Cheap Tickets Harder To Find

The New York Times says that the average price of an American plane ticket went up 10% in March. Airlines seem to be raising all the incidentals they can -- from checked bags to changed plans.

If you book straight with the airline, you can often get a beter deal. Some airlines such as American, United, Continental and Delta, are giving $50 or $100 vouchers for a future flight if passengers find an online price for less.

You can sign up for private price cuts. Special customers can get special deals.

Here's more:

BOOK DIRECTLY WITH THE AIRLINE Taking a page from the hotel industry, airlines have begun to guarantee equal or better prices to travelers who book with them directly. This helps drive traffic to their sites and save on commission expenses they would otherwise pay to third-party booking sites like Orbitz or Expedia. Moreover, some airlines — including Delta, American, United and Continental — are offering compensations like a $50 or $100 voucher for a future flight if passengers find an online fare lower than the one they are offering on their own sites for that flight. SIGN UP FOR PRIVATE PRICE CUTS Not unlike clothing chains that dole out special “family and friends” discounts to employees and repeat customers, airlines quietly offer special coupon codes to travelers who sign up for their weekly newsletters or frequent flier programs. Airfarewatchdog.com, which monitors such deals and posts the codes on its Web site, reports that it has noticed an increase in deals recently, including new promotion codes in Alaska Airlines newsletters every few weeks with savings typically of 20 percent.

On April 29, Virgin America sent out a special offer to its frequent flier members with a code good for 25 percent off tickets booked by May 3 for travel through June 11. And American offered discount codes for as much as 15 percent off to Hawaii and 20 percent off to Europe early this year.

“The downside to this strategy is you’ll get a lot of extra e-mails,” said George Hobica, the founder of Airfarewatchdog.com. But given the savings, he added, “It’s worth it.”

BUY ONE TICKET AT A TIME Every flight normally has a range of price levels. Often, there are only a couple of coach seats offered at the lowest prices. When you shop for multiple tickets, and there aren’t enough seats available at the lowest ticket price, the reservation system automatically kicks bookings up to the next price level.

“This happens all the time, as the ‘inventory’ systems for the airlines decide to start closing out cheap prices on a flight,” Rick Seaney, chief executive of Farecompare.com wrote in an e-mail message.