How to Find Great Deals on Airfare
Posted from: Hong Kong
Latitude: 22° 15′ 0″ N
Long: 114° 10′ 0″ E
What is the upside with the slowing economy? Great deals on airfare and travel all around the globe. As consumers are tightening their budgets a lot of travelers are deciding to go on travel adventures close to home. But if you are one of the few who still decide to traverse the globe, you could get some awesome deals on airfare and accommodation.
Sign up for e-newsletters
When you are first thinking of going on a trip the first thing you can do is sign up for e-newsletters for different airlines. This will keep you dialed in to all the latest deals that various airlines offer. You can start with the major airlines and then if you know you are going to travel a specific region, like Europe, then you can sign up for local discount airline newsletters as well, like ryanair or easyjet.
Search on aggregator sites (opodo, expedia, travelocity)
If you are at the point where you know approximately where you want to go and want to start getting quotes I always suggest starting by searching on aggregator sites such as opodo, expedia, travelocity. What is an aggregator site? It is a site where you can enter in the dates and locations where you want to fly to and your search results will quote you an airfare for a multitude of airlines. Why do you want to start here? These sites give you an indication of which airlines fly to your destination, whether or not the flights are direct or connecting, and the relative price comparisons between each airline.
Check prices of flights to a city near, but not your final destination
Sometimes it is much cheaper to fly into a city near your destination and take location transportation, a bus or train to your final destination. For example I’m currently looking for a flight from London to Grenoble, but it may be cheaper for me to fly from London to Lyon and then take a shuttle bus to Grenoble. On longer flights you can save a bundle flying into an alternate city, for example I’ve saved $500 on buying a flight from London, England to Seattle and then taking a coach to Vancouver rather than flying from London to Vancouver direct.
Check prices directly on the airlines websites
Now that you know which airlines fly to your destination, compare the price you found on the aggregator website to the price quoted on the airline website. I recently booked a flight from Hong Kong to Manila direct on Philippine Airlines website and saved $100 off the price I was quoted by expedia.
What if the airline quote is in a different currency than the aggregator website? No problem there, just use an online currency converter to find out what the price is in your local currency. Then book the cheaper of the two options.
(http://www.bankofcanada.ca/en/rates/exchform.html)
Be flexible with your dates
It also pays to check prices of flights for different days if you have a flexible itinerary. During public holidays such as Easter and Spring break flights are in high demand and will be priced accordingly. If you can be flexible with your dates and fly a few days before of after the busy public holiday times you can save a bundle.
So open your wallets and start planning your next adventure!
Happy traveling!
Christina
