Here’s a quick guide on how to find cheap travel airfares online. When ordering tickets online, there are a few important guidelines you need to be aware of. I won’t get too much in details on why these guidelines exist, but will provide links to in-depth articles that may explain more in details, in case you want to learn more (at the end).
1. Buy early – If you have to be at a certain place in a certain time, buy your tickers as early as possible. If you’re not flexible on the destination and dates, don’t wait for last minute deals.
2. Buy late – If you just want to go for vacation and you’re flexible on the destinations or dates, there are lost of great last minute deals out there (see list of links below).
3. Depart and return in the middle of the week – Tuesday and Wednesday are the best days for departure and arrival. Thursday is next with Saturday right after. Sunday is not as good but Monday and Friday are the worst when it comes to airfare price.
4. Search for deals early in the morning (the search, not the flight) – Airfares online change three times a day as airlines periodically lower prices to fill up flights. On the weekend, the best time to check is early Saturday morning and again at 5pm, when the industry is most aggressively trying to fill seats.
5. Compare flights to hub cities with flight to smaller airports – Most of the time, flights to hub cities will be cheaper but sometimes, a more local airport will have some surprising deals.
6. When you need tickets for two or more people – always start the search with one person only and after you get the price, order the number of tickets you need.
7. Know when to fly - FareCast.com can help you predict when flights are cheaper statistically. Delaycast.com will help you predict flight delays.
So where can you fine cheap tickets? Lets start with what most people know and use:
http://www.travelocity.com
http://www.expedia.com
http://www.orbitz.com
http://www.cheaptickets.com
The following websites are not regular ticket-reservation websites (like the four above) but rather, they are search-aggregators that search multiple sites and deals. I search all of them and then compare prices to more known airfare websites:
http://www.kayak.com (US)
http://www.kayak.co.uk (Europe)
My personal favorites. Using the option “My dates are flexible” will allow you to see when are the best deals.
http://www.farechase.com
This is the ticket aggregator used by YahooTravel.
http://www.farecast.com
Predicts when you should purchase your airline tickets based on past ticket price increases and such.
http://matrix.itasoftware.com/
This is a great aggregator but it does not sell tickets, only show seat inventory (login as a guest). Orbitz.com is running the same software but this one is more flexible and gives you some very nice warnings and other flight info.
http://www.sidestep.com
[UPDATE: In Dec 2007 Kayak bought sidestep so don't expect to see much of a difference in their search results. I'd stick with Kayak]
Loading ...Next, are the cheap/last-minute airfare websites:
http://www.cheapair.com
http://www.bestfares.com
http://www.onetravel.com
http://www.travelnow.com
http://www.hoteldiscount.com
http://www.quikbook.com
http://www.bt-store.com
http://www.LowCostAirlines.org
http://www.LowCostAirlinesUSA.org
Europe and international Travel (cheap tickets to and within Europe):
http://www.ryanair.co.uk
http://www.easyjet.com/splash.asp?lang=en
http://www.gooflight.com/
http://www.skyscanner.net/
http://www.opodo.com
http://www.LowCostAirlinesEurope.org
http://www.attitudetravel.com/lowcostairlines/europe/
http://www.airtreks.com/
If you want to bid on the price, use:
http://www.priceline.com
http://www.hotwire.com
Next, you want to look at consolidator’s websites or call them directly. Consolidator buy bulk tickets in advance and sell them cheap to travel agents. Some consolidators will sell to individuals.
The most known consolidator for students, for example, is STA travel:
http://www.statravel.com/
I got a great deal to Israel once via this online consolidator:
http://www.foraticket.com
A number of times, for flights to Israel, I used these consolidators:
Shoshanna Segal – from Shoshanna’s Travel (Chicago) – 847-827-1608
Nurit – from Israel Tours Marketing Services (LA) – 1-800-713-3407 / 310-557-2335
Nitza Miller or Miri – from International Travel Bureau (SF) – 650-494-7088 / 1-800-525-5233 / 415-495-4199/5199
Other mix of consolidators and travel agents specializing in flights to Israel (friends’ recommendations):
Dina – from Apollo Apco Tours (Chicago) – 847-724-3280
Leora or Hyun/Ellen – from All Ways Travel (CA) – 1-888-900-9297 / 510-526-7908
Nancy – from Est Intl (Houston) – 713-974-0521
Aviva – from OKT Travel (NY) – 1-800-804-0432 / 516-622-1600
Laora – from One World Travel (CA) 408-481-4779
Rinat – from World Express Travel (CA) – 1-800-441-8908 / 818-654-2880/2881 / or Ceci – 818-702-9572
Joicy, Dario or Mara – from Melrose Travel & Tours (Philadelphia) – 1-866-722-6440 / 215-728-7870
Odi & Rachel – from Okemos Travel (Michigan) – 517-349-7040
Shami – Gadi – from Time to Travel (Dallas) – 972-633-8810 / 972-633-9400
Shami – from Specialty Tours – 1-800-320-9091
Zack (Tzachi) – from Talma Travel – 703-848-1255
Pnina – from Travel – 1-888-world18
Steve Lieurance or Charles from – Compass Rose Travel – 1-800-972-2223
Aliza or Sara – from Israel Tourism Center (NJ) – 1-888-669-5700 or 201-556-9669
Kamla – from Holiday Adventure Travel (SF) – 1-800-559-5513
Boris – from Lakeside Paradise Travel (CA) – 415-951-8814
Monta Vista Travel (CA) – 408 446-1101
If you want to learn more about booking airfare online, here are some great reference articles:
http://travel.yahoo.com/p-interests-23054479
http://www.timeatlas.com/mos/Web_Sites/General/Finding_Low_Airfares_Online/
http://rickseaney.com/2008/02/27/tips-to-find-cheap-airfare/
http://www.independenttraveler.com/resources/article.cfm?AID=4&category=1
http://savvytraveler.publicradio.org/show/ta/2002/20020531b.shtml
http://www.consumersearch.com/www/sports_and_leisure/travel-site-reviews/fullstory.html
http://www.1stholidaystore.co.uk/cheapflights.htm
http://www.etntelephone.com/goodbad.htm
http://www.artoftravel.com/04cheapflights.htm
http://www.hostelscentral.com/hostels-article-226.html
http://www.uk250.co.uk/Flights/
Comments? Ideas? Suggestions? I’d love to hear about your experience booking airfare online. Feel free to use the comments section of this post.
Tags: aggregators, air travel, airfare, cheap, cheap travel, deals, international, Israel, last minute deals, orbitz, ticket, ticket reservation, tickets, Travel, travelocity
Very nice and comprehensive post. Thank you.
If you’re a student or staff at an educational institution in the US, studentuniverse.com is also great for finding flights. It’s not always the cheapest, but the prices are consistently low, so you can find last minute deals for the date you need. There is a verification process to make sure you are a student or faculty.
Do you know if any site as an option to search by price? i.e. what flights are available under $400 departing from BOS? That woud be good if you want to take a quick trip and you don’t care much about the destination…
Well, I just found what I was looking for on Kayak ~ just need to find a few $$ to enjoy my next trip now!