The best price for your air ticket can be found best
through your travel agent!
'I bought my ticket cheaper on the Internet' is a common
phrase among travelers. The question is how does a person ever know, for
sure, that they truly did pay the lowest price for the itinerary that they
wanted' They don't! People booking their own air travel must always be troubled
by the thought that if they had checked another website, or tried a different
route, or different airline, then maybe they would have found a lower fare.
Travel agents have the resources and tools to search many different options
at the same time. There are a lot of aspects that need to be considered
when purchasing air line tickets. The good news is that not all of these
factors apply to every itinerary, but they have to be kept in mind every
time travel and tickets options are checked. The bad news is that national
Internet travel sites provide very little help in determining the answers
to many of these possible money saving factors.
Different airline for the entire itinerary
It is understood that some airlines are generally more
expensive than others. But unexpected variations in price can occur even
between the major 'full fare' airlines. If you're not trapped into only
one frequent flier program, then all airlines that fly to where you want
to go need to be checked. (How do you even know what all the airlines are
that fly that route - an airline you've never heard of before probably has
the lowest fare!).
Different airlines for different parts of the itinerary
Usually airlines sell round trip tickets for much less
money than two one way tickets, but this is not always true. If you are
on an itinerary with more than two flights, it may be better to combine
some flights with one airline with other flights from another airline. How
many thousands of different combinations of different airlines are you going
to research on different websites to be sure you've got the best combination
of fares for each flight segment'
Time of day may make a difference
Many airfares depend on the time of day. Maybe it is
less expensive to take a flight at 6:50am than at 7:00am. The rules of the
published fares need to be looked at to see what type or types 'time of
day' application or restrictions they have, and then try building itineraries
around the cheapest times of day (assuming that availability exists at these
times and on the airlines you select). These time of day fares can also
vary from airline to airline, and destination to destination!
Choose a different day of week outbound and/or inbound
Some days of the week are less expensive days to travel
on than other days. The days that are less expensive and more expensive
also vary depending on the destination (and sometimes the airline) - there
could be as much as $60 or more difference in airfare depending on the days
you select.
Different length of stay
Just about everyone knows that staying over a Saturday
night is usually a requirement for the lowest fares (although not if you're
going to Las Vegas!), but there are often other length of stay rules - indeed,
sometimes it is less expensive to stay longer (due to a minimum stay requirement),
but sometimes also it is less expensive to stay a shorter time (due to a
maximum stay requirement).
Positioning Flights
Sometimes airlines operate only one or two flights a
week between certain cities and sometimes only in one direction only). These
are often referred to as 'positioning flights' and can sometimes be sold
at very low prices. Because they are rare flights, they probably will not
appear in your first or second fare search, and you might not even know
that the airline operates service to where you want to go.
Choosing different travel dates
It has been found, a change of travel dates to a week
earlier or later, may put travel to a different airfare season - on international
tickets this could save as much as $300 or more per ticket. Most of the
Internet services will not tell you if you change your travel dates you
could save money.
Different routes
It is common that nonstop flights will be more expensive
than direct flights, which in turn can sometimes also be more expensive
than flights with a change of service on the way. Often you might find that
service through a less popular hub is less expensive than service through
a major hub. It seems impossible to check all the different routings and
route specific fare options on the Internet.
Back to back and hidden city ticket loopholes
The crazy system of airfare pricing that the airlines
have created for themselves contain some loopholes that they don't want
you to know about, and which they claim constitute violations of their air
fare tariffs. But if you know about back to back and/or hidden city ticketing,
and if you know about the loopholes which the airlines will never and can
never close, then you can save huge amounts of money. The chances are your
travel agent might know about these - but I doubt the Internet site you're
visiting will.
Unpublished fares
Consolidator fares are still only very rarely found through
websites. While primarily involved with getting you discounts on international
travel, consolidator fares also apply for travel between most major cities
in the US; potentially saving you huge amounts compared to unrestricted
coach class fares. If you find yourself having to pay a very high fare to
an airline, a travel agent with good consolidator contacts may be able to
save you more money than just about any website.
Airlines make changes to their available fares literally
almost every second and, of course, tickets are being sold or canceled every
second as well. Price the same itinerary twice in a row and you might get
two very different prices. Travel agents are used to all of the different
options and restrictions and are more qualified to find you the best service
at the best price than what you can find on the Internet.
