11 Ways to Save on Airfare in Any Season

Yes, fares on many routes are more expensive this year than last, but airfares are not static and there are (relative) deals to be had any time of year. Here’s my best advice for making your airfare dollars go farther no matter what the time of year you fly.

1. Sign up for the airlines’ email feeds and frequent flyer programs

Yes, we know, you already get too much email, but the airlines want to develop a one-on-one relationship with you, so they’ll send you special deals, such as 50 percent off promo codes or two-fers, if you sign up. Airline sites sell much more than airfares these days (hotels, rental cars, credit cards and such), and they will entice you to deal direct rather than use a third party site such as Orbitz. If you’re on Twitter, you might also want to follow the airlines’ which they’re using to promote exclusive Twitter-only deals. I signed up for Virgin America’s frequent flyer program and because I hadn’t flown them yet I kept on getting promo code discount offers to give them a try.

2. Sign up for third-party fare alerts

Do a browser search for “airfare alerts.” Many airfare web sites offer them, and they all have something to offer. Some let you track your specific itinerary, down to the flight number and dates of travel, and will let you know if the airline owes you a price-drop refund. Airfarewatchdog.com will send you a list of the cheapest fares from your nearest airports, or alerts on specific routes when the fare is a bargain. Travelocity’s easy-to-use Farewatcher lets you track up to ten routes and you can choose to be notified either when a fare goes down by $25 or more, or when it goes below a price you choose. Orbitz also offers alerts, as does Bing Travel, TripAdivsor.com/flights and others.

3. Search airline sites individually, but not exclusively

As noted above, many airlines have “private” sales, reserving their very best fares for their own sites. These are different from promo code fares. International airlines such as Aer Lingus, Iberia and Qantas regularly offer lower fares (i.e., $100-$400 less) on their own web sites compared to what you’ll find on Kayak or Orbitz. And yet, you shouldn’t ignore online travel agencies such as Expedia and Travelocity, because these sites will tell you if it’s cheaper flying out on one airline and back on another. In general, airline sites want you to fly only on their “metal.”

4. Buy hotel + air packages

It’s often significantly cheaper to buy an air plus hotel package rather than airfare alone, especially for last minute travel. We often see Travelocity “TotalTrip” offerings, especially on last minute flights, pop up with hotel plus air for half the price of air alone. Lastminute.com is also a great source for finding last minute packages.

5. Use Priceline for last minute trips

If you don’t have a 7-, 14-, or 21-day advance purchase window to buy your fare, your best bet is the “name your own price” feature of Priceline.com. True, you won’t know the exact flight times or airline you’re flying until to pay for your trip, but you can save 50% or more. Hotwire.com can also be useful for last minute trips.

6. Use consolidators, but beware of the restrictions

Especially with the economic downturn, business and first class cabins will be emptier in 2010, and deals will be amazing. Consolidators specializing in premium cabins will have some great deals, and the airlines themselves will be heavily discounting their premium cabins, so check the specials on their web sites. Do a browser search for “consolidator+your destination” to see what’s available.

7. Use a flexible date search

True, many people are not flexible in their travel dates, but would you fly in a different month or a day or two earlier or later to save hundreds of bucks? If so, learn how to do a flexible travel date search on airline and third-party sites. Right now, Kayak.com has the most versatile flexible date search function, although once in a while the results are entirely accurate due rapidly changing airfares.

8. Consider the extra fees before you buy

If Southwest has a fare of $198 round-trip and United has one for $148, and you are checking three bags, then Southwest actually has the lowest fare because Southwest charges nothing for the first two checked bags, whereas United would charge you an additional $165 each way for three.

9. Combine two separate fares rather than buying one fare

If you’re flying to a destination in Europe, you might save money by purchasing one fare from the U.S. to, say, Dublin, and another from Dublin onward on Ryanair.com (just beware of Ryanair’s onerous baggage fees). Same holds true for some destinations in Asia (fly into Singapore and catch a low cost carrier such as Airasia.com from there) and to some smaller Caribbean destinations via San Juan or the Bahamas. Even domestically, two fares are often less than one, such as the recent scenario where Dallas to Honolulu was selling for $350 round-trip with tax, but Houston/ Honolulu was $800. As you’re no doubt aware, you can fly Houston-Dallas for a lot less than $450!

10. Buy tickets on an airline that will refund the difference if a fare goes down

Let’s say you’ve found the lowest fare, and then the day after purchase your non-refundable fare for the same itinerary goes down. If you ask for it you can get a refund for the difference. But some airlines will charge you a costly “administrative” fee of $150 or more, wiping out any savings. Others will give you the entire fare difference without extracting a fee. Currently, the “nice” airlines are JetBlue, Southwest and Alaska.

11. Check fares several times a day, and don’t listen to airfare pundits who predict airfares

A lot of people like to pretend they’re clairvoyant, and they know where airfares are headed. But airlines are unpredictable creatures, and any airfare expert who claims he knows exactly when airfares are cheapest would have built an airfare website to end all airfare websites by now (that hasn’t happened). No one can accurately predict where airfares are heading, any more than we can predict the stock market, because we have no idea when the economy will improve, or how much airlines will cut back capacity, or when the next flu epidemic will hit or where fuel prices are going. Fares fluctuate throughout the day, and the number of seats offered at the lowest fares also changes frequently. So if you don’t like the fare at 10 a.m., check at 2 p.m. or the next day and you may be surprised.