With today’s recession, everybody wants to take advantage of dirt cheap airline tickets. Who wants to spend more money when you can save 20% or more, right? Well, if you’re eager to find out where and how to get dirt cheap airline tickets, keep reading!
1) Book in advance.
Booking in advance will help you get dirt cheap airline tickets. A lot of people make the mistake of changing their plans every time and buying tickets at the last minute. This actually costs them more money. So if you made plans of flying to the UK or maybe even Africa, stick to them because you’ll be saving more in the long run. If you can plan your trip ahead, all the more advantageous for you.
2) Fly on weekdays.
Everything is more crowded and more hectic during the weekend. If you can catch your flight on a weekday, do so.
Aside from having lesser passengers to contend with, airlines also give you dirt cheap airline tickets during these slow days. You can have just as much fun touring another city or country on a Monday.
3.Buy Early
Especially during peak travel periods, making reservations late in the game can cost you a lot of money. Airline ticket prices typically go up 21 days, 14 days, 7 days and 3 days before flying, so if you're planning ahead, try to make the call before these deadlines. And if you're traveling internationally, you'll want to book even earlier -- from three to six months in advance -- for the best deals. However, sometimes you can get lucky if you wait, which brings us to:
4. Buy Late
Often you can buy tickets at the very last minute for a great price, if the airlines have failed to fill their planes. Many airlines offer weekly newsletters that feature their best last-minute deals. You can also find many of them listed in our Travel Deals section, or at specialized sites like LastMinuteTravel.com. If you can stand the suspense, and if you are flexible with your itinerary, you can find fantastic money-savers to very attractive travel destinations.
5. Shop Around
No matter how good it sounds, you should never book the first fare you see. Start your search by checking a few of the major online travel providers, like Travelocity, aggregator sites like Kayak.com or consolidators like CheapTickets.com. This will give you a preliminary idea of which airlines fly your particular itinerary, what the going rate is and
6. Know When to Buy
The hardest part of booking a flight is knowing when to stop tracking fares and make that final purchase. If you're flying within the U.S. or to select international destinations, Bing Travel can help you reach that decision, offering fare predictions for most major cities. Just plug in your itinerary and the site will advise you either to book now or to wait, depending on whether the fare is expected to rise or drop. Another useful site is the aforementioned Kayak.com, which offers fare history graphs for domestic and international flights, allowing you to see whether your fare is headed in an upward or downward direction. Finally, keep in mind that most airlines launch fare sales on Tuesdays and Wednesdays -- so if you decide to buy on a Monday, you may be gnashing your teeth on Tuesday when your destination goes on sale.
7. Be Flexible
If you live close to more than one airport, check out the fares from all of the airports near you. Many online fare searching engines will ask you if you are willing to depart from or arrive in more than one city. Yes! Also, experiment with different travel dates; shifting your itinerary by a week or even a few days can make a significant difference in fares. You'll usually find the best deals on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.
8. Don't Forget the Discounters
As their nickname suggests, discount airlines can save you a bundle, but they're not always easy to find. Luckily for consumers, discounters are cropping up more frequently on aggregators and booking sites (Kayak now offers fares for JetBlue, Spirit and AirTran, for example) -- but there are still a few holdouts, such as Southwest and Allegiant Air, whose fares can't be found anywhere but their own Web sites. If you're traveling outside the U.S., don't forget to check the international discount airlines as well.
Dirt Cheap Airline Tickets
