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Tips for flying cheaper in 2012
We're in a different world of air travel in 2012. Airlines have upped the ante in the a la carte pricing and fee game, and the Department of Transportation has taken steps to reduce the volume of nefarious fare marketing. American Airlines is now bankrupt, while Malev Hungarian is almost completely out of business and Spirit Airlines is on the full offensive. To put it mildly, the airline industry is a mess.
Despite the chaos, airfare remains competitive, with sub-$300 fares still commonly available from coast to coast and a glut of competition to keep prices low. The sales are fewer and farther between through, and only the savviest of travelers are cashing in on the best tickets. So we've compiled the cutting edge in airfare search technology into one simple spot for readers to do their research. The product, we hope, will ultimately save you a few dollars.
1. Check out Kayak's new search interface. Make no mistake, Kayak was already the top choice for savvy airfare searchers prior to this year, but as of January 2012 they've also made some nice improvements. Most useful perhaps is the flexible searching. From the main flight page on Kayak you can now click on "My Dates are Flexible" and then "Flex month" to get an excellent snapshot of when the cheapest time to fly from point A to point B is. If, for example, you know you want to get away to San Francisco for a few days next month, you can select a starting departure date and your desired duration of travel. The tool will then search for an entire month of flights taking place over your selected duration and then identify the best window for your travel.
Another nice application that Kayak has is the Explore tool. All that you need to get started with Kayak Explore is your point of origin; the system will populate prices around the planet that meet your criteria thereafter, whether you want a beach, ski or international destination. The result is a clean little application for inspiring travel for those without a destination in mind -- all while keeping a healthy budget.
2. Credit cards, points and loopholes. 2011 was the year of points and promotions, a trend well underscored by the explosive growth of The Points Guy and View from the Wing. It's a culture of budget travel and reward points gaming that the blogs are basically selling, and each site expertly takes you through the variety of tools that the community uses. Primarily, you'll see a lot of discussion about airline credit cards, many of which allow you to skirt various airline fees such as baggage or rebooking fees while piling on extra miles good for future travel. And though the reward can sometimes be barely worth the credit score and time invested, keeping track of your miles and gaming the system can be a fun and addictive activity.
TPG and VFTW are frequently updated blogs and are meant to be digested daily, so they're best approached with a bookmark and a lunchtime read. Keep an eye on each site and before you know it, you'll find a promotion that suits you well.
3. The airline fee hopscotch. There is a fee for almost everything in today's airline industry, but a few fees hit the broadest swath of travelers so we'll address them right here in one quick blast. Baggage fee? Pack everything into an onboard carry on. Hungry on the flight? Pack a lunch. Can't select a seat online? Wait until you reach the airport for a free seat assignment. Want to get boozy on the flight? Bring tiny bottles of alcohol through security. (Update: Our savvy readers have informed us that it's against FAA regulations to bring 3oz bottles onto a plane. Be careful!)
4. Find the right Tweeters and sit on their feeds. Have you tried Twitter yet? It's a great big waste of time for 95% of users out there, but it's also a great tool for sharing and learning about flash airfare deals. There's no doubt that leaving the window open and monitoring the feeds take work, but if you can follow the right people and check in at the right times then there are amazing deals to be found. It just takes a bit of patience and commitment. To get started, follow @airfarewatchdog, @johnnyjet, @NYCAviation, @gadling, @hharteveldt, @globetrotscott and our very own @grantkmartin.
5. There's always a sale at Vayama. The site that purports to "solve" international travel can't do much to impact the bottom line pricing set by the airline industry -- but they can toss some marketing money into the bucket. At writing, the Romance Europe special offers $40 off flights between the US and European destinations, and though it's only limited to certain carriers, there are still a few deals on the ticker. Once February 29th and this promotion comes to a close, a new round of sales will invariably pop up at the site, so keep Vayama on your radar for international travel.
