Top 3 Ways to Save Big on Airline Travel

1. Know When to Book: The timing in which you purchase a ticket can be very strategic. Ticket prices generally go up every 21, 14, 7, and 3 days prior to take off. Especially during a peak season, buying your ticket a month early on a site like answers.travel can save hundreds of dollars. If you need to get somewhere with out much advance warning, it may pay off to wait to reserve your flight. If a flight still has space available airlines will often bottom out their prices just to fill up seats. Sites like hotwire and lastminutetravel specialize in these last minute bookings. Also be sure to remember that most airlines launch their fare sales on Tuesdays and Wendsdays, holding off and not buying that ticket on Monday can mean big savings.

2. Look into Open-Jawed Tickets: An open-jaw ticket is where the traveler returns from a city other than one he arrived in. Or if the final destination is different from the original departure city. Tickets like these are perfect if your traveling around a continent like Europe, or if you need to get to and from different Cruise ports, and they are usually much cheaper than buying multiple one-way tickets. Just call your airline to see if they are being offered.

3. Sign Up for Airline Newsletters: I know the constant influx of emails may get annoying, but airlines often save special deals strictly for their newsletter subscribers. If you tend to stick to one airline it can really pay off to read the newsletter and stay on top of things. Other sites like farecast.com predict airline pricing trends and can be very useful in shaping future travel plans.