How to fly cheap and comfortably? 14 ways to save on airfare

The plane - it's fast and convenient. But flight eats the lion's share of the budget traveler.

We know about all the airline tickets and more. Therefore, the selected 14 ways to help you buy the cheap. This is a practical guide for those who want to see the world and save money.

Method № 1 - buy a ticket in advance

Experienced travelers know that the earlier we start searching for tickets, the greater the chance to save money. Airline tickets go on sale for 330 days prior to departure. But, as practice shows, the optimal time to buy - 60 days.

Important! Carefully read the terms of the return and exchange (anything can happen in 2 months). Under Russian law, a ticket can be returned not later than 24 hours before dispatch of the aircraft. But this is true only for domestic airlines. In foreign airlines tickets sunk - a common practice.

Method number 2 - fly in the correct days

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday - in some airlines it is the most "cheap" days. From Friday to Sunday, and on holidays more expensive tickets.

Important! On popular business areas, this rule does not work - business people fly on weekdays.

Method № 3 - looking for the ticket at the right time

airfare search engineAs the stock exchanges - "quotes" can be changed every 15 minutes. People often search for flights on the job, and the search engines react quickly to demand.

Important! The right time to search for cheap tickets - early morning or late evening.

Method № 4 - Play dates

If the time of departure and arrival does not matter, play with the dates when searching for a ticket. +/- 3-5 days can save a couple hundred conventional units.

Important! In Aviasales for this there is a convenient assistant - "Calendar fares». This is a table showing which tickets are on one or another direction in the range of a few days. After playing sliders (up-down and left-right), you can find a really good offer.

Method number 5 - use the "Sunday rule"

According to the rule Sunday Rule, passenger arriving any day of the week, should be held in the destination of the next night from Saturday to Sunday. This rule was invented in America, where the flights are distinguished in official (business people tend to go home for the weekend) and for private purposes (tourists it does not matter).

Important! "Sunday Rule" allows you to save, but do not act on all tariffs.

Method № 6 - take into account seasonal

Summer - hot time for Turkey, it boils beach holiday. Christmas and New Year - a stir in Europe. Going to another "tourist Mecca", remember - while the prices of a priori higher season.

Important! Independent travel during the holiday lull will cost several times cheaper. But seeing the "delicious" price tag, do not lose your head. Explore the natural and climatic features of the country. Possibly, the low prices are dictated by the rainy season, and the rest will not work.

For example, in the "cool" season (November-February, there is little rainfall and plenty of sunshine), the minimum ticket price in Thailand is 21,959 rubles (2 stops!), but in the hot season (March-May, high humidity and very hot) - 19 159 rubles (1 transfer).

Method № 7 - buy ticket ticket

Airlines seek to fully complement flights. This explains the pricing policy. This is related to the price of tickets in one or both ends. Compare: the cheapest ticket for a flight airline JAT Airways «Moscow - Paris - Moscow" is worth 10 076 rubles.

On the flight "Moscow - Paris" (one-way), the same carrier offers a ticket at least 9539 rubles.

Plus 11,759 rubles - a return ticket.

Total: 21 298 rubles. Savings: 11 222 rubles.

Important! Buying a ticket there and back the same airline almost always cheaper.

Method № 8 - looking specials

Airlines routinely sell tickets as part of special promotions. For example, often in the autumn sales (holiday season comes to an end - the passenger traffic in certain areas of significantly reduced).

Promotions - it is profitable. But tickets for special offers special tariff conditions: non-payment, not a full refund, limited baggage allowance and others.

Tickets are quickly snapping up the shares and offers themselves have a limited duration. Not to miss the cheapest ticket you can either subscribe to the airlines, or to track stocks with the help of special services. For example, subscribe to Aviasales.ru.

Important! Sometimes a journey begins with a profitable airline deals.

Method number 9 - use bonuses

Do airlines have loyalty programs (accumulative bonus system). At Air Canada - Aeroplan, from British Airways - Executive Club, «Aeroflot» - «Aeroflot Bonus", etc.

Bonuses (miles, points, point) can be spent on the purchase of the airline tickets and a variety of additional services. To use the bonuses to save on airfare, you need a lot of flying, use the services of the same airline (or alliance) and enter the bonus program.

Important! Award tickets are not always easy to buy.

Method № 10 - use aggregators

Modern search engines collect information from the flight of dozens of airlines, tour operators and agencies. For instance, Aviasales processes information reservation systems 5, 45 agencies and 728 airlines. This makes it possible to find really cheap.

Important! The prices offered by search engines, often more attractive than the price tags on the airline's website. The reason is that many carriers metapoiskoviki perceived as a way to attract new passengers, and ready reduce the cost for customers who have come through a search engine, in the hope that they will come back again and again.

Method № 11 - resort to IT-life hacking

Seasoned layfhakery recommend: look for flights to the incognito mode, use the proxy of other countries, as well as Windows or Ubuntu. So you will be able to obtain more objective data, as it is believed that search engines are more biased to Mac users and inhabitants of the rich countries. In addition, aggregators keeps the history of queries and know approximately how much each user is willing to pay for a ticket.

Important! Such life hacking does not always work, but never superfluous.

Method № 12 - fly OpenJaw

OpenJaw - this is an incomplete circular route, when the arrival and departure points do not match. For example, flying in from Moscow to Berlin and Moscow departing from Dresden. Or departing from Moscow to Berlin, and the return from Berlin to Kaluga. From the airport to your destination will have to travel by road. Such a method is less expensive, since every airport their fees. The air inlets are not capital usually below.

Important! If a "transit" airport is too far away from your destination, saving money on the background of time spent is questionable.

Method № 13 - fly low-Coster

Low-fire (or discounters) - a low cost airline to offer low ticket prices due to the reduction of passenger services. Namely - the food and entertainment on board, insurance, baggage allowance, etc. These and other services are provided at an additional cost.

Low-cost airlines tend to use the same type of aircraft, passengers do not divide into classes, make short (no more than 4 hours), direct flights, based on secondary airports and flying in an awkward time.

Each aircraft is a low-cost company makes several flights a day. One nevylet weather conditions - disrupted the entire schedule. "Budget" planes are often delayed and are suitable only for those who do not mind to spend a few extra hours at the airport. Also, if you fly with changes, due to the delay discounter can skip butt flight.

List of low-Coster world here. In Russia, three discounter Wizz Air, EasyJet Airline and "Dobrolet" (subsidiary company "Aeroflot" will start functioning in spring, 2014).

Important!Find tickets for low cost flights are on-Aviasales.ru.

Method № 14 - fly charters

Charter - irregular flight is performed for a specific customer. Most often, the customer - it's the travel agency. From this conclusion: charter flights to popular tourist destinations and buy a ticket on them (without package tour) is difficult.

But it is possible. The first way - to turn to a travel agency or use a special service.

Important! Search Engines like Aviasales, they are also looking for charters.

Now that you know about cheap air travel to almost all. We hope that these tips will be valuable to you in practice.

And if you know of other life hacking on how to save on airline tickets, welcome to the comments.