Discussing airfares can easily become a long and detailed conversation and I think most would agree it’s a challenge to find the best ones especially in summer, peak travel season. The major factors to consider when trying getting a great fare are: advance purchase, date and time of departure, the season, the airport and the airline. As all of us start to get ready for summer trips, here are the Squire’s tips to tackle the challenge.
Be Flexible
Pick dates that ideally work for you then be prepared to adjust them if the fare drops considerably on a different day. Sometimes you need to stay a Saturday night or you must depart on a Wednesday and return on a Tuesday. Also, the length of stay can be compromised but if price is your motive, you’ll just have to deal with it.
Web Search Engines
Using search engines like Expedia.com, Kayak.com or Orbitz.com allows you to access every fare available out there for a given period of time including routing on multiple airlines that take advantage of one way fares then combine them.
Another search engine that we like is Momondo.com which just launched “Flight Insight” in the U.S., an amazing tool that offers the most transparency ever on how airlines set prices. It highlights essential factors to consider while searching for cheap fares. Currently 400 routes worldwide are surveyed and still more are coming. All major ticketing factors are considered: advance purchase, departure dates and times, season traveling, airport and airline.
Results and trends are shown in pie charts along with an overview of the least and most expensive examples for each and every route chosen. “Flight Insight” uses real time data so you can count on it. If you want to beat the system it can really help you find the fare that works best for you without compromising other factors.
www.momondo.com
Packages Including a Hotel
Both airlines and travel agents offer packages that include a hotel. The airfares are blocked space, are generally lower than market value and don’t fluctuate based on demand. It’s common knowledge that packages with negotiated hotel rates almost always offer an amazing deal for the traveler especially when it’s to Vegas or a popular resort destination like Cancun.
Last Minute Purchase
You can sign-up for alerts from most airlines and receive email notifications of lower fares for undersold flights. All the major airlines have feeds so sign up for as many as possible.
Using Frequent Flyer Miles
When all else fails and you can’t find the fare you want consider trading in those carefully saved frequent flyer miles. There are blackout dates around important holidays but not usually in the summer. You may not get what’s called the early saver trade in which costs less miles but most airlines have what’s called anytime rewards that allow you to trade more miles and get a seat anytime. What were you saving those miles for anyway?
Social Media
Follow all of your favorite and maybe not so favorite airlines on Twitter. Airlines like Southwest and Jet Blue are always promoting their deals. Also, when new routes are announced there are always specials. Tweet to the airlines and you never know what the response will be.
Airline Websites
All the airlines brag that their websites have the best fares. This is true sometimes! Did you know that you can combine airlines and often find the cheapest route taking more than one carrier? The Squire suggests checking your preferred carrier’s site first then use web search engines to make sure you’ve really got the lowest price. This may require multiple changes of planes. Not easy on the body but on the other hand you benefit with more frequent flyer miles.
Now that the Squire has given you some solid tips for beating the summer fare blues it’s time to think about turning your travel dreams into reality.