Cheap Plane Tickets

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Here are tips on getting cheap plane tickets:

If you see a good fare to your destination, book it right away. Do not expect good fares to stay the same. Sale fare price in the beginning of the sale may not be the same as the one toward the end of that sale. Let's say you came to our site and saw your favorite airline having a big holiday sale. You found a good deal to your destination and the deadline is weeks away. At this point, you may think the price will stay the same all the way until the offer ends, right? You're probably thinking, it's a sale so the price will stay the same. Well, our experience tells the story that the price you saw is not guaranteed to stay the same. Let's hear a real testimony from one of our site visitors.

# Use off-peak flights and travel on week days. Lowest fares are usually found in mid-week days such as Tuesday or Wednesday when the traffic is light. This is because most leisure travelers like to get away on weekends. For example, departing Wednesday and returning on the following Wednesday may cost significantly less than Sunday-Sunday round trip. Off-hour flights such as late night or very early in the morning departure may also help. Also fare prices tend to go lower in off seasons. Typical off seasons are mid-January through March and October through mid-December except for thanksgiving weekend. During holiday periods fares are expensive. However you might be able to get a discount plane tickets if you fly on the holiday itself (e.g., Christmas Day).

# Use alternate airports and routings. In a large metropolitan area, the fare could depend on which airport you use for both departure and arrival. Make sure to include all the small local airports when you shop around. Some of these smaller airports are some times located conveniently closer to the metropolitan area. One such example is Midway vs O'Hare airports in Chicago area. So, to get the lowest fare, find out about alternate airports and routings and be flexible with your scheduling.

This post busts myths about cheap plane tickets:

A few nights ago, Rick Seaney, CEO of FareCompare.com, helped me bust the myth that Wednesday at midnight was the ideal time to buy plane tickets. Which led the Consumerist to throw down the gauntlet, demanding to know when the best time for ticket purchases actually IS.

Rick Seaney took their challenge. His answer, published in the Consumerist's hallowed electronic halls, includes a detailed primer on the technical side of how airlines actually post their fares for others to see. Definitely worth reading.

Rick's conclusion, though, is once again without a magic bullet. Shorter version: Get a feel for the historical price range for your desired itinerary and buy whenever it's cheap. Use fare alerts to keep on top of price drops. Pull the trigger when the price is in the comfort zone. Don't expect great deals more than 5 months before your flight date, or within two weeks of travel.

Rick astutely compares the price of airline tickets to the stock market. Like stocks, airfares run in a range, and they occasionally break to the downside — or the upside. If you're really out to get the lowest airfare, you may need to take a stock trader's perspective. (If anyone has figured out how to both buy low AND sell high in the air ticket market, let me know. Maybe the ~~compulsive gamblers~~ rational market economists at Tradesports.com, who seem to find a market/wager for any kind of world event, can figure out a way to make side bets on airfare.)

Added advice from me, for the truly hardcore: Even if you've bought the ticket, don't stop tracking the fare. If your airline offers repricing or re-faring, stay on top of the fare trend and request a refund voucher if the price drops again. See my earlier post "The black art of repricing tickets."

Here are more tips on getting cheap plane tickets:

When plane tickets for certain flights aren’t selling, who knows better that prices have been slashed than the airline itself? Take the time to sign up for free email alerts with your favorite airlines on the routes you’re interested in. Even airline tickets booking sites offer free alerts to keep you informed of dropping prices. It’s in their best interest to keep tabs on cheap plane tickets and let you know about it. Worried about spam? Plan on getting quotes from several different travel booking outfits often, as prices may fluctuate as much as three times a day. Email alerts for cheap plane tickets is a small price to pay for the convenience of someone else being on the lookout for cheap flights for you.

