Cheap Air Travel Tips

Posted on | January 20, 2010 | 9 Comments

The era of airline travel has allowed us to travel the world and connect in ways that have never existed before. We can visit family overseas and travel anywhere in the world within 24 hours. Isn’t that amazing?

With all this ability to travel, we are also faced with the expense of such travel.

For the many who would like to find cheap air travel, we’ve put together the follwing tips.

The first thing you need to know is that you never need to pay ‘list price’. Airlines have many tiers of pricing, and the same seat can sell for prices differing in the hundreds of dollars, depending on where, when and how it is purchased.
Ask the Professionals: Your first step would be to ask your travel agent for advice on when to purchase airline tickets. He or she will be able to give you some guidance as to which airlines offer discounts and when. For instance, some airlines offer ‘earlybird’ pricing, and some also drop their prices as the trip date gets closer if no one has purchased the seat.
Get a Promotion: If a scheduled flight is full to capacity or overbooked, some airlines will offer complimentary upgrades in seat class to selected passengers. Although this is less common than it used to be, it still happens occasionally. Your best shot at being selected for such an upgrade is to arrive for your flight dressed in a clean-cut, professional manner, and to be polite. You can even try asking at the check-in counter if there is any chance you can get an upgrade – they may offer it to you if such a perk is available, or may offer it at a lesser price than you would have paid when booking. Success will depend on many factors, such as the mood and authority level of the ticket attendant and the way you ask for it. Note that they may also need to move passengers around for weight-and-balance purposes and can offer a better seat to assist in this process – you never get anything if you don’t at least ask! Also, you can sometimes get a free or discounted flight by being on an ‘overbooked’ flight and being willing to wait until the next one can be arranged for you, but this is not something you have any control over.
Flexibility: Are you flexible in your travel times or dates? By going ‘standby’ on an airline, you can hang out and wait until a seat becomes free or someone cancels, and can often get cheaper last-minute tickets.
‘Pre-owned’ Tickets: For an array of reasons, people buy tickets and their plans change. When those tickets are non-refundable, they may try and sell them to receive at least some of their money back. This is good news for you, as you can take advantage of some discounted prices (remember, if they don’t sell their tickets they get nothing, so anything they can recover is of help to them). On-sale airline tickets can be found many places, such as your local classifieds, craigslist, kijiji or backpage or other online classifieds, and auctions such as ebay. Try google as well to search.

For even more money-saving travel tips, be sure to get your copy of the Travel industry Secrets guide found at Travel-like-a-pro.com — the guide can save you money on ALL your travel expenses from now on!

Comments

9 Responses to “Cheap Air Travel Tips”

Consider the Lilies
January 20th, 2010 @ 10:47 am

Please check:
Tips:
a- use flexible dates
b- use alternative airports

http://www.yapta.com/

http://www.cfares.com/

http://www.kayak.com/

http://www.orbitz.com/

http://en.momondo.com/

http://www.expedia.com/default.asp

http://www.farecompare.com/

http://www.farecast.com/

http://www.airfarewatchdog.com/

http://www.tripadvisor.com/
Jessica P
January 20th, 2010 @ 10:56 am

Have a look at this website for the cheap tickets:
http://www.cheapflights.co.uk/
The earlier you buy, the cheaper – you can get tickets for 1p (excluding tax!). Basically, you get a confirmation once you've booked your flights and all you need to do is print this off and hand it in when you check in at the airport. That is basically your check-in ticket. When you get there and check in, they'll give you your seat ticket, which you'll have checked loads so don't lose it!

Some tips:
- Passport!
- Check the weight allowance for the flight your're on, and also how much hand luggage you're allowed, otherwise you'll have to unpack at the airport, unless you want to pay an extra fee.
- Airports are really strict on check-in times… get there on time, preferably as the check-in is about to open. Keep in mind there maybe a huge queue, and even if you've been queuing for hours and it's not really you're fault that you're late, they wont let you through.
- Don't have any sharp items, and there are new rules for the liquids you can take on flights in your hand luggage. Have a look at this website for full details, and stick to them:
http://www.heathrow-airport-guide.co.uk/security.html
- If you want food and drink, buy them once you're through security – there are always loads of shops. If you try to take them through security, you'll just get them confiscated. Similarly, if you try to stuff your bag full of things, hoping that your make-up or whatever won't get noticed, it will. In which case, not only will you have them taken away, but you have to wait for about 10 minutes while a security guard checks through the 'offending' bag. It's really inconvenient!
- Try not to wear too much metal on your clothing that's going to set off the alarm – it's really annoying for you, and holds up everyone behind you too!

Hope I helped and enjoy your trip!
ferretfromfire
January 20th, 2010 @ 2:23 pm

I did it for free – got a job with an international company, and went on business trips paid for by the company Been to Germany, France, Italy, Holland, England, and several places in Japan. My favorite was France – the French Riviera (Nice, Cannes, Monte Carlo). Later went to Paris, it was great too!
kristy833
January 21st, 2010 @ 8:42 am

Take a cruise…My husband and I took a 7 day cruise last year to the eastern Caribbean with round trip air fare and all the food included on the ship….except alcohol It cost us a little over a thousand apiece.
chewbaccawokka341
January 21st, 2010 @ 12:05 pm

I live in a tourist town and it's so peaceful and quiet right now cause tourism is down….. GO on you trip now, the plane fares are dropping and hotel fares are dropping
caretaker1982
January 21st, 2010 @ 4:58 pm

LOOK IT UP ON EXPEIDA
MB2008
January 22nd, 2010 @ 8:51 am

look up hostels.com
LARGE MARGE
January 22nd, 2010 @ 9:09 am
sher_flash
January 23rd, 2010 @ 2:46 pm

From where? Look at the bottom of this page at all of the flags. That's how many countries read this question. Not all airlines fly everywhere. Not all travel sellers can do business everywhere. Edit your question to add your departure point, and then you will get better-informed, more helpful answers. Also, youd said "for about 2-3…" but didn't say if that's days, weeks, or months. Departure city and length of stay are key factors in finding the cheapest airfares. I'll check back later.

bor-scouts.com

The Advanture Vacation Guide

Cheap Air Travel Tips

Comments

Archives

Recent Posts

Categories

Most Viewed

Security Code: