There are virtually thousands of Travel Agents and an equal number of travel websites/portals offering you cheap and economical Flight Tickets.
Most big time travel agents and travel portals have some sort of tie-up with certain airlines.
They get hefty discounts on bulk purchases which most pass on to the customer.
If you take advice of your friends, they will suggest you to some travel portal they have recently been to. But most people are not aware that the travel portals and travel agents that are around are mostly specialized in one way or other.
Some are specialized in Domestic Travel, some other are specialized in International Travel, and yet some other are specialized in Last Minute flight tickets. This means that the travel agents or travel portals that are specialized in something can provide you with better fares for that category of travel.
Here are some tips and tricks to get cheap tickets
Advance purchase:
If you are not in a hurry it is always a good idea to book your tickets in advance. At least 21 days in advance. Airlines generally give outcheap tickets if you book your ticket in advance.
Compare prices:
There is a lot of competition in air travel, and most service providers who deal with flight tickets have their shops online. Which makes searching for fare on the internet a critical step towards cheap tickets. Your search should include websites of the major carriers and consolidators. When comparing the prices one should be aware of taxes and Fees applicable on the fare.
Best days to travel:
Try being flexible when scheduling your travel. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursday are normally the cheapest days to travel. Also you should avoid festive seasons such as Christmas Eve and New Year.
Late night or early morning flights:
Try opting for odd time for travel usually late night or early morning flight which fewer people prefer. This way there isn’t much competition and hence flight tickets tend to be cheaper.
Flexible Departure Airport:
Search ticket prices at surrounding airports. It can be less expensive to arrive or depart from a surrounding airport or city. Crunch numbers to see if you save or spend more money with this option.
Round trips Vs one way:
A roundtrip happens to be cheaper than two one way trips, if you plan to return to our originating airport. It is always better to book a roundtrip.
Airline Deals:
Find the lowest prices through other sources but before you buy, check out the airline’s website directly. Often the airlines offer additional discounts on tickets purchased online. Plus, you will save more money by not having to pay a booking fee for the tickets.
Consolidated Deals:
It is a good idea to book your Flight Tickets through consolidators who buy in bulk and sell them on discounted rates.
Special category Discounts:
If you are a student, senior Citizen, a sports person or you fall under other special categories, ask the airline if they can provide special discounts for you.
National carriers for International Flights:
If you are travelling abroad, try choosing national airlines of the destination country, there are generally less taxes involved on national airlines. However this may not be always true.
Nonstop Vs 1 stop and 2 stop Flights:
When travelling inside US, try choosing nonstop flights, the more stops you will have the more tax you would be paying, so your tickets would get expensive. However, on international flights if you choose 1 or 2 stop flights and if the layover time is more than 4 hours the Flight Tickets tend to be cheaper. This may not be true always.
Frequent flier programs:
Research frequent flier programs available through the airlines that allow you to earn free tickets for each time you travel.
This article was originally presented on Buy247