|
Airfare discounts: tips from an insider! Updated June 26, 2008. Related Info--- HOME :: Latest News :: Los Angeles Airports :: Children Flying Alone :: Orange County (John Wayne) airport, pt. 1 :: Orange Co Airport, part 2 :: LAX (Los Angeles International), domestic airlines :: LAX airport, terminal diagram, car rentals, shuttles :: LAX, international airlines and customs at LAX :: LAX Airport FAQs :: Long Beach Airport :: Burbank (Bob Hope) Airport :: Track domestic flights Airfare Discount Tips :: Airfare Discounts!Get the best deals on discount airline tickets!
Are you looking for the best ways to get airfare discounts and cheap tickets for flights & hotels?If you are, you're not alone! MOST people want to get the maximum amount of enjoyment for the least amount of money possible when they travel. And, why shouldn't they? Traveling is certainly not an inexpensive activity. Getting discount airline tickets can bring down the cost of a vacation considerably. Yet, it's certainly possible to find good discounts on airfare, hotels and other services you'll use during the course of your vacation, holiday, business, or bereavement travel. But, just WHERE can a person find these discount travel tickets? For help in bringing you this information, I've enlisted the help of a professional, Julie Wardman, who runs a British travel website called www.Florida-FlyDrives.com, a website which helps Europeans find discount airfare and car rentals when they make holiday vacations to Orlando and other popular tourist destinations in Florida, USA. The rest of this page will be Julie talking with you about the best discounts she recommends to her readers! Checking for baggage & luggage feesIn the few months since the article on this page was written, the price of fuel has skyrocketed. Airlines have cut the number of suitcases included in your ticket price...and, in some cases, they're charging extra fees for ANY checked luggage that you bring! These additional fees puts some travelers paying much more for their flights than they originally planned. Maybe you can't avoid the excess baggage fees if you wish to travel with a particular airline, but you can at least know about them in advance! (And, if you don't mind switching air carriers, you can change to an airline company that still hasn't started charging for checked baggage yet.) At the very least, knowing which airlines have fees will help you in deciding which of several flights you're considering is actually the cheapest. The discount ticket that looks the best may actually end up costing more than a higher-priced ticket...due to the hidden fees! How to check baggage fees, pet fees and other add-on expenses: You may use the following link to view a printable PDF chart of airline fees that you can use to aid your trip-planning. If you're wondering what your airline's overweight baggage limit is, this chard lists luggage weight allowances for different airline companies, too. Best Airfare DiscountsMy Top Insider Travel Tips, by Julie Wardman
I have spent the past 23 years travelling regularly around the world for both business and pleasure. In that time I've been able to pick up a few 'tricks of the travel trade'. Most of these travel tips are just simple and straightforward ways of getting the thing you want or need at the right price. But they are also things that most people simply never think about asking for or they don't know where to look to find them. Some people will give you tips about how to manipulate the system or find 'dubious' (if not plain illegal) ways of going about tricking the airlines or even bribing hotel clerks. I figure that if you are prone to do these things you don't need me to tell you how to do them! So here are a few of my all-time favourite travel tips for you. Discount Airfare tip #1: Plan your trip using only the BEST travel and airfare discount websites!
