Everything you need to know about buying airfares as cheaply as possible, in 500 words or less.

by George Hobica on

If I could tell you just one thing, it would be this: sign up for free fare alerts. Time and again, I see articles whose main point is to crown one search engine-Kayak, or Travelocity, or Momondo or whatever-as the best bet to find a low fare. But usually, the price differences in these “bake off” comparisons are small potatoes, if they exist at all, because all airfare sites pretty much use the same fare data provided by the airlines. That said, meta search engines such as Kayak and Tripadvisor will do a better job at finding the relatively few fares that the airlines sell only on their own sites.

There is no one “magic bullet” airfare search site! The only sites that perform better on international fares are those selling “consolidator” fares, but these often come with caveats and extra restrictions, such as “miss your flight and you have to buy a whole new ticket” (you get what you pay for).

The big savings come from realizing that airfares can have wild and sudden swings, like stocks on the S&P 500. You may not have time to check them hour-by-hour or day-by-day, but airfare-tracking sites do, and will alert you when a fare goes down, sometimes by hundreds of dollars, either to a level you specify or by a percentage amount.

So sign up, it’s free! Some alert systems require that you first search for a fare before they’ll offer free email alerts; others let you sign up before searching. Here are some sites that offer alerts:TripAdvisor.com
Kayak.com
Yapta.com
Bing.com
Travelocity.com
Orbitz.com
Airfarewatchdog.com

Don’t just sign up for one, because they all work a bit differently. Be aware that most don’t include Southwest Airlines fares or promo code fares (airfarewatchdog.com does, although it tracks far fewer routes than the others listed above).

And do sign up for the airlines’ frequent flyer programs and email alerts. They’ll often send out promo code and airline-site-only fare deals.

Also, if you’re searching on your own, do not forsake online travel agencies! Way too often I hear people exclaim, “I only buy directly from the airline sites.” But what if you can save $100 by flying out on Delta and back on United? Who’s going to tell you this? Delta? United? Not a chance. Travelocity, Orbitz, Cheap Tickets, Expedia and other online travel agencies are going to tell you this.

You already know that being flexible in your travel dates saves money. Problem is, most people are not flexible in their travel dates. Even so, Travelocity, Cheaptickets, and Orbitz have the best flexible date search functions (check out this helpful chart).

Is there a magic day to buy? A lot of sales pop up on Monday night and Tuesday, but the fare you’re looking for could go down at any moment, so if you just search once a week on Tuesday, you’re missing out.

Traveling at the last minute? You usually have two options: pay through the nose, or use Priceline.com or Hotwire.com. Priceline’s name your own price feature is a super way to snag a good last minute fare.

Oops, that was more than 500 words, but just by a bit. One more tip: keep your seatbelt fastened whenever you’re in your seat and you’ll enjoy your fare savings even more.

George Hobica is the founder of Airfarewatchdog™, the most inclusive source of airfare deals that have been researched and verified by experts. Airfarewatchdog compares fares from all airlines and includes the increasing number of airline-site-only and promo code fares.

Want more travel news? Be sure to check out Episode 2 of Gadling’s Travel Talk TV!

Think those sale airfares are cheap? Think again!

by Grant Martin on

Nary a day goes by when we don’t receive another email at Gadling from an airline or travel agent trumpeting the latest sale fare to this season’s hot destination. Fares like $215 to Barcelona, $199 to London and $400 to Buenos Aires tickle our travel fancies, filling us with the dream that we can score a dirt cheap international ticket and jetset away for an action packed, budget weekend.

Click through those links to the booking page, however, and your miracle sale fares will evaporate. But where did these original, quoted prices come from? Lets take a look.

In an advertisement (ie, email) that an airline sends to you, airfares are often only quoted one way. So the $215 fare that you see to Barcelona above is actually $430. That’s not a bad price until you also note that taxes and fees aren’t included, which for any transatlantic destination is a least $100. That pushes the price up to $530.

But that’s still a good sale price, right? Maybe not. Yesterday’s Air France sale advertised fares from New York to Madrid for $239. Making the ticket round trip with fees included (say, from March 3rd to March 10th) brings the price up to $570. That same fare on British Airways: $518. Air Europa (who?): $520. What kind of a sale is this?

The lesson here is that it’s important to keep both the advertorial angle and the competition in mind when considering a sale fare. Airlines send these emails out to get your brain engaged, drag you into their site and make a sale, but a good consumer does her homework, compares prices and knows when a fare is truly outstanding.
What works
You can throw nine out of ten of those sale emails into your trash bin as soon as they reach your inbox. Instead, set a fare alert on Kayak or Orbitz for low fares between key target cities (example: New York – London for under $300) and make sure it’s set to alert you every day.

Subscribe to newsletters like Airfarewatchdog and browse the wealth of fares available at Farecompare. They both have twitter feeds that you can follow as well. Keep an eye on Flyertalk for dirt cheap “mileage run” fares if you’ve got some extra time.

And last but not least, keep your head out of the ground when you get a “sale” email from the airlines or a travel agent. If the fare seems too good to be true even though it was mass emailed to fifty thousand people, it probably is.