6. Defer to the Nerds. Check out the forums at Flyertalk and Milepoint and you'll quickly find out that managing the airfare industry is a complicated task. Between fare classes, upgrades, fuel surcharges and booking windows the process of finding the right fare can take hours of research, which is far more time than the average consumer can handle. A new tool called flightfox, however, may help change that. Using a pool of talented flight searchers, flightfox allows travelers to plug in their planned itinerary and ideal budget for travel. Freelance searchers then try to meet or beat that price, and if they can pull off the task then they earn a small reward. In the end, everyone leaves happy.
7. Return your unused tickets. If you'd like to save a few dollars on an unused portion of your itinerary, it might be worth looking into Changeyourflight.com. The service will apparently negotiate with certain airlines to recapture some of the cost in an unused portion of your trip, resulting in a voucher that can be used for later travel. For example, if you've booked a round trip flight between Chicago and Detroit but want to take Amtrak home from the Motor City, you can ask Changeyourflight to try to negotiate for a portion of your ticket to be refunded in a voucher. The service is free (though it may take a cut from the voucher that the airline provides) and only limited to certain "partner" carriers, but if you have nothing to lose it's worth checking out.
[flickr image via flyforfun]
3. The airline fee hopscotch. There is a fee for almost everything in today's airline industry, but a few fees hit the broadest swath of travelers so we'll address them right here in one quick blast. Baggage fee? Pack everything into an onboard carry on. Hungry on the flight? Pack a lunch. Can't select a seat online? Wait until you reach the airport for a free seat assignment. Want to get boozy on the flight? Bring tiny bottles of alcohol through security. (Update: Our savvy readers have informed us that it's against FAA regulations to bring 3oz bottles onto a plane. Be careful!)
4. Find the right Tweeters and sit on their feeds. Have you tried Twitter yet? It's a great big waste of time for 95% of users out there, but it's also a great tool for sharing and learning about flash airfare deals. There's no doubt that leaving the window open and monitoring the feeds take work, but if you can follow the right people and check in at the right times then there are amazing deals to be found. It just takes a bit of patience and commitment. To get started, follow @airfarewatchdog, @johnnyjet, @NYCAviation, @gadling, @hharteveldt, @globetrotscott and our very own @grantkmartin.
5. There's always a sale at Vayama. The site that purports to "solve" international travel can't do much to impact the bottom line pricing set by the airline industry -- but they can toss some marketing money into the bucket. At writing, the Romance Europe special offers $40 off flights between the US and European destinations, and though it's only limited to certain carriers, there are still a few deals on the ticker. Once February 29th and this promotion comes to a close, a new round of sales will invariably pop up at the site, so keep Vayama on your radar for international travel.
6. Defer to the Nerds. Check out the forums at Flyertalk and Milepoint and you'll quickly find out that managing the airfare industry is a complicated task. Between fare classes, upgrades, fuel surcharges and booking windows the process of finding the right fare can take hours of research, which is far more time than the average consumer can handle. A new tool called flightfox, however, may help change that. Using a pool of talented flight searchers, flightfox allows travelers to plug in their planned itinerary and ideal budget for travel. Freelance searchers then try to meet or beat that price, and if they can pull off the task then they earn a small reward. In the end, everyone leaves happy.
7. Return your unused tickets. If you'd like to save a few dollars on an unused portion of your itinerary, it might be worth looking into Changeyourflight.com. The service will apparently negotiate with certain airlines to recapture some of the cost in an unused portion of your trip, resulting in a voucher that can be used for later travel. For example, if you've booked a round trip flight between Chicago and Detroit but want to take Amtrak home from the Motor City, you can ask Changeyourflight to try to negotiate for a portion of your ticket to be refunded in a voucher. The service is free (though it may take a cut from the voucher that the airline provides) and only limited to certain "partner" carriers, but if you have nothing to lose it's worth checking out.
