how to find the a public service of
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Tips for getting the cheapest
airfare Be flexible with your travel
dates (click "flexible dates" at Travelocity) Book 2-3 weeks in advance, 30
days for intl. flights Fly mid-week if you can Check fares at nearby airports
(e.g., San Antonio instead of Austin).
Orbitz
can search nearbys for you
automatically. Check roundtrip fares even if
you're traveling one-way. Round-trips are
often cheaper. Travel on Thanksgiving Day
itself instead of the day before
Thanksgiving. After Thanksgiving, return on
Friday, Saturday or Monday instead of
Sunday. Fly on Christmas Day itself
instead of the days before Christmas. If you're traveling to more than
one city, use Travelocity's
or Orbitz'
special multi-city search. For U.S. to Europe, flying to
London first is often cheaper. Use the correct website for your
situation. See below or at right Sample
fares we just
checked1: Use the services to
get great deals when your travel plans have some
leeway. Most search engines make you put in specific
dates, but on Travelocity
and Orbitz
you can enter just the cities and then they tell
you which travel days have the lowest fares. On
Travelocity click the "flexible
dates" button, and on Orbitz click
"Find low fares for weekends and flexible
trips". Every Wednesday the airlines offer deep
discounts on undersold flights for that weekend.
Downsides: You usually have to leave on Thu/Fri/Sat
and return on Sun/Mon, and your choices of cities
are limited. As I'm typing this, the only trips
available from Austin are Denver ($147) or El Paso
($87), but those are excellent deals for roundtrip
airfare. Rather than having to visit each airline website
separately, just go to Travelzoo
or Best
Fares and choose the city you want to travel
from. Then they'll show you all the deals from all
the major airlines. Many of these are decidedly
cheap. AirCourier
doesn't use a search engine, it just lists what
flights are available, and right now offers only
international space-available flights. AirCourier
also charges a membership fee, though the amount
they save you on your airfare can easily exceed the
membership fee. One disappointment was that they
sold our test address to spammers. USA3000
offers service between select U.S. cities and
Bermuda, Cancun, La Romana, Puerto Plata, and Punta
Cana. In Sept. 2004 we checked and found a
roundtrip fare between Baltimore and Bermuda for
$160 (!), while the best Orbitz could find was
closer to $400. Find
which travel days are cheapest More
features than anybody If you liked my guide to Cheap
Airfare, you might like some of my other
sites: how to find the a public service of
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Cheapest Airfares
Cheap Airfare Tips
Search Engines compared
When your travel dates are flexible
International fares
Other sites
Exit Rows
Don't fly United
Fan mail
If
your travel dates are flexible
When you
insist on traveling on specific days, you pay a
lot more for airfares. If you're flexible about
exactly when you leave and return, you can get
much better deals. This is our #1 tip for
getting the cheapest airfare. Ignore it at
your peril.
Search
Engines
Weekly
Netfares
International
Flights
If your travel dates are flexible, just enter
the cities you're flying between and let
Travelocity find which days are cheapest to fly.
Being flexible with your travel dates is our #1 tip
for getting the cheapest airfare.
Travelocity.com
Flexible dates, multi-city trips, shows total
duration for multi-leg trip, lets you specify
special meals, and lets you pick the exact seat on
the plane(!). What more do you want? Recommended by
Michael Bluejay.
Orbitz.com
Cheapest Airfares
Cheap Airfare Tips
Search Engines compared
When your travel dates are flexible
International fares
Other sites
Exit Rows
Don't fly United
Fan mail
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