Domestic

Choose Your Airfares Wisely with These Money-Saving Tips on Getting the Best Fare Deals

It never hurts to be reminded of all the ways you can save money on airfares. From advanced purchases, to Saturday-night stays, to flying mid-week and doing connections instead of nonstops, there are several ways to be cost-effective with your next airfare purchase.

Today's Wing Tips will revisit a few.

Be in the know. If you can handle more email, it is worth signing up for your preferred carriers' email updates and fare sale announcements, which can sometimes save you 30% to 50% off regular fares. A less common strategy that is very useful is to sign up for your preferred mileage programs' partners' loyalty programs and fare alerts, which give you more ways to earn elite status and mileage credit. (See First Class Flyer's news alerts for Business and First Class fare sales.) Twitter.com can also be a place for fare sales as airlines have been known to do "Tweet-only" sales.

Don't forget about websites like Yapta.com and Bing.com that let you track fare sales based on your itinerary. Travelocity also has FareWatcher Plus that notifies you when one of your preferred routes has been reduced in price.

Vacation packages. Book through an airline's vacation program, such as American's AAVacations, that doesn't have Saturday-night requirements and also lets you buy an upgradeable economy fare and use miles to get into Business or First Class.

It is also sometimes smart to book a hotel and air package through sites like Travelocity. As MSN.com reported, Travelocity's TotalTrip's "hotel plus air" prices are oftentimes cheaper than airfare alone.

Buy one-ways. Especially when flying overseas, booking a one-way flight from the U.S. to, say, Europe and then booking another one-way domestic flight to your destination can save money - compared to purchasing a round-trip ticket. To save money on a Caribbean vacation, consider connecting via San Juan, Puerto Rico instead of hopping a nonstop. Tip: Don't overly depend on one-ways, especially for domestic travel in the U.S. Often, one-ways can be more expensive than a round-trip fare, so be safe and check all options.

Watch for fare price drops. Some airlines will refund you the difference, or offer you a credit for a future flight, if your airfare drops after you purchase it. Has to be for the same itinerary, on the same dates of travel.

Be flexible. If your travel dates aren't set in stone, being flexible about when you leave and return can save you money. Many travel websites like Orbitz and Travelocity let you search for fares with flexible dates.

Also be flexible with which airports you fly out of as alternative airports (which don't even have to be in the same city) can have better fares. Milwaukee can have cheaper fares than Chicago's O'Hare. Same goes for Atlantic City instead of Philadelphia.

Holidays. The holidays can be prime time for fare sales. One airline already offering sales to Europe is Continental, and according to First Class Flyer, theses fares start in the low one thousands. To find out about this fare sale and other deals First Class Flyer has uncovered for the holidays, read this feature from First Class Flyer's September issue, Happy Holidays, Sort Of. Don't get First Class Flyer yet? Perhaps it's time to. Your subscription is fully guaranteed and you'll get 11 free Bonus Reports just for trying it. Get more information.

For more insider tips and strategies on how to make your travels more comfortable and productive, visit the Wing Tips archives page.