Five ways to save on airfare

    When it comes to travel, I think the biggest hurdle for people is the airfare.  There’s really no way around paying for that in full and you can’t wait on it because ticket prices will go up.  Although, it’s an upfront amount, there are a few ways to reduce the cost.

   CONSIDER LEAVING FROM A DIFFERENT TOWN/AIRPORT- If you live somewhere that has multiple airports in a reasonable vicinity, you might consider this.  My husband and I flew to a friends wedding in the Dominican in November.  We had airline miles but not enough to fly out of Austin.  We drove to Houston, about three hours, and flew from there.  Sure, it’s a drive but it saved us $1100.  If we hadn’t had miles it would have saved us $500.  That’s definitely worth the six hours and gas.  I am flying to New Orleans for a friends birthday.  The flight out of Austin is $285 plus $50 luggage.  It also has a layover.  There’s a flight out of San Antonio (an hour and a half away) for $96!  It’s a budget airline so I had to pay for my seat $30 and luggage $60.  That puts me all in at $186.  That’s a savings of $149!

    NO LOYALTY-I’m not loyal to any one airline.  I have airlines that I prefer but I look at the least amount of flight time (I’m a sucker for a direct flight) and the price.  I also factor in the baggage fees.  Southwest Airlines allows two free checked items, so I use that in my decision as well.

    USE DIFFERENT AIRLINES-forget the myth that one way tickets are more expensive.  Generally, they aren’t.  I’ll piece together my trips.  For instance, we recently flew into JFK on Delta but flew back from Newark on United.  We flew to LA on United but flew back on American.  This is really beneficial when using a budget airline.  I flew to Destin on Allegiant but they didn’t have a flight back when I needed it.  So I flew back on Southwest Airlines from Panama City.

    TRY BUDGET AIRLINES-I’m a big fan of Allegiant but they do charge a lot of fees.  Luckily, we are a military family so we get three bags each for free.  That means if a friend is flying with me…..the bags are in my name.  “Budget” airlines often have really good deals but be aware that they charge for everything.  There’s no free water, snacks, soft drinks, seats etc.  They also only take credit cards on the flight.  So compare the overall price to other airlines.

    SHOP AROUND-I put my browser in privacy and look at a bunch of different websites.  I also use the Hopper app (https://www.hopper.com/) to give me some insight and to watch the prices for me.  There are a bunch of different apps/programs that help also.  I’ll do a full post on that soon. Do any of you have any tips to make airfare less expensive?  Please, comment below!  Also,please join the other travel minded people that have followed this blog and get the post sent straight to your email.