Know how you can get cheaper airfare on every tour!

If you are a frequent traveler then you will ofcourse know, how minimizing the air ticket cost can help significantly reduce your travel budget.

At a time when numerous airlines are running flights to multifarious destinations, and vying for travelers attention, knowing a few intelligent tricks of the airfare game can help you get the best of deals and remarkably lower your budget.

Hence, Kapil Goswamy, CMD, BigBreaks has listed a few tips that can help you get cheaper airfare every time you fly:

# Book several weeks in advance

Well, this comes as the most obvious advice that anybody would give you. Planning your vacation well in advance and booking air tickets at least 2 months before your travel schedule will in most cases get you a better deal. The best way to plan ahead is to look at the calendar at the onset of every year, identify the greener spots on it, apply for leaves and plan the trip. Planning ahead pays. Not only will this help you get cheaper airfare but also good hotels at appropriate prices.

# Keep re-checking for possible discounts

However, it is not always a matter of early booking, sometimes if you are alert enough at the opportune moment, you can grab an amazing piece of discount. This can be possible if you keep hanging in there and re-checking prices on offer for all airlines every now and then. Airlines often release discounted tickets at any point of time before a flight. This might be a part of marketing for a new route or just a way to fill up empty seats on a flight. If you want to take a chance and benefit from such an opportunity, it is better to keep alert, check price fluctuations every day and book around two to three weeks ahead of the trip.

# Search on private mode

You might not be aware but your browsing history can often push up the flight prices. No, w are not joking here! Based on the cookies in your browser, sites push up the prices of flights that have been searched several times. This is often a technical gimmick to scare you into booking quickly lest the prices go up further. Therefore one must always search for airfares with browser on 'private' or 'incognito' mode. Most browsers including Chrome, Firfox and Safari have this option of going secret with your searches. Now whenever you sarch a flight, close all your previously searched windows to start afresh.

While off season vacation will certainly mean that you have to take extra leaves, but it will also allow you travel cheaper. With demand low during non tourist seasons, airfares are naturally expected to be lower as compared to peak seasons.

# Check for one-way flight

We often tend to believe that two-way tickets will always be cheaper as a whole than booking one way ticket and back individually. However, it often pays to compare the price of two single tickets, as they can sometimes come out cheaper. Sometimes, the return ticket when booked from a different airlines can turn out to be cheaper; or you might find a discounted ticket on your return journey.

# Opt for low-frills budget airlines

This is like stating another obvious. However, it has to be specified. Sometimes, we tend to opt for costlier airlines as they are more comfortable, offer better services and provide food and other services as part of the ticket cost. However, a little compromise with these amenities can allow you save remarkably on your airfare. At some routes budget airlines do not fly direct flights. In this case, you can also opt for a connecting flight.

# Check the ticket price 24 hour before the flight

This is a quirky yet interesting way that can sometimes give you windfall gains. Some airlines do offer a complete refund on cancellations done more than 24 hours before the flight. If this is the case with the airline you have booked with, check the ticket price a day or two before the flight; in case there is a substantial drop on account of a discounted ticket, cancel your old ticket and book a new one on the same flight.

-ANI