[flickr image via flyforfun]
Filed under: Business, Airlines, Budget Travel
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
beverly Feb 7th 2012 1:26PM
Wow! Fantastic info here! Really appreciate the time you toke to put this together.
csecci Feb 7th 2012 3:02PM
great article!
foxxydrummer Feb 8th 2012 10:55AM
Hint #3 will get you in trouble. You're not allowed to bring your own alcohol on board to consume during the flight. Federal regulation that all alcoholic beverages consumed during a flight must be served by an FA. And good luck trying to get the bottles past the tsa thugs. They'll keep them for themselves and have a party with your liquor.
gezeer Feb 11th 2012 9:58AM
Actually, this is not true. Here's a first-hand story, from the days before TSA put ziploc bags at inspections. So . . . I don't have a ziploc bag, and I left a little 50 ml bag of some funky French "scotch" (can you believe it!) in my carry on. TSA found it and confiscated it, both of us joking about the notion of "French scotch", me bemoaning its sorry fate. So anyway . . . my wife and I are eating sandwichs purchased from a deli, before we board. And lo and behold the sandwiches are in ziploc plastic bags. So I go back to the TSA guy and I wave the bag at him and he points to the wastebasket. There is my little bottle of scotch in the bottom with all the other trash. I plucked it out and off I went.
Michael Feb 10th 2012 3:37PM
While it may be against the rules to consume any self carried alcohol while on a plane, carrying it if it is packaged in less than a 3 ounce bottle is not unlawful.
Constant Traveler Feb 9th 2012 4:21PM
I'm not finding this article incredibly helpful.
Many of the tips & links are a mystery to me (I've used most of them and have found them not as good as other websites out there)
Kayak is harder to use than many other sites available, and I consistently find much cheaper fares through other travel search engines. Cheapo Air is my favorite right now (no affiliation).
Likewise the two point guru sites mentioned. They're okay, but Chris Guillebeau - no affiliation - has a much more helpful site. His travel hacks are very good and easy to follow. http://chrisguillebeau.com/3x5/
As mentioned above, the tips in #3 can not only get you in trouble, they're impractical for a serious traveler. Better to judiciously choose an airline credit card that will allow a free baggage credit than try to shove everything necessary for a business trip or vacation into one carry on bag. You'll thank yourself when you don't have to press your clothes before a meeting.
Travelers should also be aware of the website Award Wallet http://AwardWallet.com which tracks points and miles for most programs and makes keeping up with hotel, car rental, airline and credit card plans quite easy. I have no affiliation.
For car rental the best site I've found is carrental.com I rent a car about once a month, they have the lowest non-membership prices. If you are a Costco member, costco travel can provide VERY inexpensive car rental (link from their site)
I find twitter an incredibly valuable asset when looking for travel bargains. Trip Advisory is a great site with a useful twitter feed: @TripAdvisor
There are also some good apps (check the airlines that you use the most to see if they have a twitter feed or app) that can help you monitor fares.
Bruxellesfemme Feb 10th 2012 6:12AM
Vayama is horrible, I am out 1000 dollars because of Vayama, forget them !!!
Paul Feb 10th 2012 6:20AM
The baggage fee is lame. Just take your bags to the gate with you and when they say the plane overhead storage is full they will check your bags for free. We just paid $25.00 a bag last week to go to and return from Orlando. Many people used the above mentioned tactic. One woman had five suitcases and a stroller the size of a Volkswagon and it all got checked for free. I'll never pay a bag fee again.
Catherine Bossi Feb 10th 2012 7:54AM
Yes you will! Believe me they are working on it as you speak. In fact, TSA may play a role in number of bags for security issues. So....don't laugh yet and never say never.
Diane Feb 10th 2012 6:25AM
I have found very good fares on Hotwire.com. You need to do your research on what flight pattern is the cheapest, be persistent and get a "special low fare".
Judy Feb 14th 2012 10:16AM
We only fly on AirTran Airlines. They are the best in the world.
Angela Feb 10th 2012 7:14AM
I am very shocked that you would recommend people to bring alcohol and attempt to put thru security. This author obviously has not done their research (and is not a "savvy" traveler themself) if they are advising people to do this.
lk Feb 10th 2012 7:20AM
Actually Kayak is a pain to use, it is not search once and find them all you enter the information once but then every single search site pops up and you have to go site to site. Haven't used it for awhile so maybe it is changed, but I usually find flights cheaper on either hotwire or cheapo air. Forget priceline too they are always highest.
