Posted by Michael Donelly
Read this if: You want to fly on a shoestring or if you just ask your secretary to book you a flight without a thought about where it’s booked.Save: Hundreds of dollars on a single flight
Cost to you: Just a little research.
I fly quite a bit, so I decided to share my experiences and also to scour the internet for the best tips on ensuring you get the lowest price when you fly. Here are my findings.
The flight business is reasonably competitive. The main comparison engines rarely differ much in their pricing, however there are some notable exceptions.
Where to look
Orbitz, Ebookers, Expedia will search most airlines for the best price and will even combine outbound and inbound legs from different airlines to improve convenience or price. However they don’t always have the best deals. Airlines will often keep the best deals on their own websites and use these other websites to fill up surplus seats.
It is interesting to note is the big engines don’t always include the cheap airlines such as Ryanair or Easyjet. To ensure you scan all airlines, use Skyscanner or Kayak.
Caveats and Tips
1) The fare you see on an agent site like Expedia may not be up to date. Always click
“book” to see if it is still active because the price may have changed.
“book” to see if it is still active because the price may have changed.2) Round trips are often cheaper than one way. Always check the round trip price even if you will not come back.
3) Always buy direct from the airline if possible and not on an agent’s website. I have much personal experience in buying from the agent and having the airline refuse to accept liability for problems. For example neither the airline not Expedia would accept responsibility for:
- combined airlines with connecting flights. When one flight is late and you miss the second flight you have nobody to go to and you are stuck in a third country perhaps with no ability to call Expedia.
- communication problems. A flight was cancelled but Expedia did not tell me. When I turned up at the airport the airline blamed Expedia. Expedia blamed the airline. I had to pay my own hotel and I was denied compensation even though it was my right.
- Reticketing (changing dates) also costs more money when you use an agent. You will pay one reticketing fee to the agent and another to the airline.
4) Buy early. Flights get more expensive the closer it is to departure. Doing your research for flights in low season can give much better prices even if you are flying in high season.
5) Many airlines offer deals when booking on Tuesdays or Wednesdays. Mondays are the days when new deals are typically added.
6) If the price of your flight goes down you can try asking for a refund or if the ticket conditions allow it, cancel it and rebook. Yapta.com will track the price of your flight after you book.
7) Buy a hotel, flight, car rental package. This often works out cheaper than booking separately.
If you are just looking for a cheap break and you don’t care where you go, check Travelzoo and other professional bargain hunters. Also check the discount airlines for sales.
If you are just looking for a cheap break and you don’t care where you go, check Travelzoo and other professional bargain hunters. Also check the discount airlines for sales.If you liked this post check out this page on how to get a cheap hotel room.
Here is a full list (courtesy of Wikipedia) of discount airlines added by home country. that does not mean they don’t fly elsewhere of course:
Africa
|
Egypt ● Air Arabia Egypt Kenya ● Fly540 Nigeria ● Aero Contractors Morocco ● Jet4you ● Air Arabia Maroc |
South Africa ● Kulula.com ● 1Time ● Mango ● Velvet Sky Tunisia ● Karthago Airlines |
|
Barbados ● REDjet (planned) Brazil ● Azul Brazilian Airlines ● Gol Airlines ● WebJet Linhas Aéreas Canada ● CanJet (chartered flights only) ● WestJet Domestic, United States and Caribbean Routes Colombia ● Aires ● EasyFly Mexico ● Aviacsa (resumes May 2) ● Interjet ● VivaAerobus ● Volaris |
Peru ● Peruvian Airlines United States ● AirTran Airways Domestic Routes, Caribbean Routes and Mexico Routes (in process of being acquired by Southwest) ● Allegiant Air Domestic Routes and International Charter ● Frontier Airlines Domestic, Mexico, and Central America Routes [1] ● JetBlue Airways Domestic, Caribbean, and South America Routes ● Southwest Airlines Domestic Routes ● Spirit Airlines Domestic, Caribbean, Central and South America Routes ● Sun Country Airlines Domestic, Mexico, and Caribbean Routes ● USA3000 Airlines Domestic, Mexico, and Caribbean Routes ● Virgin America Domestic Routes and Mexico |
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