Sunday, May 25, 2008

Tips For Cheap Airline Tickets

Here are more tips on getting cheap plane tickets:

When plane tickets for certain flights aren�t selling, who knows better that prices have been slashed than the airline itself? Take the time to sign up for free email alerts with your favorite airlines on the routes you�re interested in. Even airline tickets booking sites offer free alerts to keep you informed of dropping prices. It�s in their best interest to keep tabs on cheap plane tickets and let you know about it. Worried about spam? Plan on getting quotes from several different travel booking outfits often, as prices may fluctuate as much as three times a day. Email alerts for cheap plane tickets is a small price to pay for the convenience of someone else being on the lookout for cheap flights for you.

Have you noticed that some flights have two airlines and two flight numbers associated with the same flight? This is a practice called �code sharing� where the same flight is sold by two different airlines, but operated by only one carrier. Many airlines enter into these partnerships in order to offer more destinations to a wider audience, as well as cheap plane tickets. When booking your plane tickets, be sure to ask if the seat you are buying is on another airline�s plane. If it is, get the itinerary and check to see how much the other airline is charging. Chances are you�ll find cheap plane tickets on the carrier proper, rather than the partner.

If you are having trouble finding the cheap plane tickets you are looking for, don�t hesitate to call the airline directly. There may be a fee for using a telephone ticketing agent, so take advantage of brainstorming options and cheap plane tickets possibilities until you�re satisfied. Travel agents are still a viable option for finding cheap plane tickets not offered through the online travel booking websites, especially for complicated routes and less-traveled international destinations. If you�re searching for popular routes on major airlines, they may have the same cheap flights you can find online, so use your best judgment.

Here's a report on getting cheap plane tickets:

Shopping for Cheap Plane Tickets is an absolute nightmare these days with the price of gasoline so unpredictable. The current instability in oil prices has not only jacked up the price of a gallon of gas, but has made the price of an airline tickets soar sky high as well. Finding a cheap flight amidst the chaotic airline industry's pricing system can make your head spin with confusion. Between the travel agents, online booking sites, cheap ticket auction sites, reverse plane ticket auction sites, ticket consolidators and a gazillion restrictions, who can make sense of it all? Sorting through all of these so-called cheap plane ticket websites, discount airline tickets and travel deals could easily take months to sift through. And then when you�ve made up your mind and bought the plane tickets, you find out that your seat mate paid half of what you thought was the absolute rock bottom price! One of the best cheap plane ticket options no one knows about is taking a courier flight. Courier flights, in some cases, are absolutely free! True, these free flights aren't available in every city, but they are available in major metropolitan cities around the globe.

Martin Loughlin writes about cheap plane tickets:

Some of the airlines web sites give you 2 different ways to search � you can search for flights by schedule or by fare. Of course, if you are simply looking for the lowest fare, choose the option to search by fare. The results you see will still give you the full schedule as well. Apart from the actual price, you may want to consider other options too when considering the results of your search. The sites mentioned above will tell you which airline, how many connections and even the length of the flight.

And of course, there is the question of the time of day of your flight as well as the dates of travel � all of this can make a huge difference to the airfare. Sometimes it pays to travel at �inconvenient times� such as early morning or overnight � the notorious �red-eye� flight. In many markets you still need to stay at your destination at least through a Saturday to get cheaper fares, although this restriction has been relaxed somewhat.

When specifying times and dates for your flight, always indicate that your date and time of day is flexible, if you have that option. This option may be worded differently in different sites � it may say �travel dates flexible� or �check fares before and after the dates I gave.� Make sure to check the box before proceeding! Consider flying into or out of a different airport; sometimes this can make a big difference in airline ticket prices. For example, if you are heading to New York, try typing �NYC� into the destination box, rather than an individual airport name � this way you will get airfares for all the New York airports. Some websites give you the option of checking fares to nearby airports; for example if you are flying into Los Angeles, you are also given fares to San Diego, Long Beach and Ontario if you choose, as well. Before you buy your ticket, make sure the price includes all applicable taxes and fees, and this rule applies to tickets purchased over the phone as well. The various taxes on a plane ticket can sometimes be over $100, depending on where you are traveling to and if you are given an amount for you ticket online, it should clearly indicate that all these extras are included in that amount.

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