As far as the person that says take your luggage to the gate and it is checked free. I know a few fliers that have tried,they did do it once or twice but then the airlines caught on. You are billed at the baggage claim area when you try to pick them up.
rinkaikenn Feb 10th 2012 8:28AM
I just flew from Jackson,WY to San Francisco on Delta with three, larger sized, wheeled carry on bags. The flight was full so they checked them for free at the gate and there was no charge when I picked them up at baggage claim. I didn't have to lug them through the airports and they were happily waiting for me when we landed. The risk here being , your flight may or may not be full so you cant always count on the airline providing that service. I agree that this article is lacking on many levels. Most folks I know need to travel during a certain time frame, ie: an out of state wedding, a big meeting for work, a family vacation where specific reservations and therefore dates have been made in advance, and do not have the luxury of "being flexible" with their travel dates. Also, yeah if you'd like to have ALL the attention from airport security please try to sneak in bottles of alcohol. Really?
Catherine Bossi Feb 10th 2012 7:49AM
Item #3
Bringing and drinking from your own bottles is against the law. FAA regulations do not allow it and being caught can land someone in jail or having to pay FAA fines. You would not believe how many dumb people try this and get caught. People tattle and these people also hand you a mini bottle that is not the brand you serve onboard.
Shame on this writer for tips! Check out Federal Laws before posting. In fact, I may send this to the FAA now. You would not believe how many inflight issues and concerns happen because people are drunk.
Dave Feb 10th 2012 8:31AM
A great site and easy to use is Hipmunk. It has an "Agony" tab that is very useful to show you the time, duration and cost of every departure and return flight from multiple airlines. It's very easy to use.
Kent Feb 10th 2012 8:57AM
I also like Yapta.com. Put in an itinerary and a price you would like to pay. It notififies when the price goes down to the price or below. It also sends a weekly update as to the price.
Brad Feb 10th 2012 9:17AM
Why do we, as a nation, allow airlines to keep our money or fine us a huge amount if there are reasons beyond our control for using a ticket? This doesn't happen on anything else we do. There should be new laws in place to protect the consumer. If you have a reasonable reason (medical, death in the family, illness) and you cancel at least three or four days before, you should be able to re-ticket at NO cost. Why are we allowing this industry to screw us over as a nation AFTER we bailed them out?
Kalle Feb 10th 2012 10:23AM
What is this about #7 and 'partial refund' ? Can you no longer get a 100% refund via an MCO for an unused portion of your flight ? MCO = miscellaneous charges order and can be -or were- issued to any IATA carrier, good for transportation by air, bus, on any other IATA member. They are - or were - especially beneficial when you are using a ticket written by someone else... like your employer. If you turn in the ticket for credit, the airline will refund to whoever paid for the ticket, like your employer. But if you exchange the unused ticket for an MCO, it is issued to the ticket holder and can be used as payment for future transportation. I had a college buddy who made a summer job of taking job interviews in distant cities where the interviewing firm paid the expenses (those were the days!) and he altered his destinations en route and kept the difference in future air tickets. And additionally, he got round trip tickets from home, for 3 interviews a week, but then changed destinations mid-flight, Each firm bought him RT tickets, so he made out quite well as a summer job, essentially getting paid to travel. But then, his skill was in demand and he could do that. I later worked with another world-class sneak who would travel on the company's tab to jobsites around the world, taking a first-class ticket. (It was policy that if we traveled more than 8 hours, we could go first class - those were the days !). So he would get his ticket first-class and then, since the employer paid for ticket he couldn't get a refund in cash, he would fly coach class and get an MCO for the difference, which at the time was 2X - 3X the cost of coach. He'd spend the MCO paying for flights to vacation destinations on the way back. Anyone know if MCOs are still available ?
justbill Feb 10th 2012 12:08PM
Fly.com shows lowest fares each day of the month