Yesterday when I was trying to book my tickets to New Orleans, I realized that I have a somewhat complicated process when trying to buy airfare. However, it’s sort of become my system for finding the cheapest fares based on my requirements, and it works for me.
I realize that some people aren’t as insane and obsessive as I am when it comes to researching, planning, and saving some money along the way (so you can use it for the fun stuff once you’re actually on the trip), but I think I’ve come up with a few tips that might help even the laziest of travelers find a good deal.
1. Use discount travel sites as a starting point – but don’t book through them.
If you’re booking airfare only, it’s almost never a deal to book through sites like Travelocity, Expedia, or Orbitz. Here’s why: 1. not all airlines are listed on these sites (Southwest and Jet Blue for example). 2. Even those that are, are almost always cheaper if you book directly from the airline’s website.
But, that doesn’t mean these sites are not helpful. Booking a package deal (air, hotel, and car) will often save you a lot of money, and you can do that through these types of Web sites. Also, utilizing these sites first will give you an idea of the going rate for various dates. If your dates are flexible, you’ll often be able to tell which days are cheapest to fly. And even if you have to fly on a specific day, you’ll have a good idea of the going rate so you can bargain shop on the airline websites.
2. Play around with round trip vs. 1-way tickets.
Some airlines want you to book both legs of your trip through them at the same time, so they make it cheaper to book R/T than one-way. Other airlines will be cheaper if you buy separate one-way tickets. And other airlines will be the same regardless. Play around with this and see what you find.
I’ve never booked two separate one-ways on an airline before, but I did for New Orleans. I’m flying out on Southwest from Midway, (so I could get another qualifying flight toward my free one) and I’m flying home on American to O’Hare so that I’ll be closer to my parents’ house for my dad’s B-day the day I get home. And it turned out to be cheaper for me this way than any other combination!
3. Check nearby airports.
Not only for circumstances like the one mentioned above, but sometimes if you have a little flexibility, you might find out you can fly in to one city, do a little scenic drive one day, and fly out of another city. This is especially fun in places like California, where a nice coastal drive would be a great addition to any trip.
TIP: Once you get to know the airport codes, you can also figure out that there are special codes that will search any nearby airport. For example, ORD = O’Hare, and MDW = Midway, but if you enter CHI, you’ll get results for both airports!
4. Always sign up for the frequent flyer club.
I really don’t understand why people don’t do this. Pretty much every airline has some kind of frequent flyer program, and I’m pretty sure most, if not all, of them are free. Even if you have a preferred airline that you will fly 99% of the time, why not sign up for that airline that you’re only flying “just this once.” What if you have to fly with them again? Aren’t you going to be mad that you didn’t get the credit for that other flight?
Some programs are far superior to others. (Southwest’s Rapid Rewards is one of my favorites, because they don’t measure in miles, they measure in flights. 8 r/t flights in 24 consecutive months earns you a free flight. Simple.) But even the ones that make you fly 8 million miles in 3 weeks or they’ll expire on you can’t hurt to join. Just on the off chance you really do need to make a few trips around the world one month.
5. Take extra fees into consideration.
I don’t think I need to go on much about the extra fees that airlines are coming up with lately. Anyone who’s flown even once in the past several years knows that airlines are starting to charge for EVERYTHING.
Do a little research if you’re really trying to save some money. Find out what the airline charges for (checked bags? food? pre-boarding? using the bathroom?) and weigh your options.
For example, if you know you’ll need to be checking a bag, even if American is $20 cheaper than another airline, do the math. It’s $25 for the first checked bag, $35 for a second. And $100 a piece for a 3rd, 4th, or 5th. And that’s EACH WAY.
The costs add up. To check one little bag so you can bring your extra-large bottle of fancy salon-brand shampoo with you on vacation will put you back $50 over the course of the trip. If you really need to bring it with you, consider finding an airline that doesn’t charge for checked bags. (Ahem, Southwest. Ahem.)
6. Learn where airline hubs are.
Most airlines have a hub (sometimes more than one), where the majority of their flights fly in and out. People in bigger cities are spoiled and often get by unaware of this fact, since nearly every airline will fly in and out of them. But have you ever wondered why on a trip from Milwaukee to San Francisco you had to stop in Kansas City? Or why there never seems to be any direct flights on your favorite airline to a certain city? Or why in the world you need to have a layover in DC when it’s not even on the way?
Well, it’s because the airline your flying probably needs to make a stop at its hub first.
Knowing the hubs and where various airlines will fly will help you in your search. Here are a few off the top of my head, although you can probably do a Google search and find many more:
- Houston George Bush International – Continental Airlines
- Chicago O’Hare International – American Airlines
- Charlotte/Douglass International – U.S. Airways
- Washington Dulles – United Airlines
- Milwaukee – Midwest Airlines (although they recently merged with Frontier, so that may change)
You can often figure all this out by looking at a route map from a particular airline, and start to get a better idea of which airlines will offer nonstop routes to your destination.
There are plenty more tips and tricks that you can learn along the way. But the important thing is to remember what works for you. Everyone has different preferences. Maybe you’d rather pay more to get the departure time of your choice. Maybe you don’t care what day you leave if you save an extra $75. Figure out your priorities and your variables, and then play around.
And if you just don’t have the patience to remember ANY of these tips and want to book the first flight you see, well, go ahead and do that too. (Although, if you want to pay me to book your flight for you, email me and we can work something out.) 🙂
love.play.travel. 