Be Flexible with Your Travel Plans
Airlines prices tickets differently depending on the day of the week, time of year, and nearest holiday.  If you are not flexible in the dates you want to fly, you will never be able to get in on the bottom and find a cheap flight. Airline ticket prices fluctuate wildly. Even the difference of a day can mean the difference of hundreds of dollars. It’s always cheaper to fly during the middle of the week than on a weekend since most people travel on the weekends and airlines hike their prices. If you fly after a major holiday, prices are also a bit cheaper. Early morning or late night flights are also cheaper because few people want to fly on them. Be flexible in your plans and you will find more cheap flights. A day can be a world of difference. Remember too that prices drop during the weekdays so it is better to book mid week.

Fly into Secondary Airports
Every major city in the world has a smaller, secondary airport. This airport is typically further from the city center and a bit smaller. Budget airlines usually use these airports because of cheaper operational costs. Cheaper costs mean cheaper tickets. It is why Southwest never flies into a major airport. Compared to the rest of the world, the United States does not have many of these carriers. You will find a plethora in Europe and Asia though. Don’t expect any perks on these airlines- you are simply buying space on the plane. No food, drink, pillow, or peanuts.  But for what they lack in service they make up for in cheap tickets. If your destination has a secondary airport, consider flying on one of these discount carriers for a cheaper ticke.t

Fly Alternative Routes
Besides being flexible with your travel dates, you should also be flexible in how you get to your destination. Sometimes it is cheaper to go to Madrid and  then take a cheap flight to Rome than flying directly into Rome. There are so many budget airlines that it is often better to use them as a connecting flight. Direct flights always cost more so try to add some stops into your ticket to help bring the cost down. Also consider working various airlines and special offers. Mix and match can help save you a lot of money. However, doing this is not easy and requires a bit more work and research.  If you have a really tight budget, the work will yield some cheaper flights though.

Search an Airline’s Foreign Website
You may not know it but you can book on an airlines foreign counterpart. If you have a strong currency, book on a weaker currency’s airline page. For example, we have found cheaper tickets searching the NZ version of Air New Zealand’s website than by searching our local version. The same goes for tickets to and from Europe cheaper. By searching the Canadian version of the British Airways website, we got cheaper tickets to London.This method may work best if your currency is doing well but you could still probably save some money even if the currencies are the same because of taxes and fees.

If You are a Student, Get Your Discount!
If you are a student, you’ll find that there are many discounts available to you. You can find flexible student airline tickets, discount cards, cheaper train tickets, and much more. All you need is a student ID. A great place to find cheap flights is to use STA Travel. They specialize in student travel and can usually find some great deals for students.

Sign Up for a Rewards Program
Airline rewards programs are a great way to get free flights, free upgrades, and free companion tickets. If you aren’t a frequent flier, it will take a long time to get points but if you are a frequent flier, you should sign up for a rewards program so you can get freebies. For the infrequent flier, consider a general rewards credit card that you can redeem for a free flight.

Sign up for Airline Newsletters
Stay informed of all the recent flight promotions and deals by signing up to a few airline or industry newsletters. You never know when a 24 hr fire sale might occur and you’ll want to be right there when it does. Often these newsletters are the only way to hear about these deals. It only takes a few clicks and you can delete the newsletters when you aren’t interested in flying.

The online booking tool displays the negotiated discounted fares as well as any applicable sale fares in the participants’ local currency. Meeting participants are therefore assured of finding the best value to meet their individual travel needs. Travelers can also take advantage of several flexible options, including booking a companion ticket, or choosing travel dates up to one week before or after the event. Participants continue to have access to Lufthansa’s global network of more than 200 cities in 80 countries to choose from – and with the new online booking tool, code-share flights operated by Lufthansa partners are also eligible.
Event organizers who are hosting their participants’ travel can use either the online tool, or book through their preferred travel management company.

“Previously, booking travel for meetings and events was a time-consuming, often costly process for both the event organizers as well as the participants, who travel from many different cities to the same destination, often at different negotiated rates. Our new Meetings & Events product simplifies this process by providing one global offer in an easy-to-use online booking tool, thereby saving our customers valuable time and money,” explains Don Bunkenburg, Director of Corporate Sales and Regions, North America at Lufthansa.

The Lufthansa Meetings & Events product can accommodate groups large and small, from corporate meetings to association gatherings, trade fairs, sporting or cultural events.

There is, however, an underappreciated cost of flying on multiple tickets.

Misconnection is when you fail to make an onward flight. Missing an onward flight may worsen stress levels and cost a lot of money (buying last minute tickets is expensive) and valuable time (the next available flight could be hours or even days later).

Airline responsibility, passenger responsibility

Under the contract of carriage, which you agreed to when purchasing the ticket, the airline is responsible to get you to the destination of the ticket. Airlines have no responsibility for onward travel on another ticket, even if that travel is on the same airline.

It is the passenger’s responsibility to check in and be ready to depart at the required times for the onward flight.

Some airlines more helpful than others

Some airlines, however, do more than the minimum they are obliged to do. Special treatment varies considerably depending on the circumstances and cannot be relied upon.

Low cost carriers generally do not do more than they have to, but full service airlines might. Airlines are more likely to assist misconnecting elite and premium passengers – those with frequent flyer elite status with the airline or their alliance partners, and/or travelling on a first, business or flexible fare.

Simple things you can do to help manage the risk

To reduce the chance of a misconnection happening:

1. Have a few hours to a day between arrival on one ticket and departure on the other.
2. Book close to departure date, or allow extra time for possible future airline schedule changes.
3. Fly the same airline on the 2 separate tickets – you are more likely to get help.
4. Try to take an earlier flight where possible.
5. Be proactive – check weather forecasts and flight status for potential problems on the day of travel.
6. Do not check in baggage – this saves time.
7. Check in online for the onward flight – this saves time but does not prevent a misconnection
8. Know the airport layout and know what you need to do to transfer between flights.
9. Get independent advice from frequent flyers like on Flyer Talk as the time needed varies widely.

There are also things you can do to minimise the consequences of a misconnect if one occurs, but that is for a later post. Now it is your turn, what tips and advice would you give someone who is taking a connecting flight for the first time.