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  Airfare Booking Strategies

Jump to

• Basics
• Initial searches
• Extending your searches
• Purchasing the tickets
• After you book

Basics

• If you are flying internationally, make a quick check to see if round-trips are generally less expensive than purchasing separate one-way tickets. If so, you'll need to shop for round-trip flights, instead of separately shopping for each leg of your trip.
• Shop for half as many passengers that you need (to help uncover options where a few cheaper seats are still available).
• Try to be flexible with your dates.
• Make sure to check nearby airports at both ends of your flight.
• Don't trust the "low-fare calendars" on booking websites, except to provide some clues as to where to focus your time. The information is often not accurate, or may reflect a flight you would never consider taking.
• Use filters, when you can, to reduce the results to flights you would consider taking. Many sites allow you to eliminate red-eyes, flights that take much time or make too many stops, or undesirable airlines.

Initial searches

• Start with Google Flights. Quickly check each potential travel date to see what fares are available.
• If you are flying domestically, make sure to check Southwest Airlines, unless you already know they don't fly to your destination.
• If you are looking for flights in another part of the world, make sure to check Momondo, and possibly Skyscanner.
• For domestic flights, quickly check for premium cabin seats. They may be available for only a small additional up-charge.
• If you want to get more information about your aircraft, check Routehapy and SeatGuru. For general information about different airlines, look at AQR (Air Quality Rating) for domestic airlines and SkyTrax for international airlines. Choosing Flights Based on Comfort.
• Make sure to consider any discounts you can get for flying particular airlines:
• If you have a companion certificate, it might be a good time to use it. Get 2 for 1 Airplane Tickets with Credit Card Companion Certificates.
• If you have the option of flying on a British Airways flight or codeshare, you can get a $65 per person discount on economy fares, $130 discount on premium economy fares, and $200 discount on premium fares through AARP. Save Money on British Airways (and Partner) Flights with AARP (Even if You are Under 50).
• If you have the Amex Platinum card and are considering a premium-class international flight, you'll get a discount on many, but not all international airlines. Amex IAP Webpage.
• Similar discounts on both premium and economy tickets are also available with World Elite Mastercards (on a smaller set of airlines).

Extending your searches

• Check to see if you can save significant amounts of money by flying to or from an airport that is a few hours away. (If you live near the border, make sure to check Canadian airports.)
• If you are flying internationally, check the fares to major regional hubs. It may be cheaper to buy a ticket to there, and then buy a separate ticket to your final destination. For example, if you are flying to Asia, check prices to Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, and Taipei.
• If you are flying to a beach vacation spot, check to see what is available from companies that specialize in package tours. You can start with Costco Travel, Apple Vacations, Pleasant Holidays, or the major general-purpose travel booking sites.
• When checking itineraries that combine a long-haul flight with separate flights to a gateway city and/or your final destination, make sure to check if you can get a better rate, by extending your connection by one or more days.
• When one-way flights are priced reasonably, see how much money you can save with hidden city ticketing, especially if you there are non-stop flights to your destination. You can search on Skiplagged or on ITA Matrix (using Dan's Deals list of destination codes).
• For international flights, check for fares from other US gateway cities. It may be cheaper to buy a separate ticket to that city in order to be able to take advantage of a low-cost carrier that doesn't fly out of your home town. Depending on where you live and where you want to fly, the most likely candidates are New York, Miami, Dallas, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. .
• For flights to Europe, you can directly check some of the low cost airlines to uncover great fares from less obvious gateways. WOW Air, Norwegian Airlines, Level Airlines,Air Europa, Condor Airlines, Icelandair, XL Airways.
• Check what is available from Priceline Express Deals.
• Especially for business and first class tickets. Save Money on Business and First-Class Seats.
• Check to see if award tickets are available. Even if you don't have the points, you can typically purchase the points you need for premium-cabin frequent flyer tickets for less than the cost of purchasing them with cash.
• Check the price for a package deal on a couple of travel booking sites. Start out by choosing a cheap hotel for just the first night of your trip. If the airfares work out, you can fine-tune the hotel portion afterwards.

Purchasing the tickets

• Double check your flights with Momondo to see if you can shave some money off the price.
• Consider booking through Orbitz to get an extra 1% cash back. Even better, use the Orbitz app to get 2% back.
• Before booking at any site, check the cashback rates at Cashback Monitor or Cashbackholic to find the best rate, and click through to the booking site via a shopping portal. You'll need to look at the fine print to see the rates you'll get for airfare purchases.
• Make sure to include the frequent flyer number for the program you want to use. If you can't add it when you check out, call in to add it afterwards. If necessary, check Where to Credit to see how many points you would receive from different programs. Don't forget about any elite status mileage earning bonuses you are entitled to. Determine How Many Miles You Will Earn for Your Flight.
• While you are at it, make sure that your Trusted Traveler Number is associated with your reservation.
• If you are flying a long distance, especially with business or first class tickets, you may be able to take advantage of a status challenge to earn elite status from the flight (at lower than the normal required number of miles). Fast Tracks to Elite Frequent Flyer Status
• Make sure to use a credit card that earns good rewards on airfare purchases. Best Credit Cards for Travel Spending.
• If you have both the Amex Platinum Card and another card that earns good rewards on travel spending, decide whether you want the extra rewards from using the Platinum card, or the free travel insurance that probably comes with the other card. If you use the personal version of the Platinum card, you'll need to book through Amex or directly with the airline, to receive your bonus points. With the business version, you can only book through Amex.
• If you are flying Alaska Airlines, JetBlue, or Asiana, and have that airline's credit card, you may want to use it to make a purchase directly on that airline's website, to earn 3x miles from your purchase.
• If you want to take advantage of your credit card checked bag benefit with Hawaiian Airlines, JetBlue, or United Airlines, you'll need to make the purchase with their credit card. With most other airlines, you can use whatever other card earns the highest rewards.

After you book

• Register your flight with Yapta.com to monitor for price changes.
• Consider trying for a status match, to get elite status for your trip. .

Step-by-Step Guide to Buying Airplane Tickets

Airfare 101: Find the Lowest Fares

TravelStrategies:*Airplane Tickets Step-by-Step (Advanced)/Page