Are
You Looking For Cheap Airline Tickets? We Can Help.
Air Fare Deals Are Out There
By Mark Andrews
No matter where you are going, from
Alaska to Zimbabwe, and anywhere in between, chances are that
you can benefit from air fare deals, or at least would not turn
them down if they are available. With gas prices being what they
are, and transportation costs rising in proportion, it is just
about as important as can be to get the best deals on air fare
unless you are filthy stinking rich.
For a while, especially post 911,
you could basically take cheap air fare for granted. Everyone
was worried about security and terrorism, no one wanted to fly,
and so the airlines had awesome air fare deals all over the
place – they were practically begging people to fly, and that is
no joke.
Now, though, with a bloated war chest and a shrinking economy,
getting good air fare deals is more important than ever. No one
can afford to pay the standard price of tickets, and so internet
sites which offer air fare deals such as expedia and kayak, have
been doing booming business. In reality, however, these sites
are not enough alone to get you the best air fare deals. Many of
them mark up their prices, actually.
They will get you a cheaper rate,
it is true, but it will still be 10, 20, sometimes as much as 50
dollars more than if you would buy from the actual airline. Of
course, this is not always true, but if you are interested in
getting the best air fare deals, you must remember to not only
check the main commercial sites which compare airline prices,
but the airlines directly.
This is not quite as much of a pain in the neck as it might
sound like, actually. Usually, you do not have to check all of
the airlines for air fare deals. For example, I live in Oakland,
California, and frequently travel to Portland, Oregon, to visit
my girlfriend. After checking the web for air fare deals, I
discovered that there are only two airlines which really give
competitive rates on this particular route: Southwest Airlines,
and Alaska Airlines. This means that I do not have to routinely
check, say, United Air, or Northwest to make sure that I am
getting the best air fare deals on flights to Portland. I simply
check one or two of the comparison engines, and then go to those
two airlines themselves. Really, I have to go to as few as three
or four sites to get the best air fare deals.