I Can’t Afford to Travel - Tips to Getting Your Flight Cheaper

“You must be rich” That is what everyone tells me. “I could never afford to travel like you do.” This, something I hear all the time from people. Everyone tells me they can’t afford to travel. You know you have said it many times yourself. In reality, anyone can afford to travel. I did it when I was making $200 a week, it just takes the right information. The next series of articles will help you understand the easiest way to travel. First let’s tackle that problem of not affording to travel. First we will tackle the best times to travel, the best times to buy and resources to help you get your flight that you want.

When To Travel?

So, when do you like to travel? Let me guess, you want to go during Easter/Spring Break vacation, or perhaps as summer starting, or maybe just before the school year starts. Let me tell you everyone else is thinking the same thing. And the airlines know this too. These are the peak times of travel. But, what is it mean to be a peak time. It means it’s the time of the year where everyone wants to travel. And what that means is there some more demand. More demand for something causes prices to go up. And that means airlines make these high demand times expensive to fly.

So, when are the best times to travel? Oddly the best times when you don’t want to travel. Let me give you an example, right when school starts. Like late January and early February. I don’t know many people who travel during this time. Picking up a round-trip from San Francisco to Bogotá for $350 wasn’t just a steal but was easy. The difference was that it left and returned Late January and early February.

Let’s talk the opposite option. Let me tell you about a trip to India. In the summer around July a flight to New Delhi from San Francisco was $1600 round-trip. But same flight from the same airline in September, when school was in session, was a mere $960 round-trip. It makes sense to go during non peak times. As a break down that would be Mid January to early March (before Spring Break); September to early November.

Days To Leave?

What days do you want to actually leave on? Doesn’t make sense to leave on a Friday? I know that seems convenient. But so does everyone else. Looking for flights that leave on a Friday will make your ticket price much more expensive. Same with tickets leaving on a Sunday or Monday. The reason for this is those of the days that ever has to get back to work. And Fridays are the days that Everyone wants to get away for the weekend. So some of the best days to buy your flights are Tuesday’s Wednesdays and Saturdays. Having your flights leave on these days can help you save your money.

When To Buy?

Choosing the best dates to leave isn’t the only thing that matters. Knowing when to actually buy your tickets is also something to be aware. Flights general meet their most optimal price for purchase about 6 weeks before you date. That is usually the best time to make your purchase. If wait for the last minute, like a business person would need to do, then they charge more thinking your flying off on a business’ budget. similarly buying your flight too early can be expensive. Looking for a flight 6 months ahead of time would be set at a flat fee that would be really high, usually the airlines do not start adjusting prices until about 3 months or so before dates.

Also knowing which day to actually make your purchase is also some great knowledge to have. For example if you were to buy on a on a Friday, then the prices will be higher. Same with weekends (unless you are purchasing from a South American Airline, from experience has told me). The best time to purchase is Tuesdays at around 3 PM Eastern time. The reason for this is that this is the real time that all the other airlines have already priced matched everyone else. On weekends is when they start lowering the prices as everyone starts doing a bargain-hunting. But by Tuesday everyone has already price matched each other.

Do not believe me? All this information I have found out through the statistics of the website www.farecompare.com. FareCompare is a great website that offers a lot of advice on how to travel cheaper.

Resources

Why don’t we get some resources to help you find out the best days to fly and keep track of it all. Because we all know it’s a pain in the butt to keep looking every Tuesday and figuring out when the best prices. And the worst part is trying to figure out which website and which airline and which… let me help you. Here are some amazing websites that can help you with that.

One of my favorite websites is kayak.com. The reason for this is that kayak.com actually gives you alerts for when prices drop. When you sign up for an account one of the options is to have e-mail alerts sent directly to you sent directly to you based on the criteria that you want. There is even an amazing app that you can get for your phone. This way you can get alerts directly to you right away. Just do a search of when you want to go and where it will give you the best times and you can also set an alert for it. You can also set it up for a broad search so it can find the best deal for a whole month. Kayak can also track past trends to show when a price is most likely going to drop and if the price you are buying at is statistically the best price.

Another amazing website you should check out is www.farecompare.com. Their computer lists a whole bunch of websites that you can check out getting you the cheapest fare out there. farecompare.com also gives you a way to get alerts for when the price drops occur. One of the best features is you can see your home airport and get instant alerts and tweets of deals that are coming up. Check out fair compare.com for more information.

Other great places to book is CheapOAir.com, a great place to get a range of cheap airfare.

Conclusion

Is it really expensive to travel? Well if you can land $760 round trip to Argentina in October, the answer is NO. You just to be armed with the right knowledge and tools to help you get there.

Have you ever gotten some great deals? What are you favorite websites and tools you like to you use? Leave a comment below, send me a tweet on twitter using #PTFlyCheap, or post on my facebook. Heck even send us a message. Let me know, we want to share those resources you have with others. Happy travels

Erick Redcloud

A partially blind Graphic Designer, Freelance Travel Photographer, Artist, Buddhist and Vegetarian who loves to travel. Erick loves traveling by being with the locals and going off the beaten path. He is the founder and owner of Pathlesstravels and loves inspiring others to follow their dreams, whether it is to travel or something completely different. He started Pathlesstravels to hone is photography skills and to meet amazing people, and to help a friend break into journalism. Check out his photography at his link.

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