Cheap International Airline Tickets
For people planning overseas trips, the airfare is often the most expensive part of the trip. And yet, it’s the most important part – how are you going to enjoy a trip overseas if you can’t even get there in the first place?
Fortunately, if you know what you’re looking for and how to find it, cheap international airline tickets don’t have to be impossible to find. Here are six tips that may help you in looking for those tickets:
1) Consider the timing of your trip. If you want to go to Europe, for example, consider going in the fall or winter rather than the spring or summer, when demand is higher. Sure, it’s going to be colder in London in December than it will be in July, but because fewer people make the trip from North America during December, there will be fewer crowds and lower demand. And because airlines still want your business, they’ll charge you less – often half the price they charge for summer trips.
Similar rules apply for other destinations. If you’re going to Mexico or the Caribbean, it’s often cheaper to go during the late summer and early fall than at other times of the year. Keep in mind, though, that this is hurricane season, so you’re running the risk of encountering the next big storm in certain areas. If you’re going to Australia or South America, remember that their summer is our winter, and vice versa.
No matter your destination, research what the off-season and peak seasons are. If you’re flexible enough to travel during the off-season, there are often great deals to be had.
2) Make sure you’re meeting the minimum stay requirements — on many cheaper international tickets, there are minimum stay requirements that must be met. Your ticket may be more expensive if you only stay for five days, for example, than it would be for seven. (Of course, the extra cost of lodging and food for two days might offset the fare difference in this instance, so consider whether the extra cost of these expenses offsets your fare savings.)
3) On the flip side, avoid staying too long, due to maximum stay requirements that exist on many cheaper tickets. It’s not uncommon for many cheaper tickets to only be valid for stays of 30 days or so, meaning that it may be more expensive to stay for six weeks than it would be for four weeks, due to the maximum stay requirement. If you need to stay longer, consider looking at two one-way tickets – they may be cheaper than a round-trip ticket with a longer maximum stay.
4) Consider alternate airports. If you want to go to London, remember that there are several airports — Gatwick, Stansted, and Heathrow — that may be receiving international flights. And with rail connections, you could even consider flying into Manchester, Glasgow, or even Paris and taking the train to London. (Check to see, though, whether the cost of the train tickets outweighs the savings of the new airport!)
5) If you collect frequent flier miles, consider giving them up. A few airlines, such as Air Canada, are specifically offering savings on a ticket if you’re willing to give up your miles. More commonly, though, airlines will offer cheap international airline tickets that do not earn frequent flier miles. These fares can often be hundreds of dollars cheaper, so if you’re willing to give up your miles, then you can see whether your airline can give you this savings. (As a word of warning, though, these fares often won’t allow you to spend miles to upgrade to business or first class, either, so be prepared to ride in coach.)
6) Be flexible. This is, perhaps, the most important thing you can do if you’re looking for cheap international airline tickets. Flexibility is key – with the dates you travel, with the airline you choose, and so on. Even by moving your travel dates by a day in either direction, you could save hundreds of dollars due to the complexity of airline pricing.
To help with your flexibility, consider searching for cheap international airline tickets with one of the major online travel sites. The site that we like to use for our travel needs is Travelocity.com. Travelocity will allow you to search for airfare using a flexible search – meaning that you don’t even need to know your dates of travel! – in order to find the lowest fare for your destination. You can even use Travelocity to book your hotels, car rental, or train tickets – or if you want to buy everything as a package, they can do that as well. Travelocity even has special packages available for last-minute travelers.
Ready to buy your cheap international airline tickets? Visit Travelocity.com today by clicking the image below.
