How to book the cheapest airline flight
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Top 10 airfare/airline ticket myths
1. Last minute means better deals - Every once in a while you can get a great deal at the last minute. However, usually the best bets are advance purchases and checking out sales that tend to appear most often on Wednesdays.
2. You can change the name on a ticket - On some low cost airlines you can change the name on a ticket for a fee, but on most airlines, and especially when international travel is involved, there are no name changes allowed. If in question, read the rules before you buy or contact the travel agent/airline you intend to buy your ticket from.
3. You can book tickets more than a year in advance - Reservation systems are really only built to book up to a year in advance. Anything beyond 365 days from now can be requested, but you will wait for it to get confirmed, and for the price.
4. You can upgrade a ticket to first class for a nominal fee - Some charter airlines, and low cost airlines may offer this, but don't ask the Lufthansa agent if you can upgrade your New York to Frankfurt flight to first class for fifty bucks - the price difference will have a few more 00's in the equation.
5. Airlines will accept tickets from another airline if you are traveling between the same airports - It may seem common sense but when airlines start cancelling flights and passengers see their options dwindling, they will often run up to other airlines. To change airlines you need to see if the airline you are booked with has a ticketing agreement with other airlines and if they will endorse your ticket for travel with another airline. A lot less common now that tickets are almost all electronic.
6. You need to stay over a Saturday night for the best airfare - This is less and less the standard for securing a good price for your ticket. International travel does usually still have a minimum stay requirement but domestically Saturday night is rarely a requirement anymore.
7. Airlines will offer discounts or special airfares for bereavement/family emergencies - Many airlines do offer discounts for this type of travel, but most low cost airlines do not. The discounts are offered for travel wholly on one airline. You won't be able to travel on several airlines and secure this type of airfare.
8. You always have the choice of booking a one way ticket, instead of a roundtrip - True enough again domestically, however several countries can and will refuse visitors entry into their respective countries without proof of a roundtrip ticket.
9. Airlines can change a ticket booked by a travel agency - Unfortunately, this is not always true. The travel agency, whether it be online or in person, owns the file and may have ticket rules that airline reservation agents simply have no access to. Or, you may be booked on more than one airline with specific flight routing that got you the airfare you wanted.
10. You can change/refund tickets bought through a wholesale outlet or a bucket shop - Because these tend to be highly discounted tickets, changes or cancellations are rarely permitted. The seats are often bought in bulk from the airlines and the airfares are private and are not accessible to airline reservation agents.
http://airtravel.about.com/od/travelindustrynews/a/mythticket.htm -
First thing first :
Subscribe to airlines news feed from their own website. They won’t spam you and you always get the alerts.
Some time limited offers are really worth the hassle to wait up for the airline special booking website to open for business, get a few lap tops turned on simultaneously and login in to get ready
Recently cathay / dragon air got offers for a few hundred HKD only for a ticket
Sometime SQ promotions are very cheap too, emirates, lufthansa … all got "summer sales" too
Air Asia frequently has zero fares. Just book. If not able to go, just lose only the airport tax.
The cheapest sq ticket I got was a r/t to jfk for only 7500 miles. -
Full service airlines these days feeling the heat from the budget airlines and the fares are just a shade higher on certain season.
Advantage of full service airlines is that they offer more frequencies and are more flexible in case a flight date change is needed.
Budget airlines are usually non changeable. Take it or forfeit the tickets.
Once I paid cheaper on qantas than on tiger air for the same route. Full service plus free upgrade ! -
Redemption & commercial booking for SQ on its website is only possible for 350 days in advance.
For redemption booking the round trip is 2x the miles needed for one way. So for flexibility it is sometime beneficial to book two way on one way tickets. Sometime changes is only needed on one way and do not need to upset the other sector.
There are free stop over to take advantage of too. -
For multiple destinations :
If need to cross both pacific and atlantic, better to get a round the world ticket - pay less and shorten the travel distance.
The various alliances have regional fares too.
I like the star alliance’s Europe pass and North American pass
Cheap and flexible -
Wow!!!
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Airline also got pirated?
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ngl2010:
Airline also got pirated?
pirated needs to change nick liao... -
pirated:
Agreed totally.Full service airlines these days feeling the heat from the budget airlines and the fares are just a shade higher on certain season.
Advantage of full service airlines is that they offer more frequencies and are more flexible in case a flight date change is needed.
Budget airlines are usually non changeable. Take it or forfeit the tickets.
Once I paid cheaper on qantas than on tiger air for the same route. Full service plus free upgrade !
Dun be fooled by budget airfares. I usually take SQ or CX to HKG instead of Jetstar or Tiger (Macau) cos for the same dollar value or top up a bit more, I can enjoy full inflight services + baggage limit
No need to buy nissin noodles to eat.
Check, compare then book.
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