As the economy slows down and our wallets look more and more anorexic, the airline industry is forced to compensate. This means that flight fares are being slashed right and left-but how can consumers ensure they’ve found the cheapest fare? There is an entire art to finding and booking the cheapest airline fares and this article will touch on some of the many techniques consumers can be used before, during, and after booking a flight.
Ticket Matrix
The most awesome tool for booking the cheapest flight available is kayak.com’s “Airfare Matrix”. By simply entering in departure and arrival airports, kayak.com will populate an airfare matrix, letting you know exactly when the cheapest fares are available. You may find that a roundtrip flight from San Francisco airport to Rome airport costs $1400 when the departure date is July 15th, but same flight leaving a day earlier is $400 cheaper! The cost differences for flights varies an incredible amount, and kayak.com’s matrix is an essential tool for capturing the cheapest flights available.
Day of the Week
Airline fares are like yoyos-they rise and fall throughout the week. Analysts have pegged Tuesday as the ideal day to book a cheap fare (this doesn’t mean you have to depart on a Tuesday-just purchase the ticket on a Tuesday).
Flexible Departure and Arrival Dates
Just as the date you book is important, the day that you choose to fly is important. Ticket prices tend to soar through the roof for flights Friday-Monday because those are the most popular days to fly. If your departure and arrival dates are flexible, you’ll find much cheaper flight fares available.
Flexible Airports
Many populous regions have multiple airports that are relatively close to one another. During your search for cheap flights, be sure to check out other airports in the region for better deals.
Track After you Buy
You may think that the game is up once you take the plunge and book a ticket-but this is no longer true. Yapta.com allows you to track a flight’s price both before and after you buy, and will email you when you are eligible for a refund from the airline if your flight has dropped in price.
Important Websites
Kayak.com- This website is really a God-send for consumers who are flexible when it comes to departure date, return date, and airline. Kayak.com searches thousands of airline websites, including other cheap flight websites, hunting down the cheapest flight for you. Kayak is completely free, and because you don’t book the ticket through their website, they are also neutral.
Yapta.com- Another God-send for bargain hunters, Yapta is very useful for tracking flights before and after you purchase your tickets. Yapta will email you when the fare on a flight you want has dropped. Another unique feature of Yapta is that will let you know when the price on a flight you already booked has dropped if you are eligible for a refund from the airline.
Fatwallet.com- Fatwallet offers users money back on many different websites, including fare-booking websites. For example, fatwallet provides 3% back for purchases on Priceline and Travelocity. 3% may seem insignificant, but on a $1,400 airline ticket 3% is forty buckets in your pocket!
