Take Control of Booking a Cheap Airline Ticket

Follow our step-by-step process for finding the lowest available price for your next airline ticket purchase!

Did you pay more than you wanted for your last airplane flight? Most people do, thanks to the wily pricing techniques of the airline industry. But industry expert and blogger Sam Sellers can help you find the cheapest available fare by searching the most effective Web sites in the right order. So whether your next trip is for business or pleasure, follow Sam's advice to fly the route you want for a fare you can afford.

Obsolete? Although some of the material in this ebook remains reasonably current, we do not plan to offer any future updates, either on the "Check for Updates" Web page or in a new PDF. The "Check for Updates" Web page associated with the PDF does have minor update information on it, but it is not being maintained regularly or seriously. The ebook itself was released in May 2007.

This book covers domestic and international travel originating in the United States; the specifics in other countries vary too much to make accurate recommendations. Click the FAQ tab below for more information.

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Contents & Intro
FAQ
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You'll also find advice for reserving a good seat and preparing for low-hassle travel, as well as information on using frequent flyer miles, credit cards that provide flight discounts, and recommended methods for tracking deals. Appendixes provide links to major airline home pages and flight-route maps, an explanation of the pesky taxes applied to your fare, and more.

Read this book to learn the answers to questions such as:

Which of the many travel Web sites should I use?
Why do flight prices increase as I check them?
What sort of flexibility on my part will save money?
How can I best use my Web browser to switch quickly between travel sites while researching cheap tickets?
What's a smart way to bid for a bargain on Priceline.com?
Are there special ways of saving money on international flights?

"Take Control of Booking a Cheap Airline Ticket is well written and easy to understand, with plenty of tips to save you money on your next trip. I highly recommend it to anyone who flies."
-Richard Geiger, AAUG Member

Book Info

148 pages
Version 1.1
Updated May 07, 2007
2.0 MB download
ISBN: 9781933671178
Free sample with Table of Contents, Intro, Quick Start, and section starts.

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About the Author

Sam Sellers has been covering the airline industry with news and commentary in his blog, Airline Bulletin, since 2004.

Book Reviews

Seattle Post-Intelligencer
AAUG (5/5)
MyMac (5/5)
Frommer's - scroll down on Frommer's page
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Author Interviews

Read Me First
Introduction
Quick Start
Traveler, Know Thyself
Begin the Booking Process
Book Domestic More than 2 Weeks Out
Book Domestic Less than 2 Weeks Out
Book International
Pick a Package
Buy Blind
Win The Waiting Game
Use Loyalty Programs
Fly Right
Appendix A: Links to Major Airlines
Appendix B: Resources
Appendix C: Taxes - An Explanation
Appendix D: Rebate Web Sites
Appendix F: Better Browsing
Glossary
About This Book

Read Me First

Rising fuel costs and increased competition have made an inexpensive airline ticket hard to find, but you can take control of booking a cheap ticket with this detailed guide that covers domestic and international flights, loyalty programs, and package deals. This book was written by Sam Sellers, edited by Don Sellers, and published by TidBITS Electronic Publishing.

Introduction

Perhaps you need to take a quick business trip. Maybe you're planning that once-in-a-lifetime European vacation. For whatever reason, you need to purchase an airline ticket, and you don't want to overpay.

Ticket prices have risen with the price of fuel, and airlines have become more and more sophisticated in their pricing strategies, squeezing the last penny from the bargain hunter. At the same time, an increasing number of sources—most of them on the Web—now sell tickets, making the search for the best deal more vexing.

Ticket prices have risen with the price of fuel, and airlines have developed increasingly sophisticated pricing strategies, squeezing the last penny from travelers. At the same time, an increasing number of sources—most of them on the Web—now sell tickets, making the search for the best deal more vexing. In this book, I take you through the process of booking a cheap airline ticket. I cover only coach (otherwise known as economy) tickets, for flights within—or originating from—the United States.

