Thoughts on the “doing it yourself” of booking travel
Posted By RichC on June 19, 2011
A friend of mine and I discussed buying tickets for a couple of upcoming trips which included flights and rental cars this past week and neither one of us were convinced we picked up the cheapest tickets or were able to find decent rates for renting a car in July. 
We bounced our shopping sites and strategies off of each other hoping that one of us has really found the secret to nabbing the best flights, fares and rental car tricks … I don’t think we’ve figured it out yet. My favorite site is still Kayak.com for finding information, but prefer buying from a carrier or rental company on their own sites … and in many cases the ‘discount companies’ are not going to be listed.
A recent article listed a few tips that you might want to try:
The No. 1 finding: Avoid booking tickets on weekends. It’s the most expensive time to buy.
There’s no way to guarantee the best fare. But before booking, travelers should heed this additional advice:
– Book on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. That’s when airlines most often offer sales.
– Buy in advance, but not too early. The best time is four to six weeks before traveling. In general, prices for any given flight are highest eight to 10 weeks and two to three weeks in advance.
– Embrace social media. Airlines are giving more benefits, like exclusive sales, to travelers who interact with them on Twitter and Facebook. Those specials are often gone within hours.
– The so-called discount airlines – JetBlue, AirTran, Southwest and Frontier – adjust their fares less frequently than other airlines, so you can feel more confident locking in a price. But their prices aren’t always the lowest. Researching multiple airlines’ fares is the only way to get a good deal.
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