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Airline competition has always been intense, but there are more
and more resources available today that allow travelers to
quickly compare fares without relying on travel agents. Here are
a few of the strategies savvy travelers use.
First, start with the major airfare search engines to get a base
idea of the lowest rates for your trip. www.qixo.com ,
www.orbitz.com, and quickfares.bestfares.com will do the job.
Next, you'll need to cover the individual airlines that aren't
covered by these engines. Southwest is one of these, so check
www.southwest.com .
Your next step should be to check the airlines website for the
lowest fare that you've found from the search engines. Before
you do, make sure the fare that you've gotten includes all taxes
and other fees. Often you can save a little by going direct to
the airlines website.
Your ability to find the cheapest fares will depend greatly on
your degree of flexibility in departure and return dates, and
amount of time ahead of the trip that you start looking. With
the number of routes being reduced by the airlines in order to
fly at high as capacity as possible, it's even more important to
plan in advance these days.
If you do have some flexibility, Orbitz will allow you to select
a flexible date option which will enable you to scan for the
best prices up to 3 days before or after a specified date.
If you have maximum flexibility then simply wait for a good
deal. Orbitz, Southwest, and others will notify you when sales
run on destinations you are interested in. Check a few of the
websites for the airlines that you've found deals on up to this
point to see if they offer any type of notification service on
sales. www.bestfares.com is a good resource to check for sales
also.
The next strategy is to see if any special deals are available
for a group that you can be associated with. Seniors, students,
single women, etc. often have websites that offer discounted
fares.
One last approach that's worth a try is to bid on priceline.com.
Use the lowest fare that your search has found, then place your
bid 30% below it. There are more hints and resources at
www.really-cheap-flight.info
About the author:
Neal is a world traveler and offers more traveler resources at
cheap flight .
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