Secrets to Finding the Cheapest
Air Fares

• A friend of mine decided to miss his cousin's wedding because the round-trip airfare to Paris was nearly $1,500.
• I suggested that he book a flight to Brussels on CityBird for $249, then take a train for $125 into Paris. Total cost $374.
• This is called the "alternate city" strategy and it can save you a bundle, particularly if your whole family is traveling.
• Say you want to fly from Boise, Idaho to Miami, but the best available fare is $545 a person.
• For a family of four, that’s nearly $2,200. But if you check some nearby destinations, you might find that you could fly to Fort Lauderdale or Tampa for just $300 a person.
• You’re going to rent a car anyway, right? You’ve just saved $1,000.
• The key to finding low-cost airfares is flexibility and know-how.
•  Here's an arsenal of insider tips that can make the skies much friendlier:
• Use insider language when you search for a flight
  If you book directly through an airline, specifically ask for the lowest fare.
• If you don't you'll get a higher fare on the same flight, same seat. How is this possible?
• Tickets are classified by everything from restrictions on cancellation to numbers of days before flight time.
• A seat with more restrictions and a lower price is fine for the average pleasure or business traveler.
• After you ask for the lowest fare, inquire if there are any promotions that day or coming up soon.
• Often there is one starting the next day.
• The agent may apply the promotional fare for you early, or hold your seat for 24 hours and officially book the flight the next day.
• If you get cut out of a promotion, call again after 10 p.m. that night or first thing in the morning.
• Airlines often reinstate a promotion if it worked.
• If you miss a midnight deadline, call the airline in an earlier time zone or book on the Web.
• Before you make the final booking, ask about deals for companion fares, seniors and students.
•  And if the ultimate fare is higher than another quote, say so.
• A fare war may just be beginning and you'll get the lower rate.
• Use the Web to shop for cheaper flights
• Comparing fares used to be a full-time job.
• No more. Frequent travelers can learn about fare wars online, via e-mail or by fax.
• Here are some places to start:
• Expedia allows you to shop for the lowest airfare available. It also will send you rates by e-mail for any flights you regularly take or may be interested in.
• You also can browse the Web to get information on thousands of fares.
• American Airlines publishes NetSAAver. Every Wednesday, NetSAAver gives details of their best bargain fares. To sign up, look at the American Airlines’ home page.
• Here are other airlines with similar programs:
• Continental has the C.O.O.L. program;
• TWA has its Transworld Specials;
• and USAir has Cybersavers.
  
  
  
   
• Look for promotions
  Special promotions are offered all the time by airlines, usually in concert with a credit card company or a retailer.
• For instance, American Express routinely offers special discounts to cardholders with airlines such as Delta and Continental, in which fares are discounted $100 or more.
• The deals get even more pronounced if you’re taking the family. A recent deal allowed four people to fly round trip across the United States for less than $250 per person.
• These hidden discounts are everywhere. In 1996, it’s estimated that nearly $1 billion in discount certificates were offered.
• They can show up in junk mail, in special promotional packets like frequent diner coupons or through tie-ins with hotels and rental car companies.
• Buy ‘APEX’
• If you book directly with an airline, plan ahead enough to get an APEX (Advance Purchase Excursion) fare.
• Buy your tickets seven, 14 or 21 days before the flight and stay over a Saturday.
• Tickets are nonrefundable, but can be exchanged for a $50 fee. On domestic flights, APEX costs about one-third or less than the regular fare.
• British Airlines and Virgin Atlantic shave an extra $100 off if you book 90 days or 45 days ahead respectively.
• Here's what I did to travel round trip to Los Angeles without a Saturday stay: I flew New York to Los Angeles on a flight with a Monday departure, returning the following Sunday. Cost: $289.
• I then purchased a similar ticket that originated from L.A. with a Friday departure that returned the following Thursday for the same $289.
• That way, I flew from New York to L.A. for $578 — a $276 saving over the best New York to Los Angeles fare quoted to me without a Saturday stay.
• Be aware: Airlines don’t like this approach and they can assess you for the full fare if you’re caught. The trick? Use two different airlines.
• Book through consolidators
  Consolidators are companies that buy blocks of tickets from airlines and resell them at a discount from 30 percent to 60 percent.
• The only catch is that you may not get frequent-flier miles and changing may be more restrictive.
• You can call directly or use a travel agent. Some airlines like Air France's Jet Vacations have their own consolidators. (Aside from the low price, the flight may not require a Saturday stay.)
• European Travel Network is a huge system of consolidators, discounters and bucket shops that can help with low-priced overseas trips. You can also try Discount Airfare Travel Agency .
• If frequent-flier miles are important to you, choose a consolidator that gets paid by negotiating commissions with the airlines.
• On resale, consolidators retain only a fraction of that commission. They pass the rest of the commission on as a reduction in price.
• In such cases, the actual retail price shows up on your ticket in the "fare" box. Such tickets often earn frequent-flyer mileage and can be upgraded with the use of a frequent-flyer award.
• How much extra should you pay for a ticket that earns frequent-flyer mileage?
• A common rule of thumb is about two cents a mile. On a round trip from the East Coast to Europe, you'd earn about $140 worth of credit; from the West Coast to Hong Kong, twice as much.
• There are several variations on the consolidator theme.
• Discount agencies buy from the consolidator and there is a markup for their service.
• They can be useful if you’re in a rush and need the agency to shop for you.
• Wholesalers buy from the consolidators and sell to the agencies. There's an extra markup.
• And, be careful of so-called "briefcase shops." They look for a ticket for you and may require a deposit in advance to do the looking.
• To distinguish a "briefcase" from a consolidator, ask for details of the flight. "Briefcases" won't be able to give you a flight number.
• Look for creative booking strategies
  If you like puzzles, you can book that $79 round trip special from New York to Miami, then fly to the Bahamas for another $90.
• The round trip from New York is about $600. Especially for long flights or offbeat destinations, this can work wonders.
• Get off at a stop-over. Often it's cheaper to travel further. But, if your destination happens to be a stopover city, just get off the plane.
• The trick here is you can’t have any baggage checked in. Again, airlines don’t like this "hidden city" trick.
• Best Fares, a discount travel publication and Web site overseen by travel discounter Tom Parsons, " are specialists in back-to-back flights, stopovers, coupon promotions and overlapping ticketing.
• Consider charter airlines
  Charter companies hire airplanes and fill them to the brim. It's not my favorite way to travel for several reasons.
• First, takeoff times are inconvenient and planes are often delayed.
•  Second, seats are narrow and the plane is most always full.
•  Meals and service are often below standard airline fare, which is no compliment.
• Even the gate may be tough to get to.
• Still, shopping never hurts. Try the consolidators above. Then try searching by destination or departure city.
• Companion fares for two
• Airlines often offer special "companion fares" to induce you and your significant other to choose that carrier.
• The fares are often based on a higher priced ticket for the first traveler, but offer significantly reduced rates for the second passenger.
• The sum total is less than if you bought two tickets at even a discounted rate.
• The fares typically are offered during off-season periods (such as the summer when business travel is down or during non-holiday periods).
• Ask your travel agent to look for any possible companion fare deals; they usually won’t look without being prompted.
• Flying for less is not a difficult task. Just because the person next to you paid full freight to fly in a crowded coach section of a cross-continent flight doesn’t mean you have to share in that experience.