krissy asked:


I want to visit other parts of Asia over the holidays this year, and am struggling to find airlines and websites that offer cheap flights. I’m in South Korea, and I’m particulary interested in the Philippines.

Caffeinated Content

Peter Gitundu asked:


As much as flying offers us one of the greatest conveniences, it can also be a great hassle. This is because sometimes you want to determine what airline to use to where you are going, what destinations are available to you, getting a price that works for you and so on.

An Airline directory greatly reduces the hassle that is involved with looking for an airline and a flight. This is because; you can first of all search alphabetically. For example if you know what airline you want to use, and you need details such as phone numbers and ticketing office information. Second, you can search for an airline by country and national carriers for that country. You can also see the ones that travel or have connections to the airport that is closest to you. You can use also note their days of travel, and how often they fly to a certain place.

Internet directories are also freely available for our use, and allow us many options. For example you can pick a country to travel to, and the travel sites for these countries give you options of the airlines that fly there, the frequency of their flights and such details. This enables you to plan your trip, book an airline ticket, and weigh the options available to you for travel.

Airline directories help us save time, and avoid confusion when we are planning trips, be it for business or pleasure. We also learn which airlines work together, for example two national carriers might team up and as a result give lower prices and offer rewards to frequent fliers for traveling within their network.



Cristobal

Stephen Dolan asked:


If you’re planning on taking a trip on an airplane, no matter where, it’s likely that you can benefit from airfare deals. There’s not many of us that would turn down a cheap airfare if we could one, that’s for sure. Gas prices have risen substantially, and all transportation costs are now following, so unless you’re rolling in money, getting a great deal on your airfare is very important.

After 911, there was a long period where you could find cheap airfares quite easily. People were frightened of terrorism, and nervous about the possibility of a breach of security. So nobody was keen to fly, which left the airlines with a big problem – lots of empty seats. So to try and get their planes full of passengers again, airlines started offering great airfare deals. They were almost begging people to get back in the air again.

Cheap Tickets in a Competative Market

Things have changed since then with planes flying at 90% full instead of 70% after 911. Also, now that the economy is shrinking and people are keen to save a few dollars, finding cheap air tickets is extremely important. Very few people are willing to pay the regular ticket price, which is why Internet sites that offer great airfare deals are booming.

A couple of the most popular are expedia.com and kayak.com, with a staggering number of visitors every day. Don’t be fooled, though. Just going to one of these sites and checking their deals isn’t always the way to get the best airfare deal. In reality, they have to make money somehow, so their fares are marked up.

Certainly the prices will still be cheaper than regular fares, but you could possibly buy the same airfare for quite a few dollars less if you go directly to the airline website. Check the deal sites first, then see if you can do better on the airline’s site.

Going Direct

Personally, I visit the discount fare websites, pick out half a dozen really good fares that fit my travel plans, make a note of which airline they’re with, then go and visit the airline website and compare prices. I almost always end up buying my ticket directly from the airline to get the best deal.

If you regularly fly between two places, you’ll find before long that there’s usually only one or two airlines that consistently offer good deals on that route, so you can start keeping an eye on their websites only and save yourself some time.

Smaller Airlines

Another way to get cheap airfares is to look at some of the smaller carriers that travel to your destination. Sure, the big airlines will probably go there, but you might be able to find one of the smaller airlines, or even a charter airline that’s keen to get business and so offers cheap fares. Doing things this way might limit you from acquiring more frequent flier miles, and it may mean there’s only a couple of flights to choose from, rather than dozens, but it’s still a great way to get cheaper airfares.

Getting the best airfare deals doesn’t have to take a lot of time, but you will need to do some homework. If you do, however, you’ll be rewarded with cheaper flights. Have a great trip!



Tony

Aldo asked:


a. Australia

b. Israel

c. Egypt

Please include name of airlines also
Sorry, I’m in USA. From Los Angeles, CA

Julia

MIKE SELVON asked:


If you are in a situation where you need to find a good deal on airplane fares for last minute travel, then it can sometimes be a challenging, if not impossible, task. And, there are many times during the year when you will be hard pressed to find a seat on a flight at the last minute regardless of price. Because of this, many travel experts suggest that booking early is the best way to assure that you will get from point A to point B.

In most cases, booking your air tickets as far in advance of your trip as possible is usually the best way to go for cheap airline tickets to your destination. When you secure them early, while there are still plenty of seats available, you will find that the airlines usually offer the cheapest airfares during this stage.

