2. Get familiar with your airline's cancellation policy . Depending on the airline, you may have 24

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Two realities exist in the market for cheap commercial airfare: the one that traditional media and the airlines want you to believe clearwater beach front hotels and the high frequency, tech-savvy market where real, cheap fares live. Unfortunately, 99% of the people on this planet are forced clearwater beach front hotels to live in the former world, whether it's due to limitations in technology, discomfort with making snap decisions or understanding of how the general system works.
What's the difference between the two markets? clearwater beach front hotels Here's a hint: if you're getting daily alerts from Travelzoo , you get excited with American Airlines sends you an email with sale fares or you have a travel agent you're among the 99%.
That remaining 1%, if you want it, can be cultivated in a few simple steps, though we'll warn you right now that they place the onus on you, the buyer for making things happen. Still curious? Let's get started.
5. Do your research online . The problem with the traditional airfare industry and its fares is that they're geared for the 300 million people that might be shopping for tickets in any given day. Waiting clearwater beach front hotels for fare sales to come to you means you're already behind the curve, that another ten thousand people could have read the email before you and bought your weekend tickets to Paris or your flight to Vegas for your bachelor party.
If you want to actually find unnaturally cheap fares, you need to actively be searching. Every day. You need to know what the buzz is in the industry, what routes are hotly contested after and how you can book the cheapest ticket fastest.
Flyertalk and it's awkward twin brother Milepoint are the two places to start your research. clearwater beach front hotels Both forums are populated by real people searching for dirt cheap tickets every day --- those $150 mistake fares to Europe or the $450 tickets to Sydney . When one of those members finds the right ticket they post it on the forum (check the Mileage Run subcategory) and everyone discusses. That's your time to chip in on the conversation, find a few tickets and contribute to the community.
For ticket booking your best bet is usually a metacrawler like Kayak, or Mobissimo. Those engines use the broadest reaching technology to pull fares from across the web and give them to you so that you don't have to spend time shopping from site to site.
4. Sign up for fare alerts and Airfarewatchdog . If you haven't got time to hit the reload button clearwater beach front hotels on Flyertalk 20 times a day (we're not kidding), the next best thing you can do is subscribe for fare alerts. clearwater beach front hotels Airfarewatchdog runs the best in the industry they're actually a tightly knit team (mostly) sitting in an office in Midtown Manhattan, manually searching for fares every day and sending them out to their massive reader clearwater beach front hotels base. And they do it fast not at predetermined times when their email bursts circulate or when their servers are up to speed or when the right ads are in place minutes after the deals break they're emailing their subscribers. Rumor has it that they watch Flyertalk too.
While you're at it, if you're a Twitter subscriber, Airfarewatchdog has an excellent feed, and you can also take the time to follow The Points Guy , your local Travelzoo and Gary Leff if the Dog happens to be asleep.
Finally, if a decent deal is all that you're looking for you can set up a fare alert at Kayak.com or any number of Online Travel Agencies (OTAs). All that you need to do is search for your ideal fare, sign up for an account and click the "fare alert" option. Once your fare drops to an appreciable level you'll get an email.
We should clearwater beach front hotels warn you though, current fare alert engines are slow and obtuse. You might have better luck searching manually ten times a day versus trusting an automatic search. But that discussion is for another day.
3. Speak to your significant other. Have you found a ticket that you're keen on purchasing? Good. The clock's ticking clearwater beach front hotels and you need to book it as soon as possible. Not when you get home from work, not after you've washed clearwater beach front hotels your pants. Right now.
Chances are that you're trying to travel with someone else, so you need to be familiar with each other's schedules prior to booking and taking a whirlwind trip across four continents. If that person is immediately unreachable then they should at least be familiar with the concept of what you're getting them into. And if it's completely out of the blue, then at least you can fall back on the airline's cancellation policy. Let's talk about that some more.
2. Get familiar with your airline's cancellation policy . Depending on the airline, you may have 24 hours to ticket (American) or cancel (Delta) a reservation that you're considering. This gives you some time to get home, think about logistics and talk with your travel partner about what sort of craziness you're getting into. Do yourself a favor and if you find a cheap ticket, wander over to your favorite airline's search page and search for "cancellation policy." If there's a sturdy one in place you can buy your tickets first and ask questions later.
