Tips and Tricks to Getting Discounts on Flight Tickets

November 30th, 2009

Usually, ticket prices depend on the destination, season and seat availability. But if you are a student, airlines can offer you a discounted rate. Students frequently get a lot of bargains and great deals and airfare is no exception. Take advantage of your status to avail of a discount from your booking agent.

In the same way as a student, you can also avail of a discount if you are a senior citizen. You can qualify by proving your age using any valid or government-issued ID. Make the most of the privileges and special treatment you can get as an aged person, and this includes plane tickets.

Little Known Insider Tips and Tricks
Even if you are not a student or a senior citizen, you can still get your flight ticket at a bargain price. How about looking through travel websites for remaining seats? Sometimes these websites offer too-good-to-be-true last minute deals. Carefully comb through all the information and surely you will spot an offer that is right for you.

At times, insiders can have the best deals. By buying voluminous flight tickets, airfare suppliers get a big discount airfare. Because of this, they can now offer the individual tickets to passengers at a much lower price.

Other websites offer the same service to prospective travelers. They function as consolidators by buying plane tickets in bulk, then sell these at a cheap price, in the same way as airfare suppliers. Some of these websites refuse to sell these discounted tickets unless you register and join in as a member.

Another way to get a substantial reduction on your plane ticket is by choosing a flight with a layover. Compared to direct and one way flights, a journey with several stops can be much cheaper. If you do not mind dividing your flight and transferring to different airports, you can save a substantial amount of money.

Always remember that a great deal is usually just around the corner. Keep on researching and browsing through websites because another great offer might just be a click away. Keep persevering in your efforts and for sure you will get a flight ticket that is dirt-cheap.

Going on Vacation? Save on Airfare with Cheap Tickets!

November 24th, 2009

Getting huge discounts on airfare is easy. But being a savvy spender means you have to do your research. Here are a few tips and tricks to getting the best deal possible on airplane tickets.

Be Spontaneous!
Bargains abound for adventurous travellers. Try to be flexible with your travel schedule so you can take advantage of the unbelievable last-minute deals offered by airlines. Most booking sites give discounts for remaining untaken seats, so try to book your flight around two weeks before you plan on leaving. However, if your destination is quite popular, or it’s the peak season or the holidays, chances are there would be no empty slots.

Take Advantage of Introductory Rates!
New, up-and-coming airlines usually offer introductory rates to passengers. The downside would be that compared to the more established names in the industry, these budget airlines may not be visible on popular booking sites. You need to look for them yourself, so do your research and look around before booking a flight.

Always Look at Alternatives
Keep in mind that getting really cheap flights entails having to do a lot of shopping around. Browse through the different booking sites, and compare the various deals they are offering. Consider also the convenience factor, and hidden booking fees and taxes, so you can determine just exactly how much you’re really paying for your ticket.

More Layovers = More Savings
If you don’t mind a few stops, choose the flights with the most layovers. Passengers usually get a substantial reduction for this minor inconvenience. Usually the more stops your plane has to make, the cheaper your flight would be. So if you have time on your hands, choose a flight with a lot of layovers.

Mid-Week Madness
Make sure that your departure and arrival happens in the middle of the week. There is a greater demand for weekend flights, thus there is a significant price increase for Friday to Monday flights.

Choose an Off-Season Trip
Surely every destination, even places with year-round great weather and hot spots, has a lean season. Find out what the peak season is and try to avoid it, this is usually when prices tend to rise dramatically. Look at clues such as the weather, vacation dates, traveller’s schedules or popular events. Cheap airline tickets are available for those who try to avoid the herd. Head to your destination when it is the least likely to be packed.

Trust the Professionals
Travel agents are usually in on the best deals in the market. If you plan to spend a lot of money for your airfare, they can usually give you huge discounts and additional incentives. Sometimes it may be cheaper to explore your options first with a travel agent.

On The Lookout for Cheap Flight Tickets

November 23rd, 2009

With the popularity of great flight deals, it has become more difficult to look for cheap tickets. But those offers have not really disappeared and finding cheap flight tickets is still possible. It is just a matter of knowing where to look as well as being patient and creative.

Flying into secondary airports
All big cities in the world have secondary airports. These are usually far-off from the heart of the city and are smaller. This kind of airport is usually used by budget airlines because of its cheaper operational costs—which means cheaper tickets as well. But do not expect any bonuses on these airlines like food, drinks, or pillows. Even though they are short on service, they make it up in cheaper tickets.

