Planning Your Trip to Norway - Norway - page 39

• Passengers who can book their
ticket long in advance, who can
stay over Saturday night, or who
fly midweek or at less-trafficked
hours may pay a fraction of the
full fare. If your schedule is flexi-
ble, say so, and ask if you can
secure a cheaper fare by changing
your flight plans.
• You can also save on airfares by
keeping an eye out in local news-
papers for promotional specials
or fare wars, when airlines lower
prices on their most popular
routes. You rarely see fare wars
offered for peak travel times, but if
you can travel in the off-months,
you may snag a bargain.
• Search the Internet for cheap
fares (see “Planning Your Trip
Online,” earlier in this chapter).
• Consolidators, also known as
bucket shops, are great sources for
international tickets, although they
usually can't beat the Internet-only
fares within North America. Start
by looking in Sunday newspaper
travel sections; U.S. travelers
should focus on the New York
Times, Los Angeles Times, and
Miami Herald. For less-developed
destinations, small travel agents
who cater to immigrant communi-
ties in large cities often have the
best deals. Beware: Bucket-shop
tickets are usually nonrefundable
or rigged with stiff cancellation
penalties, often as high as 50% to
75% of the ticket price, and some
put you on charter airlines, which
may leave at inconvenient times
and experience delays. Several reli-
able consolidators are worldwide
and available on the Net. STA
Travel (see “Student Travel” above)
is now the world's leader in student
travel, thanks to their purchase of
Council Travel. It also offers good
fares for travelers of all ages. ELT-
Express (Flights.com) ( & 516/
228-4972; www.eltexpress.com)

started in Europe and has excellent
fares worldwide, but particularly to
that continent. It also has “local”
websites in 12 countries. FlyCheap
( & 800/FLY-CHEAP; www.1800
flycheap.com) is owned by pack-
age-holiday megalith MyTravel
and so has especially good access to
fares for sunny destinations. Air
Tickets Direct ( & 800/778-
3447; www.airticketsdirect.com) is
based in Montreal and leverages
the currently weak Canadian dollar
for low fares.
• Join frequent-flier clubs. Accrue
enough miles and you'll be
rewarded with free flights and elite
status. It's free, and you'll get the
best choice of seats, faster response
to phone inquiries, and prompter
service if your luggage is stolen,
your flight is canceled or delayed,
or if you want to change your seat.
You don't need to fly to build fre-
quent-flier miles— frequent-flier
credit cards can provide thou-
sands of miles for doing your
everyday shopping.
A NOTE FOR BRITISH TRAVEL-
ERS A regular fare from the United
Kingdom to Oslo is extremely expen-
sive, so call a travel agent about a char-
ter flight or special air-travel
promotions. You might also ask the
airlines about a “Eurobudget ticket,”
which carries restrictions or length-of-
stay requirements.
British newspapers are always full of
classified ads touting “slashed” fares
from London to other destinations.
One good source is Time Out, a mag-
azine filled with cultural information
about London. The Evening Stan-
dard maintains a daily travel section,
and the Sunday editions of virtually
any newspaper in the British Isles will
run ads.
Although competition among airline
consolidators is fierce, one well-recom-
mended company is Trailfinders
( & 0845/05-05-891 in London;