5 secrets to cheap travel
No. 5: Know When to Buy Airline Tickets
There is a right time to buy airlines tickets, but you have to move fast and be prepared when that time arrives. You first clue is watch or read the news.
When you hear news that an airline has dropped its fares, that's usually the first sign an air fare war is about to begin. It could be skirmish involving just a few city pairs or it could be an all out war involving every market that airline services.
Typically, an airline will launch an airfare war on a Friday, let's say airline A. Because the price setters of their competitors don't like to work weekends, Airline A typically gets the entire weekend to promote its fares.
Competitors who choose to match fares, usually wait until Monday afternoon. If the competitors see that Airline A is getting good business from its price cuts, they will match the price reduction starting Monday afternoon. Any airline that wants to match Airline A's price cuts would have done so by Tuesday.
So, for the most options with cheapest prices on the flights you want, buy first thing on Tuesday or Wednesday.
No. 4: Rent Timeshares
A timeshare is like a shared ownership in a condominium except it's often at a resort hotel. In many cases you don't co-own a specific unit, rather you buy the right to use a unit at that resort or other resorts for a specific time period. In most cases, it's two weeks per year.
Many timeshare owners are very willing to rent their unused weeks. Redweek.com is like the Switzerland for renting, buying and exchanging timeshares. It is a subscription based service, not run by any of the big hotel chains or timeshare companies.
You can browse timeshare resorts located all over the world, see descriptions of the properties, availability, and rental prices. The information is posted by the timeshare owner.
But if you want to make contact with the owner, you need a subscription with Redweek.com, which costs $15 per year. It's well worth it when compared to the savings you'll get.
By renting a timeshare directly from owner, you can save hundreds, if not thousands of dollars over the nightly prices the resort charges for the same exact unit.
No. 3: Bidding for Travel
If you're not afraid of an online auction, bidding for travel can also offer substantial savings. You just have to bid smart. EBay offers many travel auctions, but not all offers come from reliable sources.
Skyauction.com has been around for years. The Web site offers vacation packages, airfares, hotel stays and cruises with many opening bids priced at $1.
But be sure to read the entire description of each auction item. Look for the taxes and services charges that could add hundreds of dollars to your bid price.
Priceline is still the king when it comes substantial savings on hotels. We've proven that you can save up to 50 percent and more in some cases more if you know how to bid.
You can see my details on maximizing your bidding on Priceline .
No. 2: Consolidator Tickets
An airline consolidator ticket is an airfare that can be substantially less than the lowest published fare from the airline. They're primarily for international flights and are sold only through travel agencies.
Think of it as buying wholesale instead of retail. A consolidator buys in bulk at a contracted rate with each airline. But the consolidator, like C&H International, is not allowed to sell directly to the public.
C&H is a travel agent's travel agent. The company services hundreds of travel agents who can sell a consolidator ticket to the public.
For example, working with C&H we found a round trip flight from Seattle to London on a particular date with British Airways for roughly $1,200. The contract price C&H could buy it at was $751.
C&H makes its money in volume sales. So it adds a small markup to keep its price to the travel agents low. Travel agents then can mark up the ticket a little or a lot and then sell it to you.
Sometimes a consolidator ticket has a few extra restrictions -- namely any changes must be done by the travel agent who sold the ticket.
The key is finding a trusted travel agent, ask for a consolidator ticket and try to get the discount. You could save hundreds just by negotiating with your travel agent.
No. 1: Flyertalk.com
Flyertalk.com is a Web site that doesn't sell a thing. It's nothing but a series of online bulletin boards where members post up-to-the minute news on airfare sales, hotel discounts, frequent flyer programs and an occasional air fare mistakes.
It's not uncommon in the circus act that airlines perform daily with airfares that they'll make a mistake pricing a routing. Flyertalk members have posted transpacific and transatlantic fares that were mistakenly priced below $100.
Members have also posted legitimate cross country fares as low as $8. Many of these fares last only a few hours, if not minutes. They do the same for hotels.
The website is nothing but a wealth of information on cheap flights, ways to maximize your frequent flyer miles, vacation deals and best places to buy all of it.
For my money, Flyertalk is the number one resource to find leads the cheapest travel around. It's well worth your time to check it out.