How to Reduce Airfare in 6 Ways

Travelling for business -no matter it is arbitrary or obligatory- ends up with one negative result. High costs. Although most of these travels are really beneficial in the name of business, we can’t help wishing that it would cost less, anyway. For companies, too, reducing these costs are also important since they cover all the expenses of their employees’ business travels.  It is the innate desire of the people to have the most possible comfort for less possible cost. And to me, this is quite reasonable so I tried to compile the possible ways of reducing flight costs both for individuals and for the companies. Individuals, why not save more money to spend on nice food, shopping or travelling again? And companies, wouldn’t it be nice to see that your flight costs are reduced considerably at the year-end budget report? Try these tips and see how much you will save.

The golden rule: Don’t buy the ticket at the last minute

This is a universally known truth. We all know that buying a ticket just before the day of the flight costs the highest price. Don’t take heed of the rumors that the airlines make a discount to sell their last-minute empty seats. It’s a rare possibility and can cost you too much money. Try to plan your travel even months before and book your ticket beforehand. According to the statistics, the best time to book your ticket is 8 weeks before your flight. Booking your ticket too early may also be disadvantageous since the airlines does not need to reduce the price because they know that the seats will be sold in any case as the flight time draws on.

Choose the best time of year to book your ticket

Yes, at some times of the year, the flight tickets may be at dramatically low prices. If you live in the northern hemisphere for example, the perfect times for you are the end of each season like the end of summer or the end of the winter. At those times, people are back from their holidays and the ticket prices tend to be low. And if you live in the southern hemisphere this tendency may apply vice versa. So if you have the opportunity to set your business travel dates, you can try flying in this time period.

Use airline credit cards

Almost each international airline offer their customers a frequent flyer program which collects miles or points to get free or discounted tickets. Make sure you get your favorite airlines’ loyalty card, or even credit card if available, and start to collect miles for your next flight. Actually you don’t always need to buy expensive flight tickets to earn more. Many airlines have contracts with many popular restaurants, hotels or retail stores that can also earn you miles. Besides, you don’t have to use your card locally. Just learn your airline’s global airline network and see the other airlines in this network. You can still earn miles or points even if you fly with these member airlines instead of your local airlines.

Travel on the cheapest days

If you have the chance to set the dates of your business trip, try to change them to the weekdays except Monday and Friday of course. Because people tend to set out a day earlier from the weekend (which corresponds with Thursday) and they may prefer to return one day later from the start of the week (and this corresponds with Monday). So the cheapest days to travel seem to be Tuesday and Wednesday. So if you are to return on Monday for example, why not try to stay one more day to buy a ticket 20% off maybe?

Give a chance to another airport

It’s also a universally known fact that flights to or from some airports may be remarkably lower than the ones of other airports. Flights of the busiest and the most central airports are always more expensive. So if the other airports are not that unsuitable for you, you can try to give a chance to them and see how much you can save.

Try flight comparison sites

Flight comparison sites list all possible flights from your departure city and to the arrival one for you to compare. So using them instead of one online travel agent or airlines’ web sites would be more advantageous in the name of finding cheap flights since they offer you the prices of hundreds airlines at the same time. Each of these sites have their own advantages like searching criteria and using friendly tools. Give them a try and enjoy the multiple choices with low prices.

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