How To Find Deals Booking Air Travel
How do airlines determine ticket prices?
Airlines determine their ticket prices based on schedules and their inventory. So, ticket prices can vary depending on whether it's peak season, low season, or whether or not they have seats available. The best way to avoid high ticket prices is by advance purchase. You can find lower rates by booking well in advance - 21 days ahead of time, 14 days ahead of time, and even seven days.
How do I find out about air fare discounts?
There are all sorts of tools on how you can find out where the ticket sales are. I like going to aggregators because they search hundreds of providers for you. Companies like SideStep, Mobissimo, Kayak, and Airfare Watchdog. They do all the researching through their search engines and then deliver you the best fares, often daily or weekly. Airlines have ticket sales and discounts all the time. If you have a favorite airline that you like to travel with, sign up for one of their free memberships, and that way they'll let you know firsthand, right off the bat when their sales are. They might let you know at the last minute for travel discounts next weekend, or they'll let you know about an ongoing sale that's good for two or three months.
What are "travel agents" and what are the benefits of using them?
A travel agent is an actual human who will book your travel for you. That can be a flight from LA to New York, or it could be a vacation in Australia, Bali or Mexico. One of the benefits of using a travel agent, versus doing it yourself online, is that they are going to give you expert opinions, personal service and, chances are, they might have already taken the trip that they're recommending. A travel agent may be able to tell you first-hand what to look out for, what the perks are and what to avoid on your next trip.
