Whether you’re planning on seeing the world or visiting your favorite local destination, you’re more than likely going to need an airline ticket. Aside from it being faster than driving across the country, it’s also more comfortable and relatively safer. However, you need to plan your itinerary well in order to take advantage of cheaper airfare tickets if you want to save a little bit of money to spend on leisure and entertainment.
Before you start your search, you need to get a couple of things settled. First, you need to determine where you’re going and from where you’re coming from. If you’re rather experienced with traveling, you’ll know that traveling via a direct flight is often more expensive than ones with connecting flights. You may also have the option of looking at discount airlines operating in your destination because they offer cheaper rates than regular airlines. Just be sure of the terms and conditions attached to the tickets.
Second, you need to identify when you’re going and returning. The date and time of departure are important because these things are usually the basic information that agencies and ticketing offices will require from you. It’s also best if you give a little bit of leeway between your departure and arrival dates and times to give a little bit of flexibility in case of emergencies. Traveling on weekdays is usually cheaper compared to weekends. And taking the earliest flight out is also the safer route because weather disturbances generally tend to occur in the afternoons. It pays to know the peak and off-peak seasons in major travel destinations as you can get big discounts not just from airfare tickets but also on hotels and resorts. It’s also a good idea to stay more than 6 days as cheaper tickets usually include weekend stays.
Now that you have all these information, it’s time to do some searching. When it comes to airline tickets, the general rule of thumb is to search and compare through several different sources. You have so many choices to look at – there are online travel booking agencies and consolidator websites (you’ll need a PC and Internet access to handle this). You also have local travel agencies (you’ll only need a phone though they also may have their own websites). And the airlines themselves have their own contact numbers and websites. Having your expected date of departure and arrival ready will come in handy as most of the online sites allow you to search their databases based on these details.
When you’ve short-listed your ticket vendors, it’s advisable to book as early as 3 weeks. You can even book a year in advance but be careful of the conditions and restrictions imposed should you change your plans.
Another tip is you can take advantage of frequent flyer miles. It may be your own, your family’s or a friend’s. The thing about frequent flyer miles though is that in case of delays due to weather disturbances, the airline is not obliged to transfer you to a different flight or another airline. And the availability of frequent flyer seats may also be limited depending on the time of your travel.
A word of caution too when looking for cheap flights – consider the overall value of the ticket and not just the bottom-line price. It may be the cheapest, but you’ll have too many connecting flights, hidden surcharges and fees or there are no perks along the way. Decide on your comfort especially if this is a vacation that you’ve been waiting for a long time.
