITA Software searches several airlines to find you the best possible price, it also offers a lot more search options than the popular airfare search systems. This month-long search feature means tremendous savings for you. No longer will you be confined to search specific dates, or have to ask travel agents to do the search for you (and pay commissions).

7 Tips You Must Know Before Buying Cheap Airfares Online

Executive summary By steven Liew

It is a problem that most air travellers face - how and where to buy those cheap airfares online and what are the benefits in savings and drawbacks compared to buying the cheap airfares from the travel agent down the road.

If you travel by air, you would already know that airfares cost typically forms the dominant chunk of your travel bill be it leisure or holiday. And the savings can add up a lot i.e. if you know where to really get those cheap airfares.

But in the current world where there are a proliferation of travel agencies, sites and even airlines themselves advertising all sort of cheap airfares, if you buy those airfares online yourself and cut out the middlemen, the travel agents, then things could get confusing fast.

Without some guidance and understanding of how one of the world’s largest industry works (air travel), travellers are likely to find themselves short-changed for the more expensive airfares tickets or buying something they may not need that had already been built into the airfare prices.

Of course, every traveller would love it if they could just get those cheapest airfares or at least bragged to their relatives or friends how they managed to get those cheap airfares at 30%-50% cheaper than the next guy sitting on the plane. Is this possible actually?

Yes, you can do all these online yourselves but here are 7 important tips you have to know before buying those airfares online or searching for the best cheap airfare deal:

1) Know your priority first.
If cheap airfare price is everything and you can settle for some minor restrictions, then you are always better to go for the cheap consolidators’ airfares rather than that of the airlines’ own published airfares themselves.

2) Do not waste time checking sites which have the same sources of cheap airfares.
For example, these sites may rely on the same computerised reservation system (CSR) that gives you options from the same set of published air fares.

3) Get the full itineraries available

Remember that airfare pricing are determined by a variety of factors such as dates, seating, routes (direct flights, stopovers or connecting flights for example), and their rules for cancellations, refunds or changes to the tickets.

4) Always book and pay quickly on a good deal
Do not waste your time searching endlessly for the best cheap airfares deal. They don’t likely exist as airfare pricing are determined by many things as noted from above and the cheapest airfare tickets may not be suitable after all for your requirements.

5) There is no magical place or site to look, just the best comparison
Despite what some may claim, there are no one airline or travel site that will offer you the best available cheap airfare deal as it all depends on your requirements and travel preferences.

6) Never assume anything on cheap airfares
The best advice is never to assume anything on the airfares that you have to pay as what is cheap could be obscured by hidden charges.

7) You need to invest some patience and efforts
Ultimately, to find those bargain cheap airfares, you still need to invest the time and effort to find them.

There are always different sites, tactics and sources to find the best possible cheap airfares (note not necessarily the cheapest) for any trips.