Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ically run from $1,100 to $1,600. Low season fares (mid - November through Easter) are the
cheapest and are generally in the $600 to $900 range—fares do rise around Christmas. Fin-
ally, shoulder season rates (mid - September through late November and Easter through mid
- June) are normally around $800 to $1,000.
Search multiple departure airports.
Airfare can vary drastically based on your departure
airport so search all the airports in the area. You'll have to do a cost/benefit analysis to de-
termine if traveling to another airport is worth the potential savings.
Search multiple European airports.
If you're flexible about which airport you fly into,
there is the potential to save hundreds of dollars. The largest airports (London, Frankfurt, Par-
is, Madrid, and Amsterdam) tend to have the best prices, but sometimes you can find a good
deal by flying into a smaller airport.
Always keep in mind that the cheapest option isn't necessarily the best choice—it has to
fit into your travel plans. For example, say you want to visit France but you find a flight into
Dublin that costs $200 less than flying into Paris. You'll spend a lot of time and money getting
from Dublin to France so you'll negate any potential savings. It would make more sense to
just fly into Paris.
Alternatively, Europe does have numerous budget carriers, so you might be able to fly into
the cheapest airport and then take a cheap flight to your preferred destination. This does make
logistics a bit tougher and it could take a lot of extra time. You'll have to do a cost/benefit eval-
uation if you choose this option.
Search multiple arrival and return dates.
Ticket prices can vary greatly depending on
when you travel. Shifting travel dates by a day or two can sometimes save quite a bit of cash.
Again, keep in mind that your time is also valuable, so it might not make sense to cut your
trip short a day just to save $30.
In general, the cheapest days of the week are generally mid-week because those are the least
popular times to travel.
Save time and money with an open jaw ticket.
During my last trip, I was able to save about
$110 by arriving in Paris and departing from Amsterdam. This is referred to as an “open jaw”
ticket.
An open jaw ticket isn't always cheaper than a standard round-trip ticket but if both the ar-
rival and departure airports match up with your travel itinerary, you can save time and extra
travel expenses because you don't have to backtrack to your arrival airport.
Search for two one-way tickets.
I've had mix results with this technique but buying two
one-way tickets can sometimes save you a bit of money. On the other hand, sometimes this
method is much more expensive.
Buy tickets in advance.
Don't wait until the last minute to book your flight. About ten years
ago, you were able to score good deals on last- minute tickets, but this is very rarely the case
anymore. Airlines now use super complex algorithms to ensure their pricing strategy fills up
