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Be Your Own Travel Agent

To see the same information that regular travel agent can access, fire up your browser and check out these web sites: travelocity, orbitz, expedia, and there’s probably new ones since this draft. TFI’s website is (though I always work over the phone since they are so professional): http://www.lowestairprice.com/.

Be A Smart Shopper

Look up discount travel agencies and consolidators in the newspapers. Call them all; fares vary widely from agency to agency. The internet has a number of discount sites, but the information can be outdated and inaccurate (though that seems to be improving), so it is always a good idea to telephone for up-to-date fares.

Be Brave

Investigate the rates of discount airlines as well. Some discount airlines are unreliable, which can lead to frightening and chaotic waits and a not-so-fond memory of your trip on CattleAir. ATA generally has a bad reputation, but only once has it lived up to that reputation in my experience. All other discount airlines have worked out very well for me, (then again, I don’t have much in the way of standards.)

Be Studious

If you have a student I.D. or are under 26, you are eligible for substantial discounts from STA or Council Travel, both of which have offices in every major city. Student fares are sometimes more expensive then consolidator fares, so research carefully. Excellent deals are availible from Brittish student travel agencies, such as Campus Travel (011-44-171-730-3402) and often it is cheaper to fly to London and take a discounted flight from there, especially if you are going to the Middle East, India, or parts of Africa. Similarly, if you are bound for the Far East, you best bet may be to fly to Hong Kong on one fare, and use a Hong Kong-based discount agency, such as Phoneix Services (2722-7378), from there, though only extremely confident adventurers will feel comfortable going somewhere without a precise plan in place. Amsterdam and Bangkok as well as New York have many bucket shops worthy of research. Many websites, such as Travelocity, have a student fare search option though I have not heard anyone employ it yet so I have no opinion.

Be A Pigeon

Flying as an onboard courier can score you dirt cheap fares of $100 to 700$ to South America, Central America and the Far East. Fares to Europe are comparable to consolidator fares and are usually not worth the complete lack of flexibility that accompanies being a courier, except in the summer when all fares to Europe skyrocket. When flying as a courier, your itinerary is all but written in stone. Because you must meet the courier representative at both departure and arrival, you cannot alter your flight by so much as an hour. Your alloted bagage space is used for express packages so you are only allowed carry-on bags, but often the airline lets you check your bags anyway. Fortunately, the sender, not you, is accountable for the contents of the packages so you won’t ever be some drug mule.

-For flights from New York, contact Now Voyager (212-431-1616). -For flights from Miami to South America, call Line Haul Services (305-477-0651). -For flights from the West Coast to the Far East, contact IBC (310-665-1760)

There are other agencies as well, and you can get a list of them by joining the Air Courier Association (800-693-8333) or do a web search for “air courier flights” (use the Ixquick search engine and try the same with capitals.) To add insult to your inconvenience, agencies typically charge a fee.

Be Frequent

Frequent flyer mile enthusiasts take note; not all discount fares accumulate miles. Always inquire with both the travel agency and with the airline before you book. If you are an avid mileage junkie, you can almost always find a program that accepts your flight for miles by researching the many airline partner agreements. Most airlines have extensive websites and/or 800-numbers that detail their involvements in frequent flyer arrangements.

Good Luck!

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This entry was posted on Thursday, February 24th, 2005 at 12:10 am and is filed under Air Travel, Airlines, Cheap Flights, General, Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.