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Are the economics of Twitter airfares worth it?

by Grant Martin on

More and more budget-travel tipsters are pointing towards Twitter, Facebook and social media outlets as the source for wild cheap airfares these days. And it’s true, in a way. By subscribing to the pundit feeds online it’s possible to get the inside scoop on a few good routes, often saving a few shekels on a future itinerary.

Broad, dirt cheap fares (sometimes called bingos), however, are harder to pin down. You’ve probably heard about the one guy who got a $7 airfare to Iceland or the other woman who flew to Buenos Aires for $40. These (mistake) fares usually occur two or three times a year and more often than not, last less than 24 hours. Yet these are the tickets that fuel the pundit followers.

Now, with the proliferation of active Twitterers, Flyertalk and Slickdeals, bingo fares are becoming harder and harder to find. Rick Seaney (@rickseaney) is a great example. The CEO of Farecompare has access to a broad spectrum of ticket data before it gets sent to travel agents like Orbitz and Expedia and as such, has a virtual crystal-ball into airfares that are going to soon be available. Great position to Tweet from, right? But can’t the airlines follow the same feed? Could they perhaps pay Mr. Seaney to find mistakes before we do? It’s not unlikely.
Now, the more “viral” a fare goes (with mistake fares), the greater the chance that it’ll be canceled quickly. So effectively, this boils the bingo fares down to being in the right place at the right time — in front of your computer, with a credit card when the fare goes live. And booking it. Immediately. Were you busy updating your Facebook profile? Reading Ashton Kutcher’s Twitter Feed? Digging through the endless retweet drivel that isn’t relevant to YOUR ticket? Sorry, you missed it.

In the end, its a question of opportunity cost. How well worth your time is it to sit at your desk, reading pages of Twitter junk to sift out your special fare? The forty hours that cumulatively add up over the course of the year could easily be spent, well, working — the output of which would be the money to buy a regularly priced ticket.

What today’s travel consumer needs is a low frequency, high volume alarm, one website that makes a phone call or sends an SMS only when your perfect fare comes up, the red telephone on your desk, so to speak. This phone may only ring once or twice a year, but when it does, you can pick it up and book your dream ticket. And until then? Spend your time reading Ashton’s feed and not blindly pawing around for bingo fares.

Now, who’s willing to make that call?

Megabus $1 fares still available for this fall

by Katie Hammel on

In August, we announced that Megabus would be releasing an extra 50,000 $1 fares for travel between September 14 and November 19. If you weren’t able to jump on the deal then, you aren’t out of luck. The low-cost bus service has just announced that is still has plenty of $1 fares available for travel this fall on select dates and routes.

Even if you can’t score a $1 seat for your trip, you may still end up paying far less for a seat on the bus than you would for a plane ticket. For dates I searched in November, a ticket from Chicago to Detroit was $20 per person, round trip. I’d say that beats the average $160 round trip flight ticket. To book the deal, use the promo code HOTDEAL at checkout.

Airlines roll out last-minute sales for Labor Day

by Katie Hammel on

There are just two weeks left until Labor Day, but it’s not too late to plan a getaway for the holiday weekend. In fact, waiting until now to book your trip might even save you money with some of the great last-minute deals that are available.

American Airlines Flights
American Airlines has several destinations on sale for Labor Day. Buy your tickets to Belize by August 28th and travel Monday through Thursday, starting September 1st, for as low as $217 each way. Book a trip to Jamaica by August 24th for travel any day of the week after September 1st, and prices will start at $84 each way. Tickets to Cancun, booked by August 25th for Saturday and Tuesday travel after September 1st, start at $88 each way.

United Airlines Flights
If you can stretch your weekend until Tuesday (departing on Saturday), book tickets to destinations within the United States on United Airlines by August 25th to save. Prices vary by departure and destination cities, but sample fares include Chicago to New Orleans for $89 each way, Atlanta to Denver for $109 each way, and Miami to Washington Dulles for $69 each way.

Spirit Airlines Flights
Spirit is well known for its near-constant sales to destinations within the United States, Central America and the Caribbean. It’s like the Gap of airlines – never pay retail because, just as the Gap will knock 50% off those jeans in two weeks, chances are that Spirit will soon offer a better deal for the flight you want. Their current sale ends tomorrow, August 25th, and discounts some of their more popular routes to as low as $33.90 each way. As with all of their sales, $9 Fare Club members and those in hub cities like Fort Lauderdale and Detroit save the most and have the most options. But even the rest of us can still get some good deals for Labor Day. For example, New York to Medellin, Colombia is $138.90 each way, Boston to Myrtle Beach is $68.90 each way, and Atlanta to San Jose, Costa Rica is $128.90 each way.

Expedia.com Deals
Beyond flights, Expedia has deals on just about everything else – hotels, cars, cruises, package deals – for your Labor Day travels. Deals vary widely by location, but some of the highlights include discounts of up to 50% off hotels in Las Vegas, Orlando and Chicago (among other cities) and 3-night Royal Caribbean Bahamas cruises for as low as $262 per person for an inside cabin.

If these deals don’t work for you, there’s still plenty of time to plan your perfect Labor Day vacation at a great price. Check out Hotwire’s Travel Ticker, peruse the sale list on Travelzoo and follow your favorite airlines on Twitter. JetBlue and Southwest regularly post their top deals on twitter, so you’ll be the first to know about great fares.