The economy is in the doldrums, tourism is down globally and business meetings are being held over video links on the internet. All of these issues lead to plenty of empty airline seats. The airlines are finding themselves caught in a squeeze play; the numbers of passengers are down and the cost of operations is up due to increased fuel and personnel costs. The result of all this is that cheap international tickets can be had.
Just because cheap flights can be has does not mean that finding them is a snap, it is not. To avoid bankruptcy many airlines are pulling back on the number of cheap tickets they offer but here a few tips to make sure you are not the person on board who paid the most.
Flexibility:
There are a number of variables that have an impact on ticket pricing; the day of the week that you travel, the time of the year and school breaks and holidays are all taken into account when the prices are computed.
If you can fly during the middle of the week you can get better prices as most people travel on the weekends, Monday and Friday. Red eye flights are cheaper as are those that are booked right after a big holiday. If your travel plans can be flexible, a day or two either side of your favored date may save you a lot of money.
Use secondary airports:
Although you may not get cheap international tickets at small secondary airports, you will certainly get the best deals on domestic flights. Major cities have more than one airport; it is the smaller one that budget carriers use. Budget carriers chop out all costs that they can and landing fees are less at the small airports.
Route flexibility:
Let’s say you want to get to Amsterdam, it may be better to get cheap international tickets as far as London and then take a budget airline the rest of the way. With the number of flights going to London’s multiple international airport’s the chance of getting a deal are better than if you fly straight to Amsterdam’s only international airport.
These are but three ways to cut flight costs, there are others including student discounts and frequent flyer programs.
