The best way to plan an affordable trip is to thoroughlyreview cheap traveloptions, including cheapairplane tickets, discount hotel rooms, cheap auto rentals, discounttravel deals, and cheap vacation packages.
The following are tips on how to save money the next timeyou purchase an airline ticket, according to Kitty Yancey:
Checkout Internet travel sites, such as Cheapfares, so that you compare prices frommultiple airlines in a single search.
Timeyour travel days to take advantage of the cheapest fares. Flying on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Saturday isusually cheaper because they are the slower days of the week when businesstravel is lighter. Avoid traveling onpeak days, such as the Sunday after Thanksgiving or any other time when seats areparticularly scarce. Consider taking avacation before school is out for the summer.
Industrystudies have shown that the best time to purchase a domestic flight is 21 to112 days out. 54 days in advance, onaverage, is a good time to purchase. Sales tend to be available on Tuesdays. Be prepared to purchase your tickets right away when you see attractiveticket prices, since they are subject to change at any time.
Lookinto departing from alternate airports. Sometimes an airport farther from home or from your final destinationcan be hundreds of dollars cheaper.
Monitorprices of budget airlines, such as Allegiant, Icelandair, Frontier, andSpirit. Budget foreign airlinestraveling to and from the U.S. include Air Berlin, WOW air, and Norwegian AirShuttle. Low cost airlines such asRyanair and EasyJet offer great prices for travel within Europe, as do AirAsiaand Tigerair in Asia.
Makecertain that you factor in airline fees when considering which airfare toselect. These day most airlines chargefor checked bags, better seats, priority boarding, and a few even charge forcarry-ons. If you will not be packinglight or want a specific seat location, you could find the final price of abargain fare going up steeply.
Considersigning up for airline credit cards. Ifyou tend to fly on a specific airline that offers lots of flights out of yourpreferred airport, it might make financial sense to carry an airline brandedcredit card. Such cards come with signup bonuses for as much as 50,000 miles, plus benefits such as free checkedbags, priority boarding, and free foreign currency conversion.
Also check out credit cards that award youmiles for every dollar spent and will allow you to choose from a long list ofairlines. Keep in mind that credit cardsthat award miles typically come with annual fees, which means that they may notbe worth the cost for infrequent fliers.
Oneway tickets are sometimes substantially cheaper than purchasing a single ticketwhen flying to multiple cities.
Considerair and hotel packages which when bundled together can result in substantialsavings. In some cases, it is evencheaper to purchase a package and not stay at the hotel.
Tradein frequent flier miles for trips carefully. The ideal time to redeem your miles is when a ticket costs $450 ormore. Frequent flier tickets can reallysave the traveler money when he or she must fly unexpectedly such as to afuneral or when a return date is not set.
Considerredeeming miles to upgrade to business or first class on long transcontinentalor international flights, where being upgraded can make long trips much morecomfortable. Be careful not to let yourmiles expire. Usually you can keep themby purchasing something inexpensive such as a magazine subscription via anairline-sponsored website.
www.cheapfares.com