How To Get Dirt Cheap Airline Tickets

However a lot of times to take these kinds of vacations it requires buying airline tickets in order to get to your destination.  In this article I m going to share what I ve done to score dirt cheap airline tickets.

Start Looking Ahead Of Time

The first thing I always do is look ahead of time.  In fact you can start looking for really cheap airline tickets 330 days ahead of time.  Now I know what your thinking, I m not going to buy my airline tickets that early,  and I m not telling you to.

What I like to do is once I roughly know the time I m going to take the trip is look up the current going rates for the tickets and make a mental note of the price.  Then every couple of days I will keep checking the price.  What this does for me is it allows me to know what is a dirt cheap airline ticket and what s not.

I once flew to Los Angles from Ohio and it was going to run around $280 round trip but I knew if I could get the tickets for anything less than that it would be a deal and I ended up finding some for around $240 because  I would relentlessly check ticket prices .  That s what knowing your ticket value can help you do.

The Day You Fly

The next thing you need to look at is the day you will fly out.  This can make a big difference in the cost you will pay for a ticket.  In fact the two cheapest days to fly out are Tuesday and Wednesday typically.

To prove my point I was recently helping a close relative find an airline ticket who was flying from Ohio to North Carolina.  The cost for her to fly on the weekend was around $205, the cost for her to fly on a Tuesday was $150.  So in this case it s obvious that it would be better wait a few more days to save $55.

The Time Of The Year

Third, as important as the day is concerned the time of the year you leave is  also very important.  However this a lot of times also depends on the destination.

For example, if wanted to take a trip to a place in the Caribbean and you were leaving in February you would likely pay more for your ticket.  On the other hand if you left in September during the peak of hurricane season you would likely get some great dirt cheap tickets.

Stand By

The next option you should consider is stand by.  This is an option that airlines will offer when you re traveling because their flight may be overbooked or to heavy.  Airlines will then usually ask people if they would like to fly stand by and a lot of times offer a free ticket option which will allow you to fly anywhere in the continental United State.

However a lot of times these tickets are only good for one year and may have some restriction like stand by only.  To get these deals ahead of time contact the airline you are flying on ask if their is any stand by option available.

Get Rewards

Finally the last option is to get an airline miles reward credit card, like the Capital One Venture Rewards credit card.  These cards work great if you want to cut down on ticket prices and fly for really cheap.

With the Venture card you will get double miles on every purchase you make every day.  They will give you 10,000 bonus miles when you spend a thousand buck in the first three months, and best of all you can fly free with no blackout dates anywhere you want to go. That sounds like a great deal.

In fact a few people I know will actually charge as many of their monthly expenses they can to this credit card to build up enough miles to fly literally for free every time they go some place.

Share Your Story

Getting a dirt cheap airline ticket can be an easy thing to do if you follow the great tips I ve laid out for you here.  In fact, you can save even more if you combine all of these tips and get them cheaper yet.

If you have used a tip I gave in this article or would like to share your own feel free to leave a comment and share what you know.

This post was recently featured on the carnival of personal finance by Funny About Money .