What Everyone Needs To Know About Buying Airline Tickets

Planning the perfect vacation takes time and effort. Searches for deals and last minute planning will not give you the perfect vacation you dream of.  With all the available airlines, air/hotel packages and varying departure and arrival times, purchasing a plane ticket can be a rather tedious process.  Of course it is not an impossible task.  To cut down wasted  time and energy, follow the tips below and to help create the perfect vacation plan ahead of schedule.

Search On The Web

Knowing where to look is usually the first step to finding the ideal flight for your vacation. Expedia, Kayak, Orbitz, and Travelcity are the most commonly known search engines to use; however, every search engines has its own advantages and disadvantages.  Because search engines target specific types of flights, there is great competition among them.  If all that matters to you is price, the ideal search engines to use are Expedia, Kayak, and Travelcity.  If you can’t find a good deal on those sites then take a look at less popular sites like Route Happy, Momondo, and Hipmunk for a good deal.

Competitive Pricing

Do you know that booking a domestic flight on short notice can work towards your favor?  You can put low bids on the available flights that airlines want filled.  You can get up to 10%-25%  discounts on these flights, all you have to do is check on Priceline.  They have a bidding system where you can post your bids.  You can choose the day(s) of your flight(s); however, you cannot pick the departure time(s) and might have a long lay-over.

Expedia, Momondo and Google Flight explorer have visually displayed clear listing of flights.  Not like most traditional travel websites that have outdated and confusing systems.

Make sure to use privacy mode when surfing the net while searching for flights.  Many of the search engines track your search using cookies and begin to display increased prices.

Best Time To Buy Tickets

Research shows that there are certain optimal days to purchase plane tickets.  For example Friday night is not a good time to purchase a flight ticket.  On average, buying a ticket on Friday night costs about 11% more than normal.  This is because many people tend to fly more during the weekend.

Booking too close to a holiday season is also expensive.  Making your bookings 50-55 days earlier gives you the best prices.

The ideal time to book domestic flights is 112-121 days before you want to fly.  Flight costs won’t be too bad if you book this far in advance.  By planning in advance, you won’t have to scramble to bid on tickets on priceline at the last moment.

International flights are very different from domestic flights.  Tickets for international flights need to be purchased \even earlier\. Purchasing tickets almost a full year in advance is to your advantage.  It is best to purchase tickets to Europe and Asia 100-160 days earlier.  Flights to the Middle East and Africa booked 200 days earlier is ideal.

Airlines With Cheap Tickets

The type of airline you take has an impact on the cost of your flight.  Airline ticket costs are dependent on many factors. Some airlines like Spirit, Allegiant, and Frontier offer extremely cheap tickets; however, they will make you pay extra for carry on items as well as checked bags.  If you have a lot of luggage, consider Southwest or Jetblue.  They have more lenient policies and will allow you check 1-2 bags for free.

Other Ways To Score Deals

Groupon has a system of offering wonderful price  package deals that often include all meals, transportation, hotel, and flight.  Check with your employer to see if they have any partner airlines, and if they can get you discounts with those, especially if you work for hotels.  It is possible to get cheaper flights going through them.

So where ever and whenever you plan on taking a vacation, these are strategies to help you save money.