SMALL WORLD TEACHERS, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR Education Rio Salado College Online Instructors Dental CANYON DENTAL CARE HYGEINE & DENTAL ASSIATANT General GROUNDS CONTROL LANDCAPE FOREMAN & LABORERS Trades/Construction Mechanical Systems, Inc. Plumbing Suprintendent Finance and Accounting Sierra Southwest Cooperative Services Accounts Payable/Payroll Manager Health Care Godwin Corp Physician Assistant TravelUse these tips to find cheap airline ticketsThe New York Times
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 05.18.2008
It's still possible to score cheap airline tickets. Here are some strategies to help keep your costs down:
● Book directly with the airline: Airlines have begun to guarantee equal or better prices to travelers who book with them directly.
● Sign up for private price cuts. Airlines quietly offer special coupon codes to travelers who sign up for their weekly newsletters or frequent flier programs. Airfarewatchdog.com, which monitors such deals and posts the codes on its Web site, reports that it has noticed an increase in deals recently.
● Buy one ticket at a time: Every flight normally has a range of price levels. When you shop for multiple tickets, and there aren't enough seats available at the lowest price, the reservation system kicks bookings up to the next price level.
● Make your computer do the work: Sign up for fare alerts. Nearly every online travel site these days, including Travelocity.com, Kayak.com, Orbitz.com and Expedia.com, offers its own version. Some airlines, including American, Southwest and WestJet, a Canadian airline, offer their own deal-alert software, which must be downloaded onto your desktop.
There is also a new Web site, Compete4yourseat.com, which encourages travel agents, who often negotiate contracts with airlines, to find you a low fare. Travelers fill out a Trip Request form on the home page and click Go. Once your request is bid on by a travel agent, you receive an e-mail message and can log in to view the deal.
● Buy a package deal: Travelers can often get a better deal with a vacation package instead of buying their airfare and hotel separately.
● Search for flights at alternative airports: Using smaller, regional airports can sometimes mean savings. A recent Orbitz search for a flight from Midway Airport in Chicago to Orlando, Fla., found a ticket on AirTran Airways for $223 round trip. The lowest price for the same trip from O'Hare International Airport was $321 on United.
● Be flexible: You can often save by adjusting your travel dates by a day or two. Travel sites like Travelocity.com and Zuji.com offer flexible date searches that show the lowest airfare for your route as much as four months out.
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