After the crazy winter weather we’ve experienced the past few weeks many of you are probably ready for a spring break getaway.
So we consulted with travel experts and came up with five tricks to make scoring travel savings easier.
Free lance photographer Kristy Duff Wallace makes a point to document her life and her travels.
“I have been thinking about how to get back to Colorado the cheapest lately because it’s a good time of year to go,” said Wallace.
“I typically spend $250 to $300 dollars,” she said.
After trying our tips she saved $145 dollars.
1. The first travel trick: uncovering unadvertised deals.
Most travel web sites like Expedia, Orbitz or Travelocity only list advertised fares, prices that are widely known across the industry.
“A lot of the best deals are unadvertised deals,” said George Hobica who launched Airfarewatchdog.com. This web site searches for deals that are not widely advertised.
“I didn’t know that existed,” said Wallace.
2. The second trick is to use those meta search sites.
We’re talking Trip Advisor.com/flights, Kayak.com
3. Our next tip – keep in mind the best day to buy.
FareCompare.com
"Weekend fares come out Tuesday night or Wednesday," said Hobica.
Saturday can also be a good day to look for deals and it just so happens those are also the best days to fly out because tickets tend to be cheaper those days.
4. The next trick: remember the rule of 7’s.
"If you give yourself a seven to 14 to 21 day advance purchase window you're probably going to get a lower fare," said Hobica.
That’s assuming you can wait that long.
5. Which is what brings us to this next trick: keep checking.
Don’t stop looking once you’ve booked your ticket.
"There are three airlines that will give you a price drop refund if the price goes down between the time you buy and the time you fly," said Hobica.
They are Southwest, JetBlue and Alaska Air.
Other airlines charge a fee but it can still pay off. My husband and I booked an anniversary trip a few years ago and kept checking air fare. The tickets ended up dropping $150 a piece so even after paying the fee we ended up with $200 in travel vouchers to use at a later date.
Don’t want to do the work yourself? Check out Yapta.com.
“You’re kidding me? That’s awesome. That’s really awesome,” said Wallace.
More tips
Here are a few additional ways to save money next time you travel.
Be flexible.
We’re not just talking about the days you choose to travel but the airport from which you fly.
"We did see some amazing fares a few weeks ago $250 or $260 round trip with tax for travel through March from New York city to Madrid and Venice Italy and to Rome and Brussels," said Hobica.
There was also airfare from Houston to Honolulu for $800 round trip but from Dallas to Honolulu was $250 round trip. So if you could find cheap airfare from Austin to Dallas or you were willing to drive, you and a loved one could have ended up in paradise for $500 round trip.
Not finding a deal worth snagging? Try switching browsers.
Say for example, you always search for deals using Internet Explorer. Try using Safari or Firefox. Consumer Reports recently did this and saved hundreds on a flight using the same dates and destination.
Hotel and Car Rental Saving Sites
Terri has more terrific hotel and rental car saving web sites you may want to bookmark. You can find that information on her blog.
