Airline Ticket Savings

[Hntnsumpin]

Does anyone have any tips and suggestions on airline ticket savings? I need 2 round trip tickets to London to see my daughter in August. I have never tried to use points or credits of any type. Is it safe, or even possible to buy points from an individual? Do credit card points help with the cost? Thanks for any information and opinions.

[Cajun Blake]

IMO, Google Flights has great prices but you should have been searching several months ago. Fly out and return on a weekday (Tues, We’d, Thurs) which will save you $$. Based on a quick search, looks like a single RT ticket will cost from $1200 ~ $1500. You’re probably looking at $3,000 just for the 2 tickets. I don’t have points although my brother uses his all the time for flights and hotels.

[ctom87]

I can respond once I get settled in from work.

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[Chase4556]

I use CC points all the time. Just used them to book a flight from Poland to the states. Obviously depends on what card you have as to how the points work. I have an Amex and a southwest card that I collect points on.

Best way to save money is being flexible on your dates. Arriving a few days early, and staying a few days extra could be a decent amount of savings, and a cheap hotel for a few days makes it more than worth it.

[Chase4556]

Depending on the dates, Google flights shows me $842 up to $1600. Again, which days you need to leave/return will be the main thing driving the price. Later in the month seems to be cheaper.

[ctom87]

There are some regulations around Airline prices. Every flight's price can change up to four times per day. The cheapest day to buy is typically on a Tuesday. The cheapest flights are typically on Tuesdays also. The cheapest time of day typically is after they change prices around noon, and the cheapest distance out is four weeks from the date of your flight.

So if you were flying tomorrow, typically the cheapest time to purchase was the afternoon of April 26th. [emoji6]

With that said, the markets can change at any point. This is just a guide. And notice the overuse of the word typically. Nothing is guaranteed. The same exact time I suggest could be the highest, also.

Another tip... if you have flexibility and are between two airports, sometimes it is cheaper to start out at a small airport. For example, if you live in Waco, your options are: drive to DFW and most likely have a direct flight, start in Waco and connect at DFW, or maybe even drive to Killeen and connect in DFW. Or Austin. Look at options if you are flexible. The only downside is that connections equal opportunities to lose bags. Most bags make it. Probably 98 or 99% if I had to guess, but if you need your bag, this may not be a viable option.

I am 90% certain you cannot purchase points from someone. Perhaps they can be gifted to you or a member of that airline can buy them for you. The airlines sell the points, and they are EXPENSIVE compared to using points you have accumulated though a credit card.

I am in the DFW area and have a SW credit card as well as AA. AA has the largest network and SW has goofy routes, so we have a very good shot at getting anywhere quickly. For example, we happened to be in Alva, OK, flying into Wichita. When we left, we fly direct from Wichita to Vegas on SW's 3:30 Sunday flight. Only SW will have a direct flight from Wichita to Vegas on a Sunday afternoon. I guess for people like me lol.

Feel free to PM me with any questions.

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[Hntnsumpin]

Thanks for the replies, keep em coming if you have suggestions. I have been watching prices for a month or so and have been pretty stagnate. I have found the flights out of Austin can save some coin and we have used it for my daughters flight before. But I am thinking the cost of leaving a car at the airport could get expensive. Virgin flights out of Austin. Is Virgin a a good airline to Europe. Thanks again

[j.trevor123]

I had a guy at work that his wifes boss ( who flies alot) said getting the tickets at the airport is cheaper. So actually going and getting them there in advance, i cannot say this is true or not but he did get 2 flights that at the time i thought was stupid cheap. I mean like 1/3 of what i figured. Maybe look into it..

[TKRanch]

with fuel prices as high as they are airline travel is going to be a real expense unfortunately. Bought my daughter ticket to Tucson and back from San Antonio for travel last week of June about a month ago and ticket prices are up almost $200 from then.

Good luck!!!

[ctom87]

with fuel prices as high as they are airline travel is going to be a real expense unfortunately. Bought my daughter ticket to Tucson and back from San Antonio for travel last week of June about a month ago and ticket prices are up almost $200 from then.

Good luck!!!

Yes and no. It doesn't always mean rates go up (but it can). It is wayyyyyy over my head but they have ways of locking in prices for periods of times on jet fuel. If jet fuel goes up 1 penny, it costs something like $40,000,000 extra per day, so they try to control that as much as they can. Not always possible tho.

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[yaqui]

Follow Cheap flights DFW on Twitter and instagram and their join website, and watch for deals. We've picked up dirt cheap flight to Europe a few times.

[Flex]

I don't know but flights are insane now. I have taken 1 or 2 trips a year up north to visit friends and never paid more than like $175 round trip.

Looking for this summer and looking like 4-500$ round trip. I am not going to be going anywhere if it cost that much.

[CB_TxNole]

IMO, Google Flights has great prices but you should have been searching several months ago. Fly out and return on a weekday (Tues, We’d, Thurs) which will save you $$. Based on a quick search, looks like a single RT ticket will cost from $1200 ~ $1500. You’re probably looking at $3,000 just for the 2 tickets. I don’t have points although my brother uses his all the time for flights and hotels.

This, I use google flights. If you look Nov-February you can get tickets for cheap all over the world at different times up until May.

[slayr]

I followed ctom’s advice and Tuesday afternoon was able to snag a couple of non-stop tickets for a July vacation at almost 30% off of the lowest prices I’d found previously. I used Google flights, then just upgraded to standard economy vs basic economy when booking.

[donpablo]

A Word of Caution

I learned the hard way that if you do not book directly with the airline, they cannot help to reschedule your flight if something comes up. You will be at the mercy of whoever you booked through. Most times the airline will work with you but only if you book through them directly.