Flying through other routes
Also, you should try being flexible by finding different ways to arrive at your destination. In some cases, it can be more inexpensive to fly to Madrid first before getting a cheap flight towards Rome, than to fly directly to Rome. Direct flights usually cost more so you might want to add several stops into your trip so that the cost of your ticket can go down.

Looking for the foreign website of an airline
Did you know that when you have a powerful currency, you can actually book on the airline page of a weaker currency? Searching for the Canadian counterpart of the website of British Airways can get you cheaper plane tickets to London. A technique like this works great when your currency is performing well, although you can still possibly save money even when the currencies very similar due to taxes and fees.

Use your student discount perks
There are more discounts available for the student like flexible student plane tickets, cheaper train tickets, discount cards, and many more. Just have with you your student identification card. Use the STA Travel to find cheap airline deals because they focus in student travel along with finding amazing deals for students.

Join a rewards program
Another great way to bag free upgrades, free companion tickets, and even free flights is through many airline rewards programs. Non-frequent fliers may take longer to earn points, but frequent fliers must enlist at a rewards program in order to grab freebies. Non-frequent fliers may want to ponder on getting a rewards credit card which they can covert to a free flight.

Subscribe in airline newsletters
Be in the know of the latest flight deals and promotions when you sign up to industry or airline newsletters. Usually it is only through these newsletters that you will hear about these great deals. A few clicks over the airline sites are all you need to do. Also, you can easily delete the newsletters if you are not interested in flying for a certain period in time.

Get Discount Airline Ticket Prices thru New Coalitions

November 20th, 2009

You can get discount airline tickets prices in the next few months through newly enhanced frequent flier programs from the Star Alliance and Delta SkyMiles coalitions.
As the economy continues to batter most businesses including airlines, major airlines are looking into cultivating closer relationships with loyal fliers by making their frequent flier programs more attractive. [...]

Continue Reading: Get Discount Airline Ticket Prices thru New Coalitions

Bargain Airline Tickets – Travel 1 or 2 Days Before or After

November 19th, 2009

You can get bargain airline tickets for the holidays if you are flexible and patient and are able to travel one or two days before or after most holiday travelers take their flights, according to Rick Seaney, founder of air travel expert FareCompare.com.
As an example, Seaney cited fares for non-stop round-trip flights from Newark in [...]

Continue Reading: Bargain Airline Tickets – Travel 1 or 2 Days Before or After

Prices for Airfare Tickets for Some Peak Travel Dates Rising

November 9th, 2009

Prices for airfare tickets for some routes and certain peak travel dates have been rising as airlines try to improve their revenues which have been suffering from operational cost pressures and the overall economic downturn.
The peak travel dates being targeted by airlines for imposing a surcharge of $10 are November 29th, the Sunday after Thanksgiving [...]

Continue Reading: Prices for Airfare Tickets for Some Peak Travel Dates Rising

Cheapest Airline Tickets: Airline Websites versus OTAs

November 6th, 2009

Where can you find the cheapest airline tickets – at airline websites or at online travel agency websites?
In the past, many air travel consultants were recommending travelers to book their cheap flights directly on the websites of airlines to save the fees charged by online travel agencies for booking, which add around $5 to the [...]

Continue Reading: Cheapest Airline Tickets: Airline Websites versus OTAs

Cheap Airplane Ticket – Guard Your Right to Redeem It

October 30th, 2009

Your right to redeem your free or cheap airplane ticket under your frequent-flier program can be lost if you do not monitor expiration dates and revisions in airline rules.
According to a study, about 10 trillion frequent-flier miles worth $165 billion have not been used, and about 20 percent of these will never be [...]

Continue Reading: Cheap Airplane Ticket – Guard Your Right to Redeem It

Saving on Airplane Tickets and Other Travel Expenses

October 27th, 2009

If you check news involving travel cost for the upcoming holidays, you might have noticed that it will be difficult for you to stay within your budget considering the soaring prices of airplane tickets as well as the various surcharges imposed by airlines.
Such problem is being faced by all travelers and already, 58 percent [...]

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Travelers Scramble for Cheap Flight Tickets

October 26th, 2009

Compared to last year, travelers were able to save much on airfare with the availability of cheap flight tickets. On the average, airplane ticket prices were at least 12 percent cheaper.
But for the upcoming holiday, travelers should no longer expect to enjoy these bargains. In fact, if you check and compare the rates last [...]

Continue Reading: Travelers Scramble for Cheap Flight Tickets