Waiting to book a flight until the last minute often means that there are very few seats left. When this happens, the airlines may charge a premium price for those seats that are left, especially during busy travel times.

But, even with that fact in mind, it should be understood that there are always special circumstances that arise that will get you a significant discount on airplane fares, even for those last minute flights. In order to be able to take advantage of these super deals, you will need to be able to make a snap decision and get to the airport very quickly.

One thing that is essential in obtaining great deals on those last minute flights is your ability to be flexible in your travel plans. If you want to save a lot of money on your tickets, then you must be flexible about the date and time of the flight, about the airline, about which airport you fly in and out of, and about how many stops you are willing to make en route to your destination. If you are willing to be inconvenienced by early morning or late night flights or by having a layover or having to change planes, then you will probably be able to enjoy the cheapest airfares even if you had to make your arrangements at the last minute.

When the airlines want to fill all of the seats on a plane quickly, they will drop their prices and will usually post these discount airfare prices on their website. These days, many airlines will offer these airfare deals only on their website, so it is important to monitor the website of the carrier you are considering.

Some airlines will send email alerts about reduced prices to frequent flyer program members or to others who have signed up for such notifications. Signing up for these alerts can give you an advantage and can save you the trouble of logging on many times a day when you are in need of finding the cheapest airfares.

In almost all cases of heavily discounted air tickets, there are greater restrictions on the tickets. It is important to be sure to read all of the fine print and the terms of discounted prices.

Most discounted tickets are issued as non-refundable and non-transferable and can only be changed by paying a fee, which could outweigh the savings if a situation arises and you have to change the date of your flight. Many of these discount fares also have other limitations, such as requiring a stay over a weekend.

Special web discounted airplane fares are typically posted by the airlines on their website, in the middle of the week for flight dates for the upcoming weekend. When making your travel plans around discounted airline tickets on last minute flights, keep checking the airline website for last minute fare changes and have your bags ready and waiting so that you can take advantage of available deals as they come up.



Arlene

Tom Tessin asked:


In recent times, several people consider buying airline credit cards. The reason is that, these cards provide free airway miles. Airline cards have various ways of charging airline miles. Generally, airline credit cards offer you a particular percentage in return of the amount spent on air miles.

The percentage amount differs according to the policies of credit card companies. On an average, these credit cards offer around one and a half percent on the purchase amount. Several airline companies offer airline credit cards with several attractive offers to lure passengers.

Some airline companies follow loyalty program systems too. For instance, if you use a particular airline credit card to purchase airline services, you become eligible for receiving loyalty rewards from that airline company too.

Things to Look For In Airline Credit Cards:

Before signing for an airline card, you need to read the terms and conditions thoroughly. Ensure to make a through research about these cards. This proves beneficial in choosing the right credit card. If you decide to buy such credit cards, then see whether the company is asking for any annual fee for approval purposes.

People applying for credit cards also need to see the rate of interest before signing up, since some airline companies charge high rate of interest. In addition, it is necessary to check the amount of money gained through free airline miles, because some airlines provide less free airline miles.

More significantly, consider the credit limit of these cards, because many airlines have a specific amount of free airline miles for a cardholder in a particular year. If you go beyond the credit limit, you may need to pay a high rate of interest and perhaps may loose your free airline miles too.

Remember to check the rate of flexibility for using free miles. This is important because, you are not permitted to make use of your accumulated free airline miles as per your wish at any time.

Ensure to check the rewards offered by the airline card. It is very important to know how much air miles the credit card offers and how much airline miles are necessary to receive free flights.

Make sure, if there is any expiry date for the free airline miles. Since on most airline credit cards, miles expire after a year, while on some other airline cards they never expire. This is why it’s important that you do your research before you apply for that first card.

Next, also check for rewarding points. These rewarding points vary from one airline credit card to other. Generally, these cards offer one airline mile per dollar. Only a few cards offer two air miles on per dollar basis.

Overview:

An ideal airline card is the one, which allows you to use its reward points for other purchases such as hotel rentals and car rentals, rather than just airline fares. Thus, you need to check for all these terms and conditions in an airline credit card before finalizing to buy a particular card.



Patty

Hans Hasselfors asked:


Each time I get into a flight I make it a point to ask my co passengers, at least those within hearing distance, what airline fares they paid for the privilege of traveling together. And each time to their surprise, and my glee, they have all provided different amounts. In one memorable case, the difference in that a man and his co-passenger in the next seat paid was vast enough to straddle a couple of hundred dollars. Which led to a very amusing fight that the cabin crew was hard pressed to break up.

