How To Fly Cheap (Part 1)
Note: This article was written by a friend of mine. It’s a good primer on finding cheap domestic and international air travel.
By Michael Weissbluth
[A Copyleft Publication]
There are a number of inexpensive ways to make use of the airline industry. The truth they don’t want you to know is that anyone with time and determination can find rock-bottom prices to any destination in the world. You can even get these prices at the dates and times that suit your schedule/agenda. That’s the truth. This guide can help you by reducing the learning curve, introducing resources, and increasing the effeciency of your research. Before reading this guide any further, you might want to stop and put it down and do a web search and see what you find. It’s always a good idea to do this web search in the begining because it will give you a point of refrence for how the market looks for the routes you are interested in. For the same reason, it is always a good idea to take a look at the most current Sunday edition of the New York Times travel section.
First of all, it must be said, if you can be flexible with dates and times then the following website simply can’t be beat for a better deal:
This website runs what is referred to as a ‘dutch-auction’ airline ticket sales. Very cool if the following conditions fit your agenda: you don’t care which company you fly on, you don’t care what time of day you depart or arrive, and you don’t care if you leave exactly the day you request and are flexible to fly within two days on either side of a date you select.
Ok, had to get that off my chest because I have flown all over the continental United States at prices that boggle the mind, (e.g. Chicago to DC for 80$, Chicago to Seattle for 100$ — all roundtrip). Very much worth exploring especially in the notoriously inflexible and price-locked domestic market.
Remember, to get the very best fare, you must be hardworking and flexible about your travel dates. You can, however also get a decent airfare if you’re lazy and inflexible. Both lazy and industrious methods will net you a cheap, comfortable, trustworthy fare. And your efforts, great or small, will all be directed at a simple goal: a confirmed seat in which you’ll be treated with the same indulgent demeanor the service staff provides less savy customers. Most of us don’t have that kind of flexiblity most of the time. The rest of the guide will be devoted to more conventional situations.
Let’s Cover the Lazy Approach First
Call a discount travel agency. Sometimes referred to as “consolidators” or “bucket shops,” they operate by buying tickets in bulk from airlines and reselling them at a discount. There are many reliable agencies actually. Often they advertise in the sunday travel section of the New York Times and other papers. Two reliable discount agencies are TFI (800-745-8000) and Discount Tickets (212-391-2313). You can easily get 50% off an international fare on a reputable airline by booking with a consolidator, (e.g Chicago to Bangkok for 600$ roundtrip, Chicago to London 393$ roundtrip in the summertime) but domestic ticket prices tend to be similar to airline sales fares. If you are traveling at the last minute, consolidators may be your best bet at getting a low fare. Be forwarned, however — as a rule, all major changes to discount tickets will trigger additional fees.
If you’re a hardworking, inexhaustible sort, you may spend much less. Try the following tips:
- Call airlines directly and check current prices.
- Keep an eye on sale fares and special discounts by checking the Independent Traveler’s Bargain Box on AOL (keyword: IT). [I do not accept AOL in my life so I have never tried this myself.]
- Staying over a Saturday night will almost always get you a better rate.
- Clip coupons. Really.
- Visit the websites of major airlines and sign up for sales exclusively offered through e-mail (Continental Airlines has been known to have particularly good e-sales).
More from Flight Blog
- How To Fly Cheap (Part 2)
- When’s the best day to buy cheap tickets?
- Cheap Flights in Europe: Best Sites?
- Sex toys on airplanes: How to get off past TSA
- How to get around the new air travel rules
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September 9th, 2009 at 10:15 pm
forgive me if im mistaken but….. isnt it…. How to Fly CHEAPLY?
or… How to Fly FOR cheap….
October 19th, 2009 at 3:52 pm
Thanks Above Article is really informative and after spending countless hours on the internet i would like to share my findings and for lowest fare for africa i have found that http://www.cheapflights2africa.com has the best prices!
June 12th, 2011 at 7:35 pm
How do I use the “dutch-auction” portion of priceline.com?