How to Compare International Air Fares
The difficult economy has everyone watching their budgets more carefully. But a stricter bottom line doesn't mean you have to forgo international travel. There are ways to track international airfares to ensure you get the most for your dollar.
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Things You'll Need
- A computer with internet connection
- A minimum 2-3 weeks before travel date
- A valid passport
Instructions
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Determine when you want to travel. Traditionally, high season is more expensive but if you plan early, sometimes as much as six months before your travel day, you can find good fares. It's a competitive market but a few airlines have built their business on low-cost airfare. Spirit Airlines and USA 3000 fly from the East Coast to Florida, Latin America and the Caribbean. If you plan to travel in Europe, RyanAir offers competitive fares throughout the continent.
Don't leave out the major airlines. Sometimes the best deals can be found on the airline websites. Register with them to get weekly e-mail alerts about special international getaway fares and promotions. Deals are especially prevalent when booking flight and hotel packages.
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Check with airline consolidators, who bring together suppliers from many different sources such as airlines, online agents and tour operators, to get the best deals. Some of the more popular sites are cheapflights.com, discountflights.com and kayak.com. Be sure to shop around, be as flexible as possible and be ready to buy when you come across a good deal. It may not be available in an hour.
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Hospitality.net says about 30 percent of travelers book their trips using an online agency such as Priceline, Travelocity or Orbitz. Additionally, the younger the traveler, the more likely he is to book travel directly with online agent. Fans of these sites like the convenience and ease of doing research for upcoming trips. Budget travelers will want to pay close attention to the weekly specials and promotions. Airline suppliers work very closely with these sites to push certain flights and promotions, so if you are flexible, you can find a good deal.
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Plan on dedicating time to search for bargains. A good deal may take some digging and patience. At airfarewatchdog.com, enter your e-mail address and home airport to be alerted when great fares pop up.
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How can you be sure you're getting a good deal? Sites such as Bing and Yapta can help take some of the guesswork out of airline deals.
Bing.com features Farecast, which uses historical data to forecast demand for flights and price fluctuations. With Yapta, you will receive e-mail alerts about preferred flights, hotel rates and even when the price of your ticket drops below what you have paid. Yapta will let you know when you are due a refund.
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Tips & Warnings
Sometimes deals come up at the last minute. If you want to take advantage, you'll need to have a valid passport and be ready to pick up and go in a hurry. If you have more time to research, try to be as flexible as possible. However, if a deal looks really good, be ready to buy.
