Cheapest Airline Tickets - How you can find Best Travel DealsPosted by Panduro Chen on May 23rd, 2021 So you are in the market for cheap airline tickets, however, not sure where to start and how to find the very best travel deals. The truth is that and discover the cheapest flight fares and schedules you should know when and where you can look and how to search. Yes, it is that easy, and all you should know is several tricks. For starters, do you need a domestic or an international travel ticket? Domestic Air Travel These could be US domestic flight or flights within Europe, or within any country or other continent. If you are searching great flight deals, you need to know WHERE to search for low airfares. If you are looking for flights within the US, you may contact local US airlines or travel agencies or research flights on the online travel search engine. Airlines compete among each other and they can provide great flight deals (just know WHEN to look). Travel agencies might also find you great deals. This is actually the truth... lately several airlines and many large and well known travel agencies started having some issues and several airline banned those huge agencies from selling their airline tickets. Therefore, small and specialized agencies still do have excellent contracts with major airlines of the planet. So, my advise is to look who gets the best flight deal, not at how big is the agency or the popularity. By the end of your day, it matters just how much you purchase the ticket and that you've got a confirmed seat. Most smaller travel agencies have online only booking to allow them to save YOU money by eliminating staff salaries. More often than not travel agencies use the same fares as airlines offer (unless negotiated better rates), but usually with 0 commission. Since agencies have to survive, they are forced to add a small service fee at the top of the ticket price. If you don't mind that, call your travel agent or on top of that go online and check flights yourself. If you are traveling within Europe, you should contact a travel agent or do some searching online travel agents' websites first. In Europe local travel agencies and agencies outside Europe that specialize in international travel could have low fares because they use very low so called consolidator fares. This is nothing else, but negotiated contracts with airlines to market special very low priced flight tickets. International Travel Whether you live in america or other country, you travel internationally in the event that you leave your country of residence. What concerns transatlantic, transpacific or other between countries international travel, your best bet is really a travel agency. The consolidators will offer you the best fare deals and will find you the best schedules. Based on personal preferences, some might prefer talking to a travel agent, while others would want to do their own fare search online at their very own pace. There is no right or wrong choice here. As long as you look for a flight and a fare that works for you personally, you succeed. HOW to find a travel agency or perhaps a good travel website Always use the travel agent or travel website that specializes in your travel destination or region. For instance, if you want to fly from the united states to Europe, search for 'flights to Europe' roughly. Usually online search provides you with best results. Check several websites or call several travel agents and compare the deals. NOTE, you might know plenty of huge agencies like Travelocity, Orbitz, etc. They could seem attractive to you because they are big and well known. But they will not always give you the best flight, hotel or cruise deals. They could be best for US domestic travel, however, not always for international travel. HOW and WHEN to find best fares Where you need a flight, hotel or a cruise, you must know how to find the best fares and when to look for those. Suppose that you found a travel agent or travel website that specialized in your travel destination. 5 tips on How to Find your very best Travel Deal: Be Flexible. And discover lowest price, you may want to be flexible on travel dates, arrival/departure times, airlines, and sometimes destinations. In short, there are different price levels for every flight and the only difference is the price and number of seats an airline assigns compared to that price level. Therefore, all hangs on when you buy a ticket, how popular may be the destination, travel season (peak or low), and how full the flight gets. Book domestic travel tickets as soon as you can (this put on some international travel as well). Most domestic airlines have best fares with 21, 14, and 7 day advance purchase. This means that you might find lower fares when booking (= purchasing) a flight this many days before the flight. 'Play' with the search. Which means that you should be creative when searching for flights. Check flights couple days or weeks (when possible) earlier and later, check various airlines, different connections (an airline may have several hubs or fly with 1 or several connections), search based on price and try searching predicated on schedule (you'll see different results). Check travel package offers. If the purpose of your travel is vacation, instead of booking flights, hotel, and car rental separately, check on travel package rates. Sometimes your total package rate is leaner that should you book everything separately. Use miles or points when possible. Apply for airline/ hotel/ car rental, etc. frequent traveler programs. They are FREE, and you could get lots of benefits. For instance, I cannot remember the last time I covered a hotel room when Hilton Hotel is in my destination. Have a look at hiltonhhonors.com website. Visit the airline, car rental, or hotel website s and sign up. The only real disadvantage of using miles and points is that you need to book your travel early as there is limited number of seats for miles or points on the plane and they go fast. If you cannot decide whether to use an airline or a travel agent, here are some suggestions. AIRLINE vs. TRAVEL AGENT/AGENCY WEBSITE Advantages of booking a ticket with an airline: you are talking right to the carrier, the entity in charge of a flight it may take significantly less time to deal with the airline directly (if an agent knows his/her job) airline customers representatives are usually open 24/7 Advantages of using travel companies or travel websites: lower negotiated (consolidator) fares more flight options; travel agents/travel websites search all possible airlines, not just one low fares available 24/7 given that an agency includes a online booking system Please send in your comments on how you discover your best deals, and I shall be happy to share them with the rest of the world. Good luck!Like it? Share it! More by this author |