1.) Kayak.com (Sidestep.com, which it recently purchased) These four sites will save you hours of hunting around for the best hotel rates online or the cheapest airfares online. Travelaxe, Qixo, Orbitz and Kayak are all comparison search engines. They don't sell flights like a travel agent would. They take your search information and trawl through all the normal websites and bring you back information on which is the cheapest or best or available for your trip. All those hours of searching for the best deal on seventeen different websites can be eliminated by one of these three sites. Airfare Discount Tip #2: Cheap deals can be found consistently on Priceline.comThe only place I have found that can consistently offer me great deals on flights at any time of the day or year is Priceline.com. I love to fly to a place, hire a car then set off to explore the area. Probably 75% of the time, priceline.com has managed to find me a flight and car hire deal that is cheaper than the flight alone would have been. Discount Airfare tip #3: Discover the cheapest days and hours to schedule your flight---Getting the flight you need at a price you like is getting harder as fuel prices rise higher all the time. But there are a few things you can do to at least limit the damage. 1.) Fly early or fly late-- Flights during business hours are much more popular so the seats cost more. 2.) Fly on Tuesdays and Wednesdays-- These are the least busy days of any week with the obvious exception of a few holiday periods when all the rules of sane travel are suspended! 3.) Check all the airlines, airports, and routes available-- Often, one route or one airline is significantly cheaper than others, making it worthwhile to spend some time online doing some investigating for the cheapest fare---especially if you are travelling one route regularly. (Let's say you go from New York to Atlanta every Monday and Atlanta to New York every Friday; finding a moderate savings on one of these trips amounts to a LARGE savings in the long run.) Airfare Discount Tip #4: Try to be flexible with airlines and airports.Check the flight you really want to take first. Then go back and allow a few hours, days or even weeks or flexibility on your choices (I recommend hotwire.com for the easiest input of these flexible terms). You'll be amazed at how different flights have different prices for what looks like exactly the same thing! And remember that some airports and routes attract better schedules and better fares than others. I live near London and have four international airports very close to my home and another five within a couple of hours drive. There have been some times when the cheapness of a fare has meant that a bit of extra driving was definitely worth it for the substantial savings I gained! Consider all your airport options before you book (you can do this at hotwire.com too). I saved over $600 dollars last year by doing this for a holiday to Turkey. The only change I had to make to my travel plans was to leave from a different airport than I'd originally planned! Discount Airfare tip #5: Ask for Bereavement or Distressed Travelers rates if you qualify.The airlines can be flexible and helpful to you too in ways you never thought possible. Though the airlines don't publicly announce that discount airfare is available for those travellers who are flying under unplanned and difficult circumstances, there ARE discounts available for certain emergency situations. If you are flying to the funeral of a close family member or there has been some terrible accident that means you have to fly, call the airlines that fly that route and tell them your problem. Ask for the distressed travellers' rate. This is for people who have some compelling reason to need to fly but who really don't need the added pain of a high credit card bill. The distressed passenger rate is also often available at hotels if your plane has been cancelled or you have been bumped from your flight for some reason. There is never any harm in asking. Airfare Discount Tip #6: Take action if a lower rate becomes available!If you book in advance you will probably get a better rate. If you later find your ticket price has gone down, call the airline and ask them to match the new and lower price for you. Some will, some won't. But some will offer you bonus air miles or travel vouchers for future trips instead. Discount Airfare Tip #7: Airline Rewards Programs and other discountsI use United's Mileage Unlimited and American Airlines Advantage. Do some basic research; you might find that another airline's frequent flyer plan suits your needs much better. However, whatever frequent flyer plan you choose, joining the club does NOT mean you have to stick to these airlines---but it DOES mean you can get all the benefits of belonging! I have lost count of the number of times I have asked how much a room cost in a hotel and then had the quoted price slashed by 20%, 30% or a few times even 50% on production of one of my airline cards--I feel like a magician sometimes! Final steps to getting great discount--1.) Special rates are often available for: clergy, military personnel, veterans, senior citizens, students aged 12 - 22, faculty members, people travelling as families, and those attending a conference or meeting. Ask whether there are any specials if you fall into any of these groups or are attending special events. 2.) ALWAYS ask the airlines whether they have any other special deals or promotions currently being offered. Airline companies run these specials to 'attract customers' but most customers never hear about them unless they actually ask! 3.) Finally, check your seat allocation on www.SeatGuru.com. If you have been given a bad seat, the chances are you will be able to change it for a better one either online or by calling the airline and asking them to re-seat you. If that doesn't work, try again at the check in desk and once more at the boarding gate. New seats are released on the day of the flight and some people will fail to arrive for the flight so it is worth pestering the airline staff right through the process of getting to your plane. There it is then! 23 years of travelling experience condensed into a short list. All that is left to say is, "Have a great trip!" ญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญ_____________________________________________ Author Julie Wardman has travelled internationally for business and pleasure for the past 23 years and now writes about her favourite holiday style and destination at www.Florida-FlyDrives.com If you are planning a trip to Florida, have a look at some of her time-saving, hassle-saving and money-saving tips before you book.
|
