|
Travel
tips to help you fly
this summer,
Flights will be more crowded this
summer, and fares are taking off. "While airlines have
increased fares due to fuel prices, it seems a lot of people
are choosing to take to the skies rather than fuel up the
Navigator," says Terry Trippler, CEO of FareFacts.com, a
guide to finding the lowest airfares that launched last
week.
With Americans predicted to take 4%
more trips by air than last summer, according to the Travel
Industry Association of America, and bargains harder to
find, he and other travel pros offer strategies to make the
skies friendlier:
● Shop by
price, not date. Being a flexible flier can save
hundreds of dollars, Trippler says. FareFacts.com lists
lowest fares between city pairs in the USA; users play with
dates to get them. Other sites making price searches easy
include Travelocitycom, SideStep.com and
travelguyairfares.blogspot.com. Travelguyairfares founder
George Hobica spends his days hunting for deals and posts
them as he finds them.
● Watch
airline websites. Low fares sold only on carrier
websites are multiplying. Hobica cites Spirit and Alaska
airlines and likes Southwest's low "ding" fares, which pop
up on your computer daily and must be booked fast. Install
software at southwest.com/ding.
● Don’t
always book Point A to Point C in a trip that requires a
stop. "People can save money by booking A to B and B to
C," Hobica says. "The split-fare strategy is one of the best
and least- known ways to save money on air travel." He
looked on Travelocity - first for a Denver to Tortola round
trip (about $900 on several carriers). Then he asked to go
Denver to San Juan ($291 round trip using a sale fare on
American) and San Juan to Tortola ($99 round trip on
Caribbean Sun). The savings: $500.
● Use
budget airlines to save on trans-Atlantic vacations.
It'll be a busy summer in Europe, with some fares already in
the $1,000 range. Pros recommend saving by flying to a city
with lots of competing carriers (London, for one) and
continuing to another destination on a cut-rate European
airline such as easyjet or Ryanair. LowCostAirlines.org
lists budget carriers worldwide.
Meanwhile, airports will be jammed. To
avoid waiting at ticket counters or check-in machines, print
boarding on airlines websites before leaving for the
airport, says Susan Foster, author of Smart Packing for
Today's Traveler (smartpacking.com).
A reminder: As of last month, lighters
are no longer permitted through security and can be
confiscated. Lists of prohibited items, plus average wait
times at security checkpoints, are posted on
www.tsa.gov.
Some good news: According to a USA
TODAY analysis of Transportation Security Administration
records published Monday, wait times at security checkpoints
have dropped as the TSA has added lanes and streamlined
procedures.
|
