Flying The Inexpensive Way
March 20, 2009 by Jennifer Chait
Filed under Thrifty Travel
Actually, I’m not sure inexpensive is the right word. Less expensive might be more appropriate. With summer coming up fast, you may be thinking about flying off for a vacation; here’s how to save some green in the process…
PLAN WELL!:
Not planning well is a serious flight blunder. Rebooking can cost you huge amounts in fees and some flights may not even be refundable at all – not even for credit (i.e. international flights). Make sure you have a plan that, not counting major emergencies, will work out. Also make sure your flight back is reasonable. Case in point – one summer my ex and I flew to my nightmare of a mother-in-law’s house. Three days in we decided to leave early (before violence broke out) – we had to pay a lot of fees to fly out early. Make sure you don’t over-estimate your vacation ability.
Shop, shop, shop:
Shop around a lot before settling on tickets. Check with different airlines but use the same dates to gauge price. Also if you live in a big city, or a city near another city it may cost less to fly out of the further away airport. Same for arrival cities. The last time I went to San Francisco for example, it was cheaper to fly into Oakland and take the Bart into the city.
Don’t fly on weekends:
This is not hard and fast, but normally flights during the week will cost less.
Maybe buy two tickets vs. round trip:
Sometimes it can be less expensive to buy one ticket to a destination and another back vs. round way. Not always though – check prices on both.
Re-think your vacation:
Summer is nutty. Everyone travels. Can you get the kids out of school early in the spring or keep them out in the fall and travel then? Vacations are fun anytime of year, why not go when flights and other things like hotels are cheaper?
Read the fine print and double check before clicking buy:
True story – my friend just bought online tickets for a trip, he was all excited to get this great deal. He bought the tickets AND THEN noticed that the ticket he bought was one-way. He thought it was round trip and it turns out his great deal, well, sort of sucked. Make sure you read all the fine print, and know exactly what you’re buying before you pay.
Ignore all the rules:
Besides the shop, shop, shop rule and the read the fine print rule, most flight rules can change. No matter what you hear about online deals, airline newsletter deals, or best times to fly, the only way to know for sure is to check around.
[image via stock.xchng]
We just did this – we flew into a cheaper city on a cheaper airline and saved over $400 for 2 people.
Karen — thanks for the useful information. Let me add two points:
- always try to include a Saturday night in your trip. Business Travelers rarely fly over the weekend, so airlines will charge more for flights that don’t include a Saturday night.
- you can almost always cancel a flight within 24 hours of booking for no penalty. Just call the airline, tell them you made a mistake and they often will give you a chance to back out (this might have been a good option for him!)
Thanks again!