Tricks for Getting Cheap Flights

In today's economy, everybody is looking for a bargain. Cheap flights are one area that fluctuates a lot, but there are big savings to be had. Here are some tips for getting the best deal on your flight.

Timing

Research has found that the cheapest day to find a flight is Tuesday in the afternoon. This is when the most sale seats are available. Also, while this can vary due to last minute and early bird specials, in general, the best time to purchase your tickets is three months before departure for domestic flights, and five months for international. Prices go up drastically about 2 weeks before lift off.

Credit Cards

If you are a frequent flyer, you might consider an airline affiliated credit card. These cards might not be worth it for the occasional travel, as they typically come with membership fees. However, miles can add up quickly and they often include extra benefits such as no baggage fees or priority boarding.

Fare Watchers

Many websites such as Bing Travel and Airfarewatchdog.com will allow you to set a fare alert which will email you when they find the lowest price on airfare. This process can take awhile, so it probably isn't for last minute shoppers, but if you plan in advance you can find some good deals. Some sites also have a price match guarantee, which will refund the difference if your fare goes down.

Schedule Flexibility

If possible, consider being flexible with your travel dates. Some websites automatically check multiple dates for you, others you will just have to experiment. Traveling on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Saturday, or choosing flights with one or more stops, is usually cheaper, so if you can adjust your trip accordingly you might save some money.

Packaged Deals

Usually hotel/airfare combinations are cheaper than if you were to buy individually. Expedia.com and Travelocity.com can help you find packaged deals, but many hotels will set one up for you as well. Not every flight and hotel qualifies, but you can potentially save $500 or more.

Hidden Charges

Taxes and fees are required to be advertised in your fare, but there are extra expenses you might not consider. Checked baggage and seat selection are two that people often don't think about. Outside of airline credit cards and promotions, there isn't a lot you can do to get rid of these fees, so include them in your budget.

Cheap air tickets are less cheap when you add in the hidden costs

When the air industry was desperate to find that extra dollar to tip it from loss into profit, it discovered we passengers were prepared to pay for "services". This unbundling really hit the big time with the decision to charge us for checking in bags. It's estimated this generated an additional $3 billion last year. Then airlines decided to levy a penalty if we decided we wanted to cancel and rebook a ticket. Curiously, the domestic airlines only raised $2.4 billion out of that last year. If you add up all the hidden costs from all the airlines around the world it's estimated they added about $22 billion in additional profit. So what exactly are we now paying for?

You may thought the airlines were just in the people carrying business, but these entrepreneurs have decided they are retailers of seats on airplanes. Everything else is an extra and liable to be charged separately. So do you have a preference as to where you sit, e.g. would you like an aisle seat, do you want priority when it comes to physically getting on to the plane, would you like to use one of the overhead bins for your carry-on bags, if you want to use your computer, do you want a wi-fi connection? And that's before you ask for a drink of water or, if you're really feeling brave, something to eat.

All this leads to considerable frustration because, until you go through the process of getting on to the airplane, there's no way you find out what the total cost of the flight is actually going to be. If you're trying to work to a budget, this is really annoying. When you're looking for cheap air tickets, the airlines should be obliged to publish an all-in price. That way, we can all compare like with like to find the cheapest seats. Even more interesting is that the federal taxes are payable on the price of the seat. No taxes are payable on the extra fees. This is a legal tax avoidance scam by the airlines to avoid paying tax on their income. Getting cheap air tickets should not be like this. Booking and billing should be transparent.