| To begin with, the best place to buy really cheap | | | | over $1000 when we went to South America.) There |
| plane tickets is online. Travel agencies can't compete | | | | is the problem of whether you'll get a refund if your |
| with discount ticket sites. Search Google ("cheap | | | | timing is off on the connections (you probably won't). |
| airfare south america", for example), or try the | | | | Check for package deals, where you pay for plane |
| well-known sites, like Expedia, Travelocity, Cheap | | | | tickets and your hotel room. I haven't had much luck |
| Tickets, Hotwire or Priceline. | | | | with these deals, but it can't hurt to look at them. |
| Just now I checked fares from Tucson, Arizona to | | | | Buying ahead of time gets you cheaper plane tickets. |
| Traverse City, Michigan on the five sites mentioned | | | | Any thing less than a week away tends to be |
| above. The cheapest quotes ranged from $704 to | | | | expensive, although you never can tell in the |
| $432. Nevermind which was cheapest (oh, okay, it | | | | mysterious realm of airfare pricing. Sometimes the |
| was Expedia), because you never know from day to | | | | "last minute specials" are the best thing going. |
| day which sites will find the cheapest flights. | | | | Priceline still has their "Name Your Own Price" feature. |
| Check at least three places. In this case, it would | | | | Make your bid, and the airlines say yes or no, |
| mean a savings of $272. The flight durations are | | | | depending on whether they have empty seats to fill. |
| within minutes of each other, by the way, and the | | | | First search for the cheapest tickets you can find, |
| food is probably equally bad on all the flights. | | | | then bid lower than that. If your bid is rejected, you |
| Flexibility For Even Cheaper Airfare | | | | can return to the website where you found the best |
| The more flexible you are, the better your chance of | | | | deal and book it. |
| getting a really cheap plane tickets. Try different | | | | If You're Really Cheap |
| departure and return dates if you can. Check the box | | | | My wife and I once took a bus from Michigan to |
| "2 or more connecting flights". Mark the "anytime" | | | | Miami, and flew from there to Ecuador. For us at that |
| departure, even if you don't want to leave at | | | | time, saving a couple hundred dollars was worth 38 |
| midnight - the savings might change your mind. Try all | | | | hours on a bus. This won't save you much on |
| the options. If the savings aren't enough, you can | | | | domestic flights. Right now, for example, taking a bus |
| always book first class, direct flights, or whatever | | | | from Traverse City to Detroit, then flying to Los |
| you prefer. | | | | Angeles, would only save about $70 (allowing for cab |
| Really Cheap Plane Tickets - More Ways | | | | fare to the airport) over flying directly. |
| You can buy two tickets. The cheapest airfare from | | | | There are other options beyond the scope of this |
| Grand Rapids, Michigan to Tucson, Arizona costs $451 | | | | article. Courier flights, for example, can be a great |
| roundtrip right now. Las Vegas to Tucson is only | | | | deal if you don't mind letting a company use your |
| $161, however, and there are regular $199 specials to | | | | baggage allowance (you get carry-on only). There are |
| Vegas from Grand Rapids. It's up to you whether | | | | also stand-by deals and last minute deals and other |
| saving $91 is worth booking two flights. (It saved us | | | | ways to get really cheap plane tickets. Good luck! |