Find Cheap Flights And Beat The System
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Need to find cheap flights? Read this to find out how to get the best flight deals.
Finding flights is a mammoth task however this guide makes life easier and could save you hundreds on your flight tickets no matter where or when you are traveling.. After all there are so many different options available and you just want a nice comfortable flight at the right price. However there is a trick which will almost always work which will help you get the cheapest tickets. It is really simple and easy and you don't need to be an expert with computers. In fact its so obvious you will probably kick yourself for not realising it before.
There are hundreds of fantastic airlines providing Cheap flights around the world, you just need to know how to find them.
This guide helps you understand how The Flights market operate and how you can beat it to get the cheap tickets.
Whether you fancy a gambling trip and need a flight to Las Vegas Nevada. Or alternatively need to find a flight to London, flight to Orlando, or any airline flight. This guide will help you find the cheapest tickets even if you want flights to manila, Paris, Singapore, New York, Manchester. Economy or first class whichever you prefer.
Firstly you need to understand exactly how the airlines work in order to use a few simple and easy tricks to get the cheap tickets. They want the most money they can from each ticket, so they cleverly trick you into thinking you have the cheapest ticket when in fact you may have just been ripped off.
The airline market is one of the most advanced around in terms of intelligent pricing. They employ some very clever tactics to ensure that you pay the most you are willing to pay. Mathematicians spend hundreds of hours creating special codes which mean that every single person buying a flight is put into little groups. They then charge each group the most in order to make the most profit.
However you can beat the system by just following a few simple rules.
The first thing you need to do is think like a passenger who will only go on a flight if its really cheap. Sound obvious but its essential and often overlooked.
Now before we can start. There is another step if you have already visited ANY online travel websites in the last month then you need to clean up your internet browser. You can find information on how to do this online. Why do you need to do this? Well the websites you visited will have put on your computer a small file which tell the website and all their friends exactly what your buying habits are like. This can be used against you. For example if you were buying potatoes from the grocer you wouldnt say, " actually I really need potatoes in the next 5 minutes so I can cook a dinner for the queen and I would actually pay whatever is neccesary in order to get them as soon as possible" the grocer would charge you ten times the price and you would pay because you needed those potatoes. Well at the moment you have a big sign on your head saying I need Flights now! you need to remove it.
it is the same game here. So you need to keep your cards to your chest and delete your cookies.
Done? ok lets move on.
Keep your cards close to your chest
Remember i was saying now you have a clean sheet you need to pretend that you aren't that bothered about finding a flight and you will only take it if its cheap.
This means be flexible, vague and not to interested in the specific details of your flight.
Start with a website that is not owned by the operator for example you don't want to go to BA or Virgin Straight away. Try Something Different, there are international ones and specialist national ones.
Ok be as vague as possible with your search, even if you know you need to leave at 10 am on Saturday the 8th don't put that in. They will relaise that you are desperate to leave at that time and charge more. What you need to do is pretend you can go on the 8th give or take a month. Again obviously with departure time select any time.
Select as many departure air ports as possible, For example, All London airports, not just Heathrow. This improves the amount of results you will get.
Depending on if you actually have somewhere to go select as many arrival airports as possible. Some sites offer top ten destinations etc. Or if you are going to a big city like New York select "all New York airports"
Don't click the direct flights only box, this tell the airline that time is a factor, and that you will pay more for convenience. You maybe willing to but don't tell them that.
For the class obviously put the cheapest, economy, discount last minute etc. Or if possible put "I don't mind" The more vague you are the cheaper the tickets will be.
Check out the other options and see if they may help out but remember don't let them know what you are thinking and be vague.
Ok now and only now hit search.
Find the place or option to order your results by price.
Scour the results for the best prices Don't get the site to do it for you
now this is the boring bit. Take time to search for a flight which would be a good time and date for you and the best price.
Make sure you look at taxes etx as these can bump up the costs massively. When you get the full prices write them down, time, date, website, air carrier etc.
Repeat as needed
Ok now find another website and repeat the above steps. When you have looked at about 3 or four websites and decided that you have found the cheapest price. then go direct to the website of that carrier and see if they are doing it cheaper direct. often they do! However make sure you follow the searching rules otherwise they will offer you higher prices.
Good luck and I hope this was useful.
(James Riley)