Make your reservation
early.
Many discount fares require that you make a reservation 7, 14 or 21 days
before your trip depending on the fare. The best international fares often
require a reservation 30 days in advance. Making a reservation as soon
as you know your travel dates increases your chances of finding a fare
you can live with.
Flying on a weekday usually costs less.
Flights on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday usually offer the lowest fares.
Fares are sometimes (but not always) higher on Monday and Friday than
on other weekdays. Saturday flights occasionally have discount fares,
but as a rule it's more expensive to fly on a weekend than a weekday.
Stay over a Saturday night.
Most low fares require that you stay over at least one Saturday night
before your return flight. However, some fares may only require you
to stay a minimum of 3 or 4 days.
Did we mention that you should make your reservation early?
Airlines sell only a limited number of seats at the lowest fares. When
those seats sell out, the price goes up.
If you don't at first succeed, try an earlier or later flight.
To get the lowest roundtrip fare, that fare must be available on both
the departing and return flights you select. If the fare is sold out
on either of these, the price you end up with will be much higher.
Try an earlier or later flight if you can't find the fare you want;
or, if possible, consider flying on another day.
Looking for the best fares to the world's big cities?
Enter a multiple airport city code, and Travelocity.com will search for
the lowest fare available at all metropolitain airports. Here are a
few cities where this feature is valid: New York City (NYC); Washington,
DC (WAS); Chicago (CHI); London (LON); Paris (PAR); Dallas (QDF); Houston
(QHO).
In addition, you may enjoy significant savings if you are willing to
fly into nearby airports. For example, when traveling to Los Angeles
(LAX), you may want to consider flying into the Burbank (BUR), Orange
County (SNA) or Ontario (ONT) airports. Similarly, the cost of a trip
to San Francisco (SFO) might be reduced by flying into San Jose (SJC)
or Oakland (OAK), while travel to Miami (MIA) may be less expensive if
you fly into Ft. Lauderdale (FLL).