But anyways, coming back to the topic of airline fares, they really are atrocious. I mean, I have booked my tickets at various times. When time has been on my side, I have made my bookings well in advance. And especially when it comes to business travel, I have often been forced to make my bookings at the last minute. Believe it or not, there are times when I have paid more expensive airline fares for my bookings at leisure than the airline fares I paid for my last minute rush. How do you explain that?

A friend in the airline industry then told me about how the system actually works. Usually an airline operator has a basic cost that they need to cover in order to make their trip profitable. This (which is very different from the airline fares we pay) is a low figure that includes fuel charges, service charges and salaries and equipment cost etc. The airline fares we pay are this base component, plus the profit margin of the airlines, plus the taxes and surcharges imposed by the airport and finally, the commissions charged by various tourist operators or booking agents.

Now the affordability of your airline fares depends almost entirely on the premium that your agent is going to charge you for. If it is someone whom you deal with on a fairly regular basis, he may decrease the commission you have to pay out. If it is someone you are dealing with for the first time, be prepared to pay through your nose. Be that as it may, try to bargain with your travel agent. If the trip is international and entails hotel bookings as well, ask them if they will cover your visa charges. If the trip is domestic, ask them if they can provide you with vouchers of any sort. These travel agents are usually a well connected lot and depending on your destination, they just might have the right deal to sweeten your airline fares!



Trami

Imaculate Johnson asked:


Now this isn’t really a bad thing, but it is now very easy to change travel plans, especially when you have an Internet connection at home and a credit card account.

This works well in your favor. You will never know when urgent family and business matters will come up at such short notice. You will never know too when your spouse would furtively suggest a weekend getaway after such a short notice.

Out on the Internet, you can find many websites offering the best last minute fares deals (they never say it’s a bad deal). So how do you know which one to choose?

What You Should Know About Air Fares

It is not always easy to find the lowest-priced last minute fares. Sometimes the prices of last minute fares actually multiply to equal the cost of a chartered flight. However, you can greatly improve your chances of finding the best deals in last minute fares.

It really doesn’t matter if your destination is a popular or a relatively unknown location. If your route is serviced by many airlines several times in a day, you can make the competition among airlines work for you. Airlines will always work at gaining new customers or retaining old ones. And they can do this by offering the best last minute air fares just as the number of available seats are dwindling. With a less popular destination, an airline would rather get some money even at a deep discount rather than fly with money-less empty seats.

At first blush, you may have the instinct to book a flight with the first last minute fares website that you can find. However, it may not be the cheapest option. Choose a website that buys airlines seat in bulk – they will re-sell the tickets to you at a steady price even when it is close to departure time. Apart from last minute fares websites, the airlines themselves sometimes offer discounts and promotions that are not available through discount websites.

Consider Your Other Options

Never buy on impulse where last minute fares are concerned. Always read the terms of your purchase BEFORE you actually buy. Some fares will require you to stay at that certain destination for a certain number of days. If you are interested only in last minute fares, you certainly don’t want to book these types of tickets. Take note that on certain days of the week, the prices of tickets actually become cheaper. Try to avoid booking flights that fly on a Friday, Saturday, Sunday or Monday. Flights that fly mid-week (Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday) tend to have more reasonable prices, so you might want to fly on those days.

You might also want to consider flying through connecting flights rather than fly direct. Direct flights tend to be expensive. So if you can afford some airport stop-overs, by all means fly to destinations on connecting flights.

Always remember that last minute fares tend to be non-rebookable and non-refundable. So always do your research before buying. Read the fine print.



Virgil

tracylyn_1963 asked:


These tickets are for my daughter who is away at college. I didn’t purchase insurance. Do airlines ever guarantee the lowest price even if that comes after tickets are purchased?
Those who said call the airlines were right! If the fare was lower than I paid I would have gotten a refund – United for the Thanksgiving fare and Continental for the Christmas fare. Turns out I paid much lower than they are offering right now. Thanks everyone!

Eugene

SoCalGal75 asked:


We were offered a killer deal on a trip to Mexico but I don’t know which airlines will give me the best price for rountrip tix. Anyone know of a good reputable airline that’s not going to rape me money-wise? Thanks!!!

Agatha