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Don't Take the First Fare
Cheap Charlie · March 31, 1999

What are the three best ways to get a deal on an airline ticket? Compare, compare and compare.

If you don't know the real price of a ticket, don't even begin to shop. When it comes to traveling, I've had friends announce a great deal on a ticket only to learn that it's overpriced or has such severe restrictions it turns out to be worthless.

Because of deregulation and the resulting emphasis on price competition, airlines theoretically don't all charge the same fares anymore. We all know the basic prices on 99.9 percent of the routes are similar. However, what has changed is airline management of the so-called "load factor."

In laymen's terms, this means some airlines have more discounted seats than others. Your job as a bargain-hunter is to find the airline with the bargain seats you want going to your destination.

Never accept the first fare quoted.

Many times, another flight on another airline within an hour of the time you want to fly will provide a less expensive deal. If you have the time before advanced purchase date and are faced with what you feel is a high "lowest rate," you  might wait a couple of days and try to make the reservation again when the "lowest fare" may have actually been lowered.

Ticket prices and seat availability change almost minute by minute. So keep calling -- the lowest priced ticket now may cost twice as much as another ticket on the same flight that comes available during the next hour.

For example, when purchasing an airline ticket for my mother recently for a flight from the Southeast to Boston, I was quoted a price of around $280 for a round-trip 21-day advanced purchase senior-citizen ticket. I told the agent thank you, but decided to wait and try making the reservation again the following week. When I called a week later, the same flights were still available. The price had dropped to $181.

The more flexibility you have and the earlier you begin to make reservations, the easier it is to negotiate the airfare maze.

Once again, when reservationists inform you that all low-priced tickets have been sold, they are telling you what the situation is at that moment. Within hours, minutes, and even seconds there may be seats opening up at the low price you wanted to purchase. Another traveler may have canceled a reservation or failed to pay for their reservation, the airline may have decided to make more discounted seats available or the size of the airplane may have changed. These are only a few of the factors that affect airline ticket prices and availability.

Bottom line: be patient. And keep calling until you get the fare you want.

Charlie Leocha is the Boston-based author of Travel Rights: Know the Rules of the Road and the Air Before You Go. Cheap Charlie appears every Monday on this site. E-mail him at cheapch@aol.com or access his Web site.