How to get cheap plane tickets and other little travel tips :)

Some are not.

Yours truly falls strictly under the second category… for now (using very good investment techniques such as lottery tickets. Will pay off one day especially seeing as I have had geckos poop on my head not once but twice in this week – sign of good luck in my country 😉 ).

We all have our travel styles. Mine is simple – maximize duration of holiday and minimize the price of the flight ticket which I find is one big expense – everything else can be tweaked somewhat. Sleep is completely negotiable and jetlag is a distant memory with my beloved melatonin tablets – so much we put up with in our lives when we really don’t have to, no? (Had to try very hard not to veer off and talk about life and tweaking it and it’s so easy blababla – uhm!).

When possible I take the train as it really does take you as close to mother nature as possible and is quite literally often times off the beaten path. Different is always good.

But if I need to fly here is what I do:

* Matrix Airfare Search : I always check with this website first. These are the geniuses, my heroes, the legends that are the creators of the software that Expedia, Kayak etc. are using. You are not able to purchase the tickets from here but you will at least have access to all the information you need about almost every airline under the sun then you can go chasing your ticket. This is the link: http://matrix.itasoftware.com/ The only downside is that you are unable to see a lot of the low-cost airline activities. See the point below for that one. Quick note: out of the flight search engines I have found Expedia to have the most reasonable prices.

* Airline loyalty programs and newsletters: I have signed up for every loyalty program and newsletter of absolutely every airline that I have used/have thought about using. This is especially useful for low-cost airlines that never seem to appear in flight search engines. A lot of airlines have 48 hour sales, special offers, early bird sales, last minute availability and they email them out to their database – this ensures you don’t miss a single one. Also ensures that you will be going broke soon but for a very good cause 🙂

* Domestic travel in the States: This is probably a no-brainer to those that live in the States but for a tourist like me that is just discovering the ropes it was all new. Do the same with the newsletters and sign up to all loyalty programs. I found that the tickets, availability and prices really do change a lot day to day so when you have decided to fly from point A to B and have an approximate date (preferably a flexible one), set aside a few minutes everyday to go on each website and check the rates for the day. A lot of airlines I found have special web-only rates published only on their actual websites that appear and disappear within a few hours so grab ’em when you see ’em. Also useful to check the rules on changing your flight dates after purchase as most of the more reasonably priced tickets come with restrictions.

Another little note on US airlines: Some charge an arm and a leg for checked baggage (yes, Spirit Airlines, you! Stop trying to hide in the back, trying to look all innocent with your super-low rates!). It really is worth the extra few minutes for you to get your magnifying glass out and read the fine print.

Southwest has the weirdest check-in where you have to check in online as early as possible to secure your spot in the queue (yes, queue) and get in before anyone else and get your butt in any seat of your choice. Even if your beloved boyfriend has secured a spot earlier than you and is holding a seat for you, he will get mercilessly hounded by people telling him that’s not allowed. Even sweet southern charm has its limitations it seems so check in online early.

Another little note: I found the Supershuttle to work pretty well. Their pick ups were prompt and very reasonably priced. It took me quite  long time to get home on one of my drop-offs but I thought of it as a little city tour.

* For the conspiracy theorists: There has been a lot written about how websites that sell tickets place cookies and are automatically alerted when you return for the second or third time, and when you do, these auto-robots smell blood and (BOINGGGG) the prices go up. If you want to be on the safe side, use a VPN (yes, there are other uses for it!) and do your reserch. When you decide on which ticket to buy, log on/sign in and buy the first time around.

* Airports: Some cities have multiple airports. Check their websites for names of different airlines that might be landing there to get an idea on which ones are active – this is a good time saver if you are going to a new country and are looking for the less known lower cost airlines. Also, landing in a more remote, smaller airport is usually cheaper (not to mention cozier).

* Airtreks: Check out this website for around-the-world and multi-stop trips as well as incredibly competitive business & first class rates. Thank you Ahmet Kayhan and Reidin for the tip! Find it here: Airtreks http://www.airtreks.com/

Quite a modest list at the moment but send me your tips and tricks and I will update as we go along. You will also get your name mentioned here under Contributing Superstars 🙂