Top 10 methods for finding cheap airplane tickets

Posted by Gabe on Mar 11, 2008 |


Photo by by Cubbie_n_Vegas

1) Keep your schedule flexible.
By being flexible, you have more opportunities to find discounted rates.  You don’t have to live your life in limbo, just plan ahead before you make any solid date commitments.

2) Avoid direct flights if a layover will reduce cost.
The rule of thumb here is to try different scenarios with different flight times.

3) Try flights from other near-by airports.
Sometimes a flight leaving to the same location from a neighboring airport will have significantlly reduced rates.


4) Buy through a travel agent.
Although I’m hesitent to suggest this, the bottom line is that if all flights purchased online were cheaper than what you could get at a travel agency, the travel agents would be out of business.  Be frugal, shop around and compare the costs with what you can find online.  Buying tickets online give you the power to refine your search and between multiple aitrlines (such as Orbtiz.com).

5) Find a flight at the last minute.
This is only if you’re REALLY flexible in your schedule and don’t mind leaving at the drop of a hat.  Check out AirTech.com for special discounts on last minute travel.  Lot’s of Europe and Hawaii trips available here with an average of 48 hours notice.

6) Become an air courier.
With around 32,000 courier flights a year, courier travel is probably the greatest opportunity for getting really cheap (possibly even free) tickets.  Although courier travel isn’t for everyone, for those people with time on their hands and a sense of adventure, it’s a great way to see the world a little bit at a time at a very affordable price. Check out AirCourier.org or do a Google serach for “air courier”.

7) Hitch a ride.
An interesting concept of “exploratory travel”.  check out AirHitch.com.

8) Place a bid.
A non-traditional method of finding flights. Websites like PriceLine.com offer reverse auction systems. You can place a bid of what you are willing to pay to a particular desintation on a given date, and if it turns out that an airline is willing to release a seat for that price, your credit card is billed an a ticket is issued.

9) Get on the mailing lists.
Each airline usually has some sort of mailing list which informs people of upcoming discounts.  Be sure to jump on a special as soon as possible as these typically fill up quickly.

10) Explore.
An important thing to keep in mind when locating discount travel options is to explore as many avenues as you can.  The more flexible you are, the more likely you’ll be to find discounted rates. 



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