1. Commit to a journey, not a destination . Alright, Copenhagen in the winter may not be your most ideal vacation, but they've got a slew of ubercool restaurants, a strong design culture, clearwater beach front hotels super friendly people clearwater beach front hotels and a great take on life. Revel in the fact that you bought your ticket clearwater beach front hotels for $150 and you'll be thrilled with almost anywhere you go.
The best way to find a good fare is through a travel agent! They can see what the fares are before you even look at the availability. They have experience in trends and pricing, and are not swayed by preferred agreements with certian airlines. Waiting and wondering are the ways to higher fares. There are only 4 major reservation systems that were developed by the airlines years ago for travel agents to use. These systems clearwater beach front hotels are what every on-line agency today uses. If you are set on a destination, talk to an accreditated travel agent, clearwater beach front hotels and let them guide you through the process. Reply Tony Mar 11th 2011 5:54AM
The last time I got a cheep ticket. the girl at check in threw my bags onto the converyor belt and when I got to my destination my priceless camera came out in peaces. Reply Jeri Gamble Mar 10th 2011 11:49AM
Why would you check a valuable camera in luggage? Carry it on yourself. clearwater beach front hotels Don't blame others for your own mistakes. By the way, have you ever watched the luggage handlers actually loading the luggage into a plane? I have. Whatever slips down the conveyer clearwater beach front hotels belt is literally thrown up at the hole in the side of the plane. I've watched several bags get bounced off the side of the plane when they missed the doorway. I watched them bounce the same piece of luggage off the outside of the plane 6 and 8 times before finally getting it into the plane. It's a long fall from the side of the plane to the tarmac. I wouldn't put anything breakable in my checked luggage. JOEY DA DEE Mar 10th 2011 11:43AM
Look you go to some where (cheapseats.com) and look at prices , guess what that's what you are going to pay. Sure you could drive 200 miles to get a cheaper fare or fly in to an Airport you don't want to be at , whats the point?. You could fly in on the wrong day and your friend another, whats the point?. Spend your life looking for the deal everyone clearwater beach front hotels is and next thing you know your life is over. Have some Delta skymile dude keep me on the phone 2 1/2 hours once to book a skymile seat. , hardly worth it. Reply gr8bsn Mar 10th 2011 11:57AM
The only thing that works consistently is to buy your tickets as early as possible. Even if you have to change your dates later and pay a fee, the difference between a spring rate and a summer rate can be monumental at times. EARLY EARLY EARLY!!!! I've also learned that most of these travel sites can make things complicated clearwater beach front hotels by mixing and matching the airlines. If you've got a shorter flight, it's not a big deal, but if you have a long international flight where you switch planes a couple of times, it's better to book direct. If you're traveling to Europe, airlines like British Airways and Lufthansa will check your luggage all the way through to your destination. Sure, you might save $100-$200 by booking through a travel site and flying 3 different airlines, but if you have a quick connection in a busy hub like O'Hare, JFK, Heathrow, or Frankfurt, the LAST thing you want to have to do is scramble from your plane to the baggage claim, from the claim to the ticket counter to re-check your bag, and from the counter clearwater beach front hotels back through security and onward to your gate. Again, be early, plan ahead, and save yourselves the hassles. Reply Dale Rogers Mar 10th 2011 8:29PM
as long as they charge clearwater beach front hotels for luggage, I'm driving....As well..the fuel surcharge,..the snacks... the coke....the wimdow seat..the landing and take-off fees,...the security fees, .next...the cost of de-icing....and perhaps the cost of ground support.. and let us not forget the shop supplies...They don't need "cost of doing business" to bother them...Also they don't care , now that we are all used to some of those fees, about being embarrassed to charge them Reply Bruno Mar 10th 2011 1:24PM
Have seen set of golf clubs fall off conveyor as they were being unloaded. Head first. Hate to see what happened to those clubs. Mine were on that flight, too, but escaped clearwater beach front hotels realitively unscathed. I did have one brand new golf travel case totally ruined.They also were sent to wrong airport. Air Tran blames Fed Ex and vice versa. Air Tran ended up sending me new bag. Also, cheap airfare available from local , smaller airline like Direct Air and Alligent clearwater beach front hotels Air. Limited days of flying and places they go but usually can be close to where I am going. If your schedule is flexible, you'll save a lot of $$. Reply STBERNARDPUP123 Mar 10th 2011 1:32PM
One thing I've learned from shopping cheap airfare is to watch the taxes! Last y