MARC’S TECHNOLOGY BLOG – SAVING THE MOST MONEY WHEN YOU TRAVEL – USING THE WEB!
MARC’S TECHNOLOGY BLOG – SAVING THE MOST MONEY WHEN YOU TRAVEL – USING THE WEB!
TIPS ON USING TECHNOLOGY TO YOUR ADVANTAGE FROM A USER-FRIENDLY GUY!
I Need A Vacation!
Seriously!
I am in desperate need of some R&R. I’ve got my folks place in Florida available to me. A friend just moved to California and is beckoning me for a visit. Another friend is impatiently insisting we take a trip to Amsterdam very soon. All are great options and all require a plane flight. So what’s the problem?
I am obsessed with finding cheap airfare. I am. I do it for fun. I pick a city and play with the dates and the times and the airports and the airlines until I find the lowest low price there is. Last August I found a ticket for a round trip to Anchorage for $111.
It’s a matter of patience and matter of internet savvy. But anyone who is trying to find a cheap flight for a trip more than a couple weeks away can do it. All you need to know is where to start.
First I want to give you a few things to keep in mind before you start visiting any of these sites. 1) Always check the "Search Nearby Airports" box. Large cities are often served by several airports and they almost always have very different prices to fly into them. I flavor this by reminding you that "nearby" can sometimes mean 20 miles. So if you absolutely have to fly into a particular airport you should select to do so. 2) Try to fly on Tuesdays or Wednesdays (depending on the airline) and Saturdays. The flights are cheaper. 3) Try to book in the early morning. The airlines respond to their competitors and will adjust their prices over night.
My first step when I want to get out of here is to start with a side by side comparison of the prices aggregated by three websites. Yahoo Farechase Kayak and Sidestep. These aggregators will search anywhere from dozens to a couple hundred travel websites and show you the results sorted any way you want (e.g. Fare time number of connections etc.) Farechase is my favorite because it is easiest to check and uncheck flight options and watch the results change in real time. One thing to note about using these sites is that when you find the airline you want to use always always ALWAYS go to that airlines website and enter in that flight information. Often you will save a few more dollars on the fare itself or on service charges from the aggregator web site.
Next I check out the "agency" travel sites. Orbitz Travelocity and Expedia. These are more straightforward and they contract with the airlines to advertise their fares; they also charge a booking fee (usually less then $10). The good thing about these are if you are going to need a hotel or a rental car or both you can save a lot of dough by booking them all together on one of these sites. Two summers ago I booked all three on Expedia when I went to California for a wedding. Over five days I saved about $175 more than my buddy who booked his hotel by phone and rented his car at the company site.
Another feature I really like about Travelocity and Expedia is that they allow you to leave your travel dates open. For example if you want to know the cheapest time of year to get to Miami you can simply check the "Flexible Dates" box and you will be given the cheapest time to fly to Miami over the next six months. There is also an option on Travelocity to move your dates up to three days in either direction.
There is also a site called Forecast that predicts when airfares will go up or down. I’ve had mixed results with this site but there are those who swear by it. Try it out and let me know what you think.
Again before booking with the agency sites for flight only reservations check the airline website for a cheaper fare or one without fees.
Finally keep in mind there are cheap airlines that do not advertise their fares with the agencies or allow them to show up on the aggregate sites. The two big cheap airlines JetBlue and Southwest are among these. Also US Airways and Delta have begun going it alone.
I wish you luck! I know not everyone gets the joy I do out of searching for airfare but I hope these tips at least let you save a few bucks so you can get more joy out of your vacation!
Got a tip on technology you would like to share with the world? Let us know!
Happy Browsing!
FROM THE DEAN’S TEAM TECH DESK
MARC MILBAUER
