Buying cheap air tickets is not that difficult if you know where to look and follow 16 simple rules! Our article differs from thousands of identical tips on travel websites, because it is based on the principles of operation of search and sales systems for air tickets by airlines and agencies.
Before buying air tickets, let's figure out where it's best to look for them. There are a lot of services for searching for air tickets. Not everyone understands what their differences are, and even experienced travelers confuse search engines with agencies, or believe that tickets should only be purchased from airlines.
All airlines sell air tickets through their websites. The exception is charter flights; tickets for them can be purchased through travel and ticket agencies. It is logical to assume that if the flight is operated by an airline, then the cheapest way to buy tickets is directly from them. But that's not true.
In addition to selling air tickets, airlines have more important tasks to ensure flights: maintaining aircraft, paying airport tariffs, paying staff salaries, etc. The airline cannot take on the financial risks of selling all flight tickets.
Therefore, in order to receive money before the flight opens, some airline tickets are sold in bulk at a deep discount to large agencies and consolidators - wholesale ticket buyers. Consolidators resell air tickets to small agencies.
It turns out that airlines and agencies may have different prices for the same air tickets. The reason is that the agency’s main task is to sell air tickets, and the airline’s main task is to recoup the flight. Therefore, the agency is ready to share the airline’s discount with the buyer and offer cheaper air tickets. But the airline does not have such a practice, and even vice versa - as the plane fills up, the price for the flight becomes higher.
Air tickets at agencies are often cheaper than at airlines due to additional discounts from major air ticket suppliers (consolidators). Some agencies work directly with airlines and can buy airline tickets in bulk and provide their own additional discounts to buyers.
Agencies can offer cheaper air tickets by combining flights from different airlines: fares in one direction may be cheaper with one airline, and in the opposite direction with another. Or split one long flight into 2 short ones at more favorable ticket prices. Due to high competition, agencies sometimes sell air tickets without a markup, compensating for losses by selling additional services: insurance, car rental, hotel reservations, excursions.
Airplane ticket search engines combine airlines and agencies. The main difference between the search is that it does not sell anything, but only compares prices; tickets are purchased on the website of the airline or ticket agency. Specify the route and travel dates, click the Find tickets button and the search engine sends a request to airlines and agencies. Next, the search combines the data and ranks it by price and custom filters: departure date and time, class of service, availability of transfers, etc. The search results will include classic airlines, low-cost airlines and even charters. Each airline's airfare prices will be compared with agency prices. The lower the cost of an air ticket, the higher it is in the search. When making a search request, no user data is transmitted. The airline or agency only sees the search engine query, so the price will not change depending on the user's device and location.
If your suitcases are packed and you don’t care where to fly, then check the prices a few days before departure. Just before departure, agencies sell air tickets at the lowest price. Cheap offers are only available on charter flights during high season to popular tourist destinations. To recover costs, agencies sell air tickets at cost. Please note that last-minute air tickets are sold one way.
The euro exchange rate for the sale of international air tickets is set weekly on Wednesdays. It’s easy to track the ticket rate yourself. Look at the Central Bank rate from Tuesday to Wednesday, round it up to 50 kopecks. If you see that the euro exchange rate has increased, then do not hesitate and buy a ticket before the end of Tuesday.
For flights on foreign airlines, it is more profitable to pay for air tickets in foreign currency if you have a bank card in euros or dollars. To avoid unfavorable conversions of payment systems, check the cost of air tickets in foreign currency. On Avianiti you can select your currency in the upper right corner of the flight search.
Airlines and agencies make the most money during the holidays. If you buy air tickets in advance, there will be no discounts for the holidays, only an increasing factor. This is due to high demand - even the most expensive air tickets will be sold.
If you want to buy cheaper air tickets for the holidays, write a vacation application and shift the flight dates by 3 days, the air tickets will be cheaper. Even for neighboring holiday dates, you need to buy tickets in advance: if you want to fly in December-January, buy tickets in October, for May holidays, buy tickets in March.