Finding Low Fairs

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Finding Low Air Fares

The key to finding fares is to check around. There are a whole host of resources to assist you in finding the lowest fare such as toll free numbers, airline Websites, and Internet fare finder/comparison sites and travel agents. Listed below are some specific recommendations:

• Generally, the best fares are available on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Saturday.
• A Saturday-night stay is usually required for most low fares.
• Avoid holiday periods as low fares may be sold out or blacked out during these times.
• Purchase your ticket at least 21 days in advance of departure.
• Choose the same airline for all legs of your itinerary to take advantage of connecting and round-trip fares.
• Pick less popular flights that depart mid-morning or late evening. Avoid booking flights on heavy travel days: Sunday, Monday, and Friday.
• Many airlines send great e-mail specials with little or no notice, so if you are flexible it is a great way to travel at reduced prices.
• Be flexible! - If you can stay over an extra day, leave on a Wednesday instead of a Monday, or leave from a different airport, your costs can be reduced by hundreds of dollars at times.

When you are talking with a travel agent, you should acquire familiarity with some of the "buzz-words" used by travel agents

• Excursion Fare - (Sometimes referred to as "Super Saver Fares") these are special prices offered by airlines for purchases made well in advance of the planned departure date. These are usually the least costly fare, but do require advance planning. As a rule, they must be purchased at least 14-to-21 days before the flight departure. Also, you must pay for the ticket within 24-hours of booking or the reservation is automatically cancelled. Caution: even if you pay within 24-hours, the fare is subject to change until actually paid-for. And most importantly, there are penalties for not flying on the scheduled flight. These penalties can range from a cash payment of $35 or $50 to re-book the flight, to a refusal to honor the ticket on any subsequent flight.
  
• Military Leisure Fares: If you have any doubt concerning your possible departure or return travel dates, consider using a leisure fare. These fares are offered by most airlines to active duty military personnel going on leave at 50 percent off the full-coach fare. This may appear more expensive than the Excursion Fares, but they are unrestricted, meaning that if you have a change in plans at any time before the flight, you may make a change with the airline with no penalty. Additionally, the airlines generally do not restrict the number of military leisure tickets. Note - these fares are available to military members on leave only - family members are not authorized to use this service. Furthermore, when making reservations, you must identify yourself as member of the armed forces on leave and provide military identification upon receipt of the ticket.
  
• Restricted Fares: These fares subject the traveler to monetary penalty or outright loss of the right to use the ticket altogether if the reservation is not used on the date and for the flight that was scheduled. As a rule, these fares are capacity controlled, meaning only a few seats on a particular flight will be sold at the discounted rate.
  
• Unrestricted/Non-restricted Fares: These fares usually cost substantially more than the restricted fares, however, they offer the advantage of flexibility in the event your travel plans change. Non-restricted tickets can be changed for other flights, traded-in as credit for a different flight at the original value, or exchanged for a one-hundred percent refund from the airline.
  
• Stand-By: Because there are always a number of individuals who do not make the flight on which they were booked, airlines typically accept a certain number of reservations on fully-booked flights that exceed the number of seats on the airplane. At a certain point, the airline will stop assigning seats but will continue to accept reservations. Travelers who are not assigned a seat are on "stand-by" status, which means the airline will assign the traveler the first available seat.
  
• Airline Vouchers: When it becomes clear to airline personnel that a particular flight is overbooked and that more passengers have arrived at the gate than there are available seats, airlines will frequently offer individuals with confirmed seats the opportunity to voluntarily give-up their seats in return for vouchers that have a dollar value and can be used for other flights on the airline. In most cases, the individual will be guaranteed a seat on the next flight going to the traveler's destination. If there are no other flights leaving that day, the airline will usually make arrangements for the passenger to stay in a hotel at the airline's expense. If the airline fails to get enough volunteers to accept the offer of airline vouchers to seat all the overflow passengers, some passengers will be "bumped" arbitrarily. In most instances, individuals who are involuntarily bumped from overbooked flights will not be offered a voucher or other compensating value for their inconvenience. Usually individuals with a previously assigned seat will not be bumped.
  
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