Are you one of those people who is wary of buying plane tickets online, and would rather call the airline and talk to a "real live person"? Your days may be numbered! It is understandable that the airlines, given their huge financial losses and the ever increasing price of fuel, are encouraging us to book online rather than over the phone, to save them money. It is much less costly for the airlines this way, of course – and the benefits to the consumer can be significant too. Virtually all the major airlines now have a booking fee to book and ticket over the phone; this can be as much as $15 per person. Travel agents also offer a hefty commission for their expertise and services. Booking on-line can be an easy and rewarding experience, if done the right way.
The biggest and well known travel websites – Travelocity, Hotwire, Expedia, Orbitz and Priceline – still account for much of the on-line airfare business. A search for “cheap plane tickets” or similar will also bring up dozens of other less well known sites. These sites all work much the same way and are fairly straightforward to use – you input your departure and destination city, dates and number of passengers. After a few seconds wait, you have your results on the screen in front of you. Check the results carefully as you may have dozens of different flight options to choose from. The cheapest flight option is usually displayed first at the top of the screen with successive options ranging in price. There may be several different screens or pages of results.
How to Search Effectively for Cheap Airfares
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.