Cheap airfare is becoming harder to come find, especially as the holidays approach. With many smaller airlines bought up by their larger rivals, it seems as if budget fares have all but disappeared. And good luck saving cash if you’re trying to book a last-minute flight.
If you are patient, and take the time to to do some research, you’ll find that cheap last-minute airfares can still be found during the holidays. Try some of the following, and see if you don’t come away with a much cheaper flight.
Compare Popular Travel Websites
There are a number of great travel sites that can help you compare last-minute airfare deals, such as Kayak, Expedia, Priceline, Orbitz, and Travelocity. All of these sites show you the best possible last minute airfare deals available from every airline carrier.
Create Price Alerts
Set up price alerts through the travel websites listed above. You can also set price alerts on the airlines’ own websites. You can set a price limit and other guidelines — and when a price that matches what you are looking for pops up, you will be notified immediately.
Use Different Airlines for the Same Trip
Don’t be afraid to mix and match airline carriers for the same trip. Oftentimes this will get you the best deal on a last minute airfare. You can hop a bigger airline carrier for one leg of the trip, then mix it up by booking something with a smaller airline. It’s a slight inconvenience, but you can save a lot of money.
Be Flexible
This can be difficult during the holidays — you most likely have to be at a certain place (your brother’s place in Boca) at a certain time (Christmas Eve), but if you are able to have some flexibility on certain aspects of the flight, such as arrival time and number of stops, then you will definitely come away with a better deal.
Use Smaller Airports
There are a number of smaller airports around the country that you can fly into, and then drive the rest of the way to your destination. Oftentimes these smaller airports come with cheaper travel prices, and flying into one of them may save you a ton of money on your trip.
Long gone are the constant cheap airfare deals of times past. Today flying is much more expensive — but if you take a few minutes and follow some of the steps listed above, you should be able to find cheap, last minute airfare for the holidays.