I first have you look inward, to determine your flexibility in areas such as comfort, travel dates, and alternate airports—and I explain how each can be critical to saving money. I then offer three main purchasing procedures: Book Domestic More than 2 Weeks Out, Book Domestic Less than 2 Weeks Out, and Book International.

I also include the best strategies to help you purchase package deals (booking a car or hotel along with a flight). And, if you can wait to buy, I show you how to turn your time into money: I provide expert assistance in booking "free tickets," tickets obtained through airline frequent flyer programs or credit-card reward programs. I give advice on how to select the right frequent flyer program or reward credit card, and how to wrest maximum benefit from your miles and points. Finally, I provide methods to fly right—travel tips from reserving a great seat to finding public transportation—to make your trip cheap and easy.

In the coming years, airlines will transport record amounts of passengers. By taking the steps outlined in this book, you can maximize travel value, while minimizing travel-related stress.

Happy travels!

Quick Start to Booking a Cheap Airline Ticket

To lock in the right airline ticket at the right price, you need to know yourself, as well as the array of resources available on and off the Internet. Since the procedures suggested in this book vary depending on your needs, use the guide below to fly to your area of interest.

Determine what kind of buyer you are:

Understand your flexibility in dates, airports, restrictions, and ticket search, and how they can affect price. Also, expand your savings if you are booking hotels and cars. Read Traveler, Know Thyself.

Buy your ticket:

Want to start now? See Begin the Booking Process.
Time on your side? Turn that time into money. Read Book Domestic More than 2 Weeks Out.
Need to go soon? Determine the best way to buy that last minute ticket in Book Domestic Less than 2 Weeks Out.
Flying abroad? It's a different world for purchasing tickets. Buy that international flight right. See Book International.
Willing to wait for the perfect price? See Win the Waiting Game.

Take advantage of loyalty programs:

Learn to earn and burn frequent flyer miles for maximum effect. See Earn Flights with Frequent Flyer Miles.
Select the Proper Credit Card—determine which bank or airline credit-card loyalty programs work best for you. See

Make your flight right:

After the great ticket comes the great flight. See Fly Right.

Is the book really only for travel originating in the United States?

Yes. Much as we'd like to include everyone, covering other countries is out of scope for this version of this book.

What about Canada?

Several people have written in to ask if the book will work for Canadians.

Here is Sam's reply: On the one hand, I hesitate to recommend the book to Canadians because several of the primary resources in the book apply only to those in the United States. And, Canadians don't have as many opportunities to save due to the lack of competition, particularly for domestic flights on the many routes where there's a duopoly with WestJet and Air Canada—both airlines have kept fares high on domestic flights after Jetsgo liquidated, and that won't change soon.

On the other hand, many resources noted in the book can be useful to Canadians. And, if most of your travel involves flights to the United States, then the book will be helpful, since there is more competition on these routes and I discuss how to exploit this for your benefit.

What about booking travel to the United States with an international credit card?

John W.—who resides in New Zealand—wrote in to ask, "Will any of the sites mentioned in the book allow me to purchase tickets using a credit card that has not been issued by an American bank? This is a thorn in the flesh for those of us living in other parts of the world, but visiting North America sufficiently often to make an Internet flight reservation expeditious."

Here is Sam's reply: The book doesn't mention whether or not a particular travel site will accept a non-U.S. based credit cards. Most general travel sites—such as Priceline, Travelocity, and Hotwire—accept credit cards only with U.S. billing addresses. However, many airlines accept cards with foreign billing addresses, although in different ways:

Some airlines, such as American, will accept cards only from certain countries they serve when booking on their site aa.com. Unfortunately, they don't accept New Zealand cards.
Some airlines, like United, have various booking sites depending on your country, and United has a site for those in Australia that accepts Australian cards, but not New Zealand cards. They don't have a site for New Zealand, and they don't serve it.
US Airways will accept a non-U.S. credit card, provided the funds are available.

Many of the methods outlined in the book probably won't work for you, because of the credit card problem.

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