Dirt Cheap Airline Flights
Dirt cheap airline flights are picked up every day, provided you know where to look. In order to understand how to grab cheap flights, you have to understand how the airline industry works. Think of the travel market like a grocery store: they have several items that are featured, several that are on sale, and several that are on clearance. Guess where we want to be? Right, the clearance section.
So how do we get there? Here are a few tips to help you score those elusive dirt cheap flights:
Airlines generally release all seats that were held but not ticketed sometime around 3 AM. If you can keep yourself awake until then, check all the major online travel sites to see their new fares. Here’s a tip most folks don’t know: Orbitz only updates its fares once a day (around this time); so if you check a fare in the afternoon, it may or may not still be available. I may glance at Orbitz while searching for cheap flights, but won’t take them seriously until I am about to buy.
Contact a wholesaler. I drive this point home again and again on this site, because it’s so important. Wholesalers (also known as “consolidators”) buy dirt cheap airline flights directly from the airlnes, and sell them to travel agents (who then mark them up and sell them to you!). My advice: cut out the middlemen and buy from the source. Search for airline consolidators on the Internet and trust me, you’ll find plenty to choose from.
Buy early, or last minute. My general rule is this: if you know where you want to go, buy as early as possible; if you’re open to suggestion, purchase flights last minute. Use these strategies to get dirt cheap airline flights the next time you travel. |