Strategies For Booking The Best Airfare Deals

by Lisa Pembleton

1. Visit multiple flight booking engines including Kayak, Orbitz, Travelocity and Expedia on a weekly basis starting 6 months prior to your trip. You can also visit FareCompare.com, which is also a great source to use to compare flight prices and availabilities.
2. Make sure to also check directly with the airlines that use Orbitz, Travelocity and Expedia to compare prices, but don’t forget about JetBlue and Southwest Airlines. These two airlines only sell flights directly from their home websites and these two may end up having better prices, flight times and non-stop options.
3. Start scouting airline prices about 6 months prior to your trip. The cheapest rates are usually found anywhere from 2-4 months prior to your trip. Booking too early may lock you into a much higher price, but if you wait too long you may miss out on the lowest prices possible.
4. Factor in ALL of the Fees. Before you book that super-cheap advertised fare, factor in what extra fees you may have to pay to determine the actual cost of your air journey. This past year, many airlines added charges for first and second checked bags, greatly increased overweight baggage fees, and started charging for everything from water to blankets. You could find a $200 ticket on Airline A is actually more expensive than a $220 ticket on Airline B when you realize Airline A will charge you $40 for two checked bags while Airline B charges nothing.
5. Sign Up for Deal Newsletters and Price Alerts. These email alerts will make your job of finding the best deals much easier.
6. Wednesday, Tuesday and Saturday are the three cheapest days to fly. Friday and Sunday are the most expensive days to travel. It may end up being cheaper to add a day to your WDW trip to fly out on a cheaper day. Take this into consideration when choosing your travel dates.
7. On average, ticket prices are highest on weekends. Tuesday is when sales are most often in place. Wednesday also has good—and occasionally better—ticket prices. Your best bet is to only purchase on Tuesdays-Thursdays and NEVER on weekends. The ALL time best time to buy airline tickets is– Tuesday at 2pm CST and most sales are pulled by Thursday afternoons.
8. Clear your Internet cache and cookies before revisiting airline websites each week. Airlines will track your visits and the prices may increase if you continue to search for the same dates and destinations without clearing your cache and cookies. The airline’s computer systems know you are serious if you revisit multiple times looking for the same flights, and the prices will increase or not show lower rates on Tuesdays.
9. Check all area airports from your city. Don’t assume which ones will have the cheapest rates. You might be surprised. However, make sure to only use MCI Orlando International Airport when visiting WDW if you want to use Disney’s complimentary transportation and luggage service, Magical Express.
10. Shop One Passenger First and Save on Trips for Two or More. Airline reservations systems must sell everyone in your party the same, higher price — even if there are a few cheaper priced seats that could be had by a portion of your group. This seemingly simple reservation system glitch (or feature, depending on your perspective) is why you should be shopping for one passenger first for airline tickets in order to save on trips with two or more passengers on the same itinerary. You’ll have to split your ticket purchase into two transactions, but this minor hassle can save you hundreds.
11. Flexibility is the Main Key to Scoring Cheap Tickets. Many travelers have specific times (like spring break or Christmas) when they must travel in order to get the entire family together. This means taking one of the variables of flexibility off the table in getting the best deals. Just know that deals and cheaper flight prices will be harder to come by and you may need to book earlier than the traditional 2-4 month window. Patience and planning will be most important if flexibility is a challenge.