| To begin with, the best place to buy really cheap plane | | | | is the problem of whether you'll get a refund if your |
| tickets is online. Travel agencies can't compete with | | | | timing is off on the connections (you probably won't). |
| discount ticket sites. Search Google ("cheap airfare | | | | Check for package deals, where you pay for plane |
| south america", for example), or try the well-known | | | | tickets and your hotel room. I haven't had much luck |
| sites, like Expedia, Travelocity, Cheap Tickets, Hotwire | | | | with these deals, but it can't hurt to look at them. |
| or Priceline. | | | | Buying ahead of time gets you cheaper plane tickets. |
| Just now I checked fares from Tucson, Arizona to | | | | Any thing less than a week away tends to be |
| Traverse City, Michigan on the five sites mentioned | | | | expensive, although you never can tell in the |
| above. The cheapest quotes ranged from $704 to | | | | mysterious realm of airfare pricing. Sometimes the "last |
| $432. Nevermind which was cheapest (oh, okay, it | | | | minute specials" are the best thing going. |
| was Expedia), because you never know from day to | | | | Priceline still has their "Name Your Own Price" feature. |
| day which sites will find the cheapest flights. | | | | Make your bid, and the airlines say yes or no, |
| Check at least three places. In this case, it would mean | | | | depending on whether they have empty seats to fill. |
| a savings of $272. The flight durations are within | | | | First search for the cheapest tickets you can find, then |
| minutes of each other, by the way, and the food is | | | | bid lower than that. If your bid is rejected, you can |
| probably equally bad on all the flights. | | | | return to the website where you found the best deal |
| Flexibility For Even Cheaper Airfare | | | | and book it. |
| The more flexible you are, the better your chance of | | | | If You're Really Cheap |
| getting a really cheap plane tickets. Try different | | | | My wife and I once took a bus from Michigan to Miami, |
| departure and return dates if you can. Check the box | | | | and flew from there to Ecuador. For us at that time, |
| "2 or more connecting flights". Mark the "anytime" | | | | saving a couple hundred dollars was worth 38 hours |
| departure, even if you don't want to leave at midnight - | | | | on a bus. This won't save you much on domestic |
| the savings might change your mind. Try all the options. | | | | flights. Right now, for example, taking a bus from |
| If the savings aren't enough, you can always book first | | | | Traverse City to Detroit, then flying to Los Angeles, |
| class, direct flights, or whatever you prefer. | | | | would only save about $70 (allowing for cab fare to |
| Really Cheap Plane Tickets - More Ways | | | | the airport) over flying directly. |
| You can buy two tickets. The cheapest airfare from | | | | There are other options beyond the scope of this |
| Grand Rapids, Michigan to Tucson, Arizona costs $451 | | | | article. Courier flights, for example, can be a great deal |
| roundtrip right now. Las Vegas to Tucson is only $161, | | | | if you don't mind letting a company use your baggage |
| however, and there are regular $199 specials to | | | | allowance (you get carry-on only). There are also |
| Vegas from Grand Rapids. It's up to you whether | | | | stand-by deals and last minute deals and other ways |
| saving $91 is worth booking two flights. (It saved us | | | | to get really cheap plane tickets. Good luck! |
| over $1000 when we went to South America.) There | | | | |