7 extremely easy tips to save 20-50% on flight tickets 14

Yay, I just booked 2 flight tickets to my second hometown, Halifax from Toronto for 5 days. Well, yes… I am not going to another Canadian City during freezing winter for a vacation but to take care of a couple of things as well as visiting some friends with my wife. The distance is about 1800km (1200 miles) and I am paying only $380 per round ticket which equals to 9.5km per dollar. My car gets about 13-14km with a liter of gas (currently about $1 per liter), so I have done pretty well considering the time, fees for accommodation and maintenance and energy that I will save by flying rather than driving during terrifying Canadian winter. As you know, I squeeze every penny out on whatever I buy, so I wanted to share 7 simple tips that will save you 20-50% of the flight tickets you buy.

Here are 7 extremely easy tips to save 20-50% on flight tickets

1. Travel during off-season.

Flights are incredibly cheaper during off-peak season.

-Avoid family travel season especially when kids are on school breaks and vacations

-Avoid Holidays especially Christmas, Thanksgiving days, New Year’s days in North America.

-Europe- Avoid May through mid-September. After mid-September is great time as kids are back at school and still have beautiful weather with a lot less crowds

-Caribbean, Central America and Mexico- April and May are great months to visit as the flights are cheaper and have great weather.

2. Book 4-6 weeks in advance

Fares are generally the most expensive from 9-10 weeks and 2-3 weeks in advance. The perfect timing is about 6-8 weeks before travelling. When I tried exactly 9 weeks ago, the cheapest ticket was ridiculously expensive at $555, 8 weeks at $471, then 7 weeks at $380 which maintained until the following week. Amazing isn’t it? It would vary but Cheapair and Skyscanner state that 54 days in advance is the best time to buy flight tickets.

3. Book on cheapest days

In general, Thursday is the cheapest days to book your tickets closely followed by Tuesday and Wednesday. Saturday and Sunday are the most expensive days as more people search for flight tickets. On last Sunday, my ticket was $467

then it dropped to $419 on Monday

$405 on Tuesday

then $380 on Thursday and that’s when I pulled the trigger.

It is as just simple as that. Air companies often provides sales in the middle of week when sales are lower than during weekends so Tuesday to Thursday are the best days to buy tickets.

4. Travel on the cheapest days

Be flexible. The time of year and the day of the week have huge impact on the airfares. If your departure and return dates are flexible, then play around to get cheaper fares. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays are generally the cheapest days of the week to fly whereas Sunday and Monday are the most expensive days to fly as more business traveller travels from Sunday or Monday. On top of that, airports tend to be less crowded on Saturday. Guess when I am flying this time? I am departing on Tuesday and returning back on Saturday.

See how Sunday and Monday get more expensive?

5. Use travel sites to compare fares but book directly from the airlines.

I love using travel sites such as Expedia, Kayak, Orbitz, Travelocity, Flighthub etc… to save time greatly when looking for deals as they are the biggest sites with massive network however don’t forget, they typically charge their commissions at the end. Once identified details of the flight deal, buy it directly from the airline website to save $20-$50 commissions.

6. Research the fees

Airlines’ baggage policies vary greatly depending on destinations. So check the baggage fees before booking. Recently, Canadian airlines started charging $20-35 on the first checked-in bag which was quite annoying. My wife and I are travelling with only one checked-in bag and will bring each carry-on bag to save $25.

7. Low-cost airlines

There are great budget airlines out there. Southwest, Easyjet, RyanAir, Westjet etc… The airlines typically have very simple cost oriented amenities but you would be quite confident that you are getting good values.

That’s it from me folks. With just 10 minutes of efforts, you can save a couple of hundred dollars easily and more down the road. Hope you enjoyed the post. If you have, then please share the post with your friends, like my Facebook page and subscribe your email on your right. I am quite sure you will enjoy the following posts to save you so much $$$$ as well. Give them a try! 

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