Sunday, May 25, 2008

Buying Cheap Tickets

Rick Seaney writes:

Medium-sized cities: airline tickets from/to smaller citiies are often more expensive than larger hub cities

Lack of competition: this can mean higher-prices for smaller-cities

Travel is 6-months away; plenty of time to make the best airfare purchase

Step-by-Step

STEP 1 - Go to FareCompare.com. Enter Harissburg and Kelowna and select “Best Deals” then hit “Find Airfares”.

Also look at the “Lowest Fare Last 30 Days”; fares between these 2-cities are likely flat (not volatile).

STEP 3 - Check the Departure Month Star-Rating
A 4-star rating means buy now; 3-stars is also a good rate, and 2-stars is so-so. When I originally looked up this airfare, I saw that that travel departing in February had a 2-star rating ($718). But travel departing through December had a 3-star rating ($559).
A December price-break is not unusual and indicated the airlines were managing this market in five month increments. STEP 4 - Check the Airfare Trend
Always look at our price-trend graph; after enter your city pair and click to find the fare, this chart is on the lower-left of your screen. Thats a good sign, obviously. If we wait a bit, at least we are on the proper price trajectory.

STEP 5 - Check the Previous Year Airline Ticket Prices
Just above the Airfare Trend Chart, you’ll see the words Advanced Historical Graphs; click that to see previous months, even years. If a buyer can be flexible on travel dates, its easier to find cheaper airfares

Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday are the cheapest travel days

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