- Book early but not too early: Airlines will give you a better deal the further out you book. But keep in mind not to book too far in advance as you may miss any fare wars etc. For domestic US travel use the airfare prediction site FareCast to see where fares are headed.
Be flexible: As a general rule traveling Mondays - Thursdays will give you a better deal as most carriers charge more for weekend travel.
Saturday night stay: This is more important in international travel. Almost all cheap international fares require a Saturday night stay. In the US domestic markets Saturday night stay requirements have to the most extent become a thing of the past.
Alternative airports: Domestic US: Great way to shop for lower airfare is to check fares out of or into alternative airports. For example, if you wanted to go from Boston (BOS) to Los Angeles (LAX) you may also check fares from Providence (PVD), Manchester (MHT). International: Finding an alternative airport can save you some serious money but it does require some research and "thinking outside the box." Here are a couple of examples. When traveling to Germany considering Dusseldorf (DUS) as an alternate to Frankfurt could save you over $50 per person in taxes and fees. Germany's second largest carrier LTU flies nonstop to DUS from several major US departure cities. Check out Brussels (BRU) or Luxemburg (LUX) as alternates to Paris (PAR).
Buying a round trip ticket: Buying a round trip ticket is almost always cheaper tan buying a one-way ticket. This may not be true for tickets that are purchased last minute or on flights that are almost sold out. Some carriers such as Southwest Airlines and JetBlue price their fares on a one-way basis.
Travel off-season: If your travel is for leisure, you can often find lower rates for off-season fares. If circumstances allow be creative in your vacation planning, and you could save big bucks over time. For example, good times to travel to Europe are usually the first 2 weeks in December and January through March. Also, when planning summer travel to Europe try to depart before May 20. Most carriers switch from shoulder season to high season fares sometime between May 20 and 25. For domestic travel, school vacation, public holidays, Christmas and Thanksgiving are considered peak travel periods and fares tend to go up.
