How to Get Best Deals on Airfares

Lily

B.R
Staff member
It’s the holiday season again - the time to go on vacations, leaving behind all the tensions and frustrations of daily life. It is the time to travel around, to party hard and to have lots and lots of fun! Going on a vacation means booking tickets, making hotel reservations and arranging for car rentals. In short, spending your hard-earned money! The major chunk of the expenses incurred on a holiday trip goes towards flights tickets.

However, it is not always necessary to spend a whole fortune on the air fares. You can easily get cheap holiday airfares, provided you know is when to go on holiday, when to get the flight tickets booked as well as how to get regular information on the discounts offered by airlines. If you keep these small tit-bits of information in your mind, they will go a long way in ensuring that you get best deals on airfares.

Make Arrangements over the Internet:

One of the best modes of booking tickets is over the internet. Right from travel agents to airlines, almost everyone involved in the travel industry has a website and this medium will help you plan your trip with cheap airfares. Most of the airlines provide discounts for the travelers who book tickets online. Apart from that, the bidding process that takes place online also helps you in booking tickets at the cheapest possible rate.

Go in for Ticket Consolidators:

A number of websites have come up that offer Consolidator Airline Tickets. These are basically discounted tickets that are sold by the airline companies to fill their vacant seats. Consolidator airline tickets are usually sold below the lowest published fare, issued directly by an airline. However, some of the websites will provide you with the tickets of only those airlines with which they have a tie up. It is better to go in for websites like ‘yahoo’ will provide you with information on all the airlines that are proving consolidator airline tickets.

Watch Out for Good Deals:

Keep looking for cheap travel deals a couple of months before you are scheduled to take a holiday. Check out the travel section of the newspapers on a regular basis. There are bright chances that you may come across good deals, by travel agents or airlines. Don’t forget to keep surfing the internet for good deals too. The best way is to subscribe to fare watcher websites, which will send you regular airfare alerts. You can also subscribe to the major airlines’ newsletters too.

More Options:

Before settling for a particular airlines or travel portal for booking your tickets you must make sure to browse all possible airlines/travel portals as many have special tie ups with credit card providers who offer decent discounts if you purchase your tickets using their credit card.

When to Go on Holidays?

The biggest question while planning a trip is when to go for it. Though much depends upon when you get leaves from office or college, it is advisable to take into account the cost of traveling too. It is always better to plan your trip in the off season, as this is when you get the maximum discounts. The tickets are especially expensive during holidays, so its better to time your trip a little before or after the holidays get over.

Ideal Days for Taking a Flight:

Days like Sunday, Monday, Friday, etc usually command high air fares. It is always advisable to take a flight in the middle of the week, like on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, etc. This is the time when you get good bargains on your flight tickets. Try to avoid weekend flights as much as you can.

When to Book Tickets:

It is advisable to book your tickets atleast one month in advance. Apart from getting sure shot reservation, you will also have good prospects of getting best deals on the air fares. However, if you are going around the holiday time, especially Christmas, it is better to make the arrangements well in advance, as the rush during that time is phenomenal.

Selecting Airlines and Destination Airport:

You can get cheap airfares by selecting the right airport and right airlines also. Going in for small/low cost airlines can get you much cheaper tickets as compared to the big ones. If there is any small airport near your travel destination, you can opt for a flight to that particular airport. From there, you can hire a taxi or take a bus. Not only will you get a good discount on the ticket price, but will also get to explore the local areas situated near the city you are visiting.

Cheap is not always best:

Most of the cheap air tickets offered by airlines/travel portals are non-refundable and you lose your money in case of cancellation. Before booking your tickets you must ensure that the air tickets you are booking are refundable even if you have to spend a few extra bucks.
 
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