Five Steps to Avoid Overpaying for Airline Tickets

Aug. 11, 2010 — -- Last week, I was prepping for a radio program when a colleague asked me what I would say if a caller asked, "What's the golden rule of buying airline tickets?"

Several things leapt to mind, but my favorite "golden rule" is, shop for airfare on Tuesdays. Go ahead, etch that in stone.

Regular readers of this column know why: Usually (not always, but usually) an airline picks Monday night to launch an airfare sale. We see this with Southwest and AirTran all the time. Then, the other airlines join in. Why? Because no airline wants to sell a seat for even a buck more than the others, because they know that shoppers will many times go with the cheaper price.

Anyway, most of this airline price-matching is completed by Tuesday afternoon, so that is the sweet spot for shopping for airfