Any tips for booking cheap flights?

[Kyle]

I'm flying my fiancee home in a couple of weeks to go dress shopping for another friend's wedding. We pretty much hit all the well known websites looking for the best deals, but I was wondering if there were any tricks of the trade to get a better deal.

Seems like you really need to book at the very least two weeks in advanced to get the best deal. Do last minute deals come up for cheap or is it better to book as far in advance as possible?

TIA!

[idrivea4banger]

Ship via FedEx ground. Make sure there are holes in the box so she can breathe.

[mustgofaster]

Book it on Tuesday. Just check the prices this Tues & you will see what I mean. To me, it seems like early in the afternoon is a little better than morning, or evening.

Also, if she can fly on Tues, Wed, or Thurs, those days seem to have better rates.

[AdamLX]

Late to the party...

Rates are usually best on Tuesdays. I always book directly through the carrier so I check the rates daily when I'm ready to book. Usually best to buy when price of oil/gas is dropping. DFW-SFO through American was $120, so I waited and it went to $110 on Tuesday and Wednesday it was down to $82. It stayed there for 2 days and went back up to $116.

I fly 95% American Airlines so what I do is when I'm happy with a rate for my flights I will put it on hold around Monday and then if it drops on Tuesday/Wednesday or whatever I just re-book under the lower rate and cancel my hold. The hold will last 24 hours.

It's a little work, but I ended up saving $200 off my R/T total for two people from when I originally looked at prices.

[VaderTT]

Bid for one on priceline, you get to choose your own price. My sister got a round trip ticket to alaska last year for a little over $200.

[Rick Modena]

I'm a SWA homer, i dont screw around with any of the so called 'deal sites' that you have to switch planes six times during a round trip flight. I go to their webiste and I get exaclty what im paying for. Their online check-in and packing light make for a very pleasant flying experiance.

[Wicked98Snake]

I'm a SWA homer, i dont screw around with any of the so called 'deal sites' that you have to switch planes six times during a round trip flight. I go to their webiste and I get exaclty what im paying for. Their online check-in and packing light make for a very pleasant flying experiance.

I like them as well, too bad they don't fly to Detroit.

[Trick Pony]

I'm a SWA homer, i dont screw around with any of the so called 'deal sites' that you have to switch planes six times during a round trip flight. I go to their webiste and I get exaclty what im paying for. Their online check-in and packing light make for a very pleasant flying experiance.

You can select non-stop as a search criteria on any of the deal sites too.

[Slowhand]

I'm a SWA homer, i dont screw around with any of the so called 'deal sites' that you have to switch planes six times during a round trip flight. I go to their webiste and I get exaclty what im paying for. Their online check-in and packing light make for a very pleasant flying experiance.

I'd love to fly Southwest, but their prices are fucking stupid. I've booked three flights in the couple of months and even AA has had them beat on every single fare.

[GrayStangGT]

I'd love to fly Southwest, but their prices are fucking stupid. I've booked three flights in the couple of months and even AA has had them beat on every single fare.

I don't know when southwest got so high, but the last 2 flights I took were on AA and Continental because they were so much cheaper than SW. I'm flying to vegas in a few weeks and the only reason I'm taking SW is because they are the only ones that fly direct from midland to vegas, a cheaper flight is not worth going through DFW, Denver or houston just to get to vegas.