Have you noticed that some flights have two airlines and two flight numbers associated with the same flight? This is a practice called “code sharing” where the same flight is sold by two different airlines, but operated by only one carrier. Many airlines enter into these partnerships in order to offer more destinations to a wider audience, as well as cheap plane tickets. When booking your plane tickets, be sure to ask if the seat you are buying is on another airline’s plane. If it is, get the itinerary and check to see how much the other airline is charging. Chances are you’ll find cheap plane tickets on the carrier proper, rather than the partner.

If you are having trouble finding the cheap plane tickets you are looking for, don’t hesitate to call the airline directly. There may be a fee for using a telephone ticketing agent, so take advantage of brainstorming options and cheap plane tickets possibilities until you’re satisfied. Travel agents are still a viable option for finding cheap plane tickets not offered through the online travel booking websites, especially for complicated routes and less-traveled international destinations. If you’re searching for popular routes on major airlines, they may have the same cheap flights you can find online, so use your best judgment.

Here's a report on getting cheap plane tickets:

Shopping for Cheap Plane Tickets is an absolute nightmare these days with the price of gasoline so unpredictable. The current instability in oil prices has not only jacked up the price of a gallon of gas, but has made the price of an airline tickets soar sky high as well. Finding a cheap flight amidst the chaotic airline industry's pricing system can make your head spin with confusion. Between the travel agents, online booking sites, cheap ticket auction sites, reverse plane ticket auction sites, ticket consolidators and a gazillion restrictions, who can make sense of it all? Sorting through all of these so-called cheap plane ticket websites, discount airline tickets and travel deals could easily take months to sift through. And then when you’ve made up your mind and bought the plane tickets, you find out that your seat mate paid half of what you thought was the absolute rock bottom price! One of the best cheap plane ticket options no one knows about is taking a courier flight. Courier flights, in some cases, are absolutely free! True, these free flights aren't available in every city, but they are available in major metropolitan cities around the globe.

Martin Loughlin writes about cheap plane tickets:

Some of the airlines web sites give you 2 different ways to search – you can search for flights by schedule or by fare. Of course, if you are simply looking for the lowest fare, choose the option to search by fare. The results you see will still give you the full schedule as well. Apart from the actual price, you may want to consider other options too when considering the results of your search. The sites mentioned above will tell you which airline, how many connections and even the length of the flight.

And of course, there is the question of the time of day of your flight as well as the dates of travel – all of this can make a huge difference to the airfare. Sometimes it pays to travel at “inconvenient times” such as early morning or overnight – the notorious “red-eye” flight. In many markets you still need to stay at your destination at least through a Saturday to get cheaper fares, although this restriction has been relaxed somewhat.

When specifying times and dates for your flight, always indicate that your date and time of day is flexible, if you have that option. This option may be worded differently in different sites – it may say “travel dates flexible” or “check fares before and after the dates I gave.” Make sure to check the box before proceeding! Consider flying into or out of a different airport; sometimes this can make a big difference in airline ticket prices. For example, if you are heading to New York, try typing “NYC” into the destination box, rather than an individual airport name – this way you will get airfares for all the New York airports. Some websites give you the option of checking fares to nearby airports; for example if you are flying into Los Angeles, you are also given fares to San Diego, Long Beach and Ontario if you choose, as well. Before you buy your ticket, make sure the price includes all applicable taxes and fees, and this rule applies to tickets purchased over the phone as well. The various taxes on a plane ticket can sometimes be over $100, depending on where you are traveling to and if you are given an amount for you ticket online, it should clearly indicate that all these extras are included in that amount.

Steve Gillman writes about cheap plane tickets:

People will tell you that to get cheap plane tickets you need to go to this website or that. What many don't realize, however, is that the web site with the cheapest plane tickets will not always be the same one. One week it will be Hotwire, and the next week it will be Expedia or Travelocity or Priceline. Also, some web sites will more consistently have the cheap plane tickets of a certain type or destination. One might specialize in finding deals on international flights. Another might have the most last-minute deals. Bottom line? When using the internet, you really have to check a lot of web sites if you want to consistently find the cheapest tickets.

The more flexible you are, the better the deals you can find. Of course, you may not want to fly at night, or make several connections, or tie your luggage to the roof of the plane (okay, that one's a joke). But in any case, when you fill out the search forms on the internet sites, leave most of options open. This means checking "no preference" for seat type or time of flight, and if they allow it, checking the box that says "check for flights from nearby airports," and the one that says, "2 or more connecting flights".

Here's an article on securing cheap plane tickets:

International Plane Tickets - Wouldn?t you love to be able to jet off on vacation whenever you wanted to escape from the stresses of everyday life? There are many people that do live a jet-set lifestyle, simply booking up and flying out to one of a range of destinations whenever they like. And, these days, you don?t have to be super-rich in order to enjoy this sort of life. Fro those that want to make the most of the world and enjoy travelling and seeing the sight, you can get some great deals on low cost international plane tickets. By finding affordable deals on international plane tickets, you can travel more often and enjoy more choice. Those that have already discovered the best place to find low cost international plane tickets have enjoyed travelling to a choice of far-away destinations, where they have revelled in the warmth, stunning scenery, excitement and atmosphere.

Whatever sort of vacation you enjoy, with affordable international plane tickets you can travel more often and to more places. Low cost international plane tickets are the perfect solution to affordable travel to a wide range of wonderful worldwide destinations. You can head for the white sands of Barbados, jet off to the dizzy heights of New York, head to the historical wonders of Rome or enjoy just about any other type of destination that takes your interest. This is a great way to broaden your horizons as well as inject some real fun and excitement into your life. Finding low cost international plane tickets isn?t always easy, and you?ll find many sites that charge way over the odds on these flights. However, there are also some excellent quality travel sites that offer great deals on international plane tickets, and it is our job to help you find these. With the great prices available from these sites you can enjoy value for money, excellent quality, top service and all round satisfaction. You can also enjoy some sizzling deals on accommodation, travel insurance and car hire on some of these travel sites, so you can make a considerable saving on the overall cost of your vacation.

The USA Today reports:

Responding largely to high fuel costs, the USA's six big network airlines continue to trim their U.S. schedules despite strong travel demand. The six carriers -- American, United, Delta, Continental, Northwest and US Airways -- have scheduled 4.4% fewer seats for January than a year earlier, according to a USA TODAY analysis of flight schedules that includes their regional feeder airlines. To trim capacity, airlines can eliminate routes, fly them less frequently or switch to smaller planes. Whatever the course, travelers face reduced options and fuller flights. The airlines, which handle about two-thirds of domestic flying, are reacting to this autumn's run-up in fuel prices, which can make some flights unprofitable, says William Swelbar, who heads MIT's International Center for Air Transportation. "With $90 oil, (airlines) have to really look in the mirror -- to see whether the economics still make sense," he says.

From MSNBC:

A number of Web sites have sprung up to help pair travelers searching for a place to crash and hosts with a spare couch. Sites like hospitalityclub.org, couchsurfing.com, globalfreeloaders.com and place2stay.net are often free, serving only as middlemen and offering tips on how to find successful matches.

The sites aren't moneymakers. They're largely the creations of 20-somethings bitten with wanderlust and the hope to help bridge together people from different cultures. They often depend on volunteer administrators to help manage the Web operations.

Among the biggest is hospitalityclub.org, a site founded in 2000 by Veit Kuehne, who was then a 22-year-old business student. Kuehne wanted to use the Internet's reach to help foster the ideas of a group called Servas, an international peace organization that encourages cultural exchanges through travel.

The site grew to 1,300 members by 2002, 100,000 members by January 2006 and 200,000 by September.

From his home in Dusseldorf, Germany, Kuehne said hospitalityclub.org funds itself through online advertisements, which pitch student-exchange programs, Thailand volunteer opportunities or cheap tickets to west Africa.