Tips for Discounted Airline Tickets

1. Stay over a Saturday night This is the golden rule of flying round-trip. For example, if you're flying from Miami to San Francisco on a Tuesday and you want to return to Miami before Sunday morning, it's going to cost you extra. This is because business travelers tend to want to be home for the weekend. Occasionally, a low fare will be introduced that does not require a minimum stay. This usually occurs in the corridor or shuttle markets such as San Francisco to Los Angeles or Boston to Washington. 12 Midnight Saturday night is the magic instant. To get the discount, you must be at your destination during this instant.

2. Buy more than 21 days in advance If you are making inquiries into flights that are sooner than 21 days from now, they are likely to be more expensive. Not only do airlines like to be able to plan ahead, but they also figure that if you have to fly on short notice, you may not have a choice. The advance purchase schedule varies from 21 days to 3 days. The lowest transcontinental fares usually require a 21 day advance. There is usually a 14 day advance purchase fare, and there may be a 7 day advance purchase as well. Occasionally there will be special 3 day advance fares. These generally appear during fare wars and last only a short while. This system is a great way to find information and make a reservation during a fare war without waiting on hold forever.

3. Use the same carrier for all flight segments When making more than simple one way or round trip reservations, using the same airline for all the flights of your trip will often result in significant savings. Simply picking the cheapest individual segments regardless of carrier will not result in your best travel value. In some cases you may have to change your airline preferences a few times in order to get a return with a consistent carrier for all flight segments. Choosing "All Available" as a preferred airline is a good way to get a general feeling for which airlines service the most number of airports in your trip. Many times on international inquiries, two or more carriers may be mixed on the same choice when a connection must be made. This is an exception to the above rule, although even here you may benefit if you can find a consistent airline carrier.

4. Pick a flight with plenty of seats left The fewer seats left on a plane, the more expensive they are. Seats in a flight are portioned in groups called "classes". Each class has a price. The cheapest classes sell first. Our system will return the flights with the most available seats to help you find the lowest ticket price.

5. Pick the right days of the week More often than not you will run into day and time restrictions. Essentially, this means that some days of the week are cheaper than others. These days of the week change every so often. Currently, for most airlines, it's cheapest to fly on Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday. The difference is usually $20 to $30 per direction.

6. Avoid holiday windows, but maybe fly on the actual day Traveling during the holidays is notoriously expensive. Most airlines have black-out days around popular holidays. Not only are the fares more expensive, but often you cannot use frequent flyer miles during these periods either. Ironically, the day of the actual holiday (e.g. Dec 25th, Thanksgiving Day, Memorial Sunday, etc) is commonly not a black-out day and seats are often available right up to the last minute. Flying on the day of a major holiday can sometimes be a way around poor availability and expensive fares.