How,When, And Where To Find And Book Discount Airfares

When searching for cheap airfares , I have found Tuesdays to be a particularly good day for finding deals. I suggest that you check at least two or three discount airfare sites and maybe a couple of the major airlines.

I generally begin my searches with Priceline followed by Hotwire, Expedia,and CheapTickets.com none of whom charge booking fees at this time. I have found all four to be excellent sources for cheap airfares. But always keep in mind no one site will have the cheapest fare every time.

If you come across a great deal, don’t hesitate book it immediately! If you wait too long that great deal may not be there when you come back. There are only so many cheap seats on any given flight.

One other tactic well worth your consideration is a feature at Priceline.com called “Name Your Own Price”. This can be a tremendous money saver, but you must first do your homework. Before making any bid with Priceline, you should have researched air fares to the city or cities to which you intend to travel.

Once you have a good idea of what you should expect to pay for your flight, place a bid 20% to 40% below the lowest price you have found. It is often possible to get a rock bottom deal using this method. Be aware that your credit card will be charged immediately if your bid is accepted and you will not be able to cancel.

Booking early is always a good idea when it comes to finding the best discount airfares. But it is also true and a very often overlooked fact that a last minute booking can often score you a great deal.

If you have to travel on a specific day or date, it is obviously not a good idea to wait until the last minute to book your flight. But if you can be flexible with your travel plans, waiting until the last minute can often net you a deal that would otherwise have been unobtainable.

For more free information on discount travel, and to research, make comparisons, and book airfares, cruises, package vacations, hotels, car rentals etc if you live in the USA check out Travelfinder USA Or to view travel information specifically geared towards readers from the UK try Travel finder UK

Are Cheap Airfares A Thing Of The Past ?

In these days of ever escalating prices, is it still possible to find cheap airfares online? The answer is a definite yes but you first have to understand the booking process and how airlines sell their tickets.

Most airline tickets purchased in the USA and Europe are booked using one of four major GDS (Global Distribution Systems) booking engines: Amadeus, Sabre, Galileo, and Worldspan.

Though there are other GDS booking engines, travel agents and online travel booking sites use the above mentioned GDS systems almost exclusively to obtain their tickets.

If everyone is using basically the same sources to obtain discount airfare tickets, you would expect prices to be very similar across the board. But in fact, there are often major differences in pricing for flights on the same routes from site to site. Why should this be?

In my opinion there are two major reasons for variations in the pricing of cheap airfares. They are:

1.Booking fees

2.consolidator fares

Booking fees were introduced when the airlines ceased paying commissions to travel agents and discount airfare websites for reselling their tickets. The only way left to make a profit was to charge an additional booking fee for each ticket sold. These fees are now common and vary widely from site to site. These additional fees are often not revealed until you reach the very last stage of the booking process.

Consolidator airfares are fares where an outside agency such as an online travel booking site has bought a block of seats on a particular flight or flights at a large discount and they then resell those seats to the general public at a profit, but still below the full market retail value you would normally expect to pay.

Consolidator fares are the best source for cheap airfares and are the cause of the biggest price differences across the web. They are most common on international flights, but are occasionally available on domestic routes.

There is another factor to be considered when researching and booking airline tickets online and that is the hidden additional fees that drive up the cost of discount airline tickets.

These vary by airline but may include charges for booking by phone, seat assignments, checked (and in some cases carry on) bags, in flight entertainment, blankets, food, seats with extra leg room and just about anything else the airlines can think of to squeeze extra revenue from their passengers.

Be sure you understand these fees when booking your flight and where possible pay them online in advance, as typically you will pay more at the airport. Fees are here to stay! The airlines made billions from them last year and more are probably on the way, so be sure to research and factor in these fees when calculating the cost of your trip. Southwest is currently the only airline that eliminates most of these fees.

If in doubt about ticket policies and or fees, call the airlines directly and ask any questions you may have. However, never book flights over the phone as there will usually be a charge for telephone bookings. Call  the airlines for information only. Always book online!

Word of warning: before booking cheap airfares, be sure you read and understand the terms and conditions for the ticket you are buying. In particular, be sure you understand the cancellation clauses.

Penalties for changing or canceling a discount flight ticket can be prohibitive. I recommend buying travel insurance if it is economically feasible. Also, you should check for number and length of stopovers, flight changes, etc.

Welcome to travel news

Hi. Welcome to my travel review blog. My name is Steve and I am a former concierge of a major Florida beach hotel. In my blog I will be discussing all manner of topics on the internet travel business.

Why should you be interested in what I have to say? Good question. My answer is that while I do not claim to be a travel expert, in my former occupation as a concierge I learned how hotels and the travel business, in general, operate from the inside.

I spent a great deal of my time assisting guests with their travel plans, such as making reservations for hotels, airlines, car rentals,and airport transfers. I learned the hard way how to use the web for researching and booking travel.

I now spend much of my time keeping up with the latest travel news as it relates to the internet and I decided to set up this blog in the hope that others will find my observations on the world of travel interesting and will check back on a regular basis.

Subjects I will be covering in future posts include:

Shopping for the cheapest flights

Airline fees and how they impact the cost of travel

Do’s and don’t when booking hotels and flights online

Do you need to buy Travel insurance and much much more!

If you enjoy my travel news site, please add it to your bookmarks and tell your friends.