Tips for Buying Cheaper Plane Tickets
I know the thought of travel can worry anyone about costs, especially when it comes to traveling by plane. Through some research of my own, as well using my own experiences, I compiled some tips to help you find the best plane ticket price out there.
When looking for tickets, consider this, look at the airline companies site. I know it sounds crazy, “but I can find it cheaper on a travel booking site”, but here’s where my first tip comes in at; if something happens, like the need to change flights due to a cancellation, the flight companies put you at a lower priority, may charge you for your bags, they might not have enough seats and put you on the short list, and/or cause more of a hassle with getting a new flight because it was from a booking company and not them directly and the policies are different.
Another thing to consider looking into is flying during times that aren’t your typical travel days. The most frequent travel days are Mondays, Fridays, and Saturdays, so try traveling on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays. I personally prefer to travel on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
Consider smaller airports as well. I know that with international travel that that may be harder, but look into seeing if there are smaller, lesser traveled international airports near by and take a train, a taxi/uber/lyft, a bus, or even just rent a car, to get to your destination. Same goes for domestic travel. This may be a cheaper alternative to going to a larger airport.
Look into the price differences in buying 2 one-way tickets vs. a round trip ticket. There are times when buying 2 one-way tickets is cheaper than a round trip ticket. For those of you new to travel, a one-way ticket is a ticket that take you to your destination only, no return trip back home. A Round trip ticket is just that, take you to your destination and back home. Also consider connecting flights, but give yourself enough time to the next gate and as a precaution for the possibility of a delayed flight. I like to give myself about an hour and a half or 2 hours between flights when I do connecting flights.
Lastly, this tip is one that my family and I used when we would travel to see my mom’s family. Consider, if you are staying at a VRBO/AirBnB or with family/friends, mailing a box of your clothes to that location. You could also do this to a hotel but I would check with the hotel you are staying at. Depending on the type of ticket you are buying, some of the cheaper tickets may not include what’s called a check-in bag. So look and compare if it will be cheaper to buy a ticket that includes the price of a check-in bag, buying the cheaper ticket and paying the check-in bag price, or mailing the clothes to your location and buying the cheaper ticket.
So there you have it! My tips for buying cheaper plane tickets. If you have any helpful tips to add, please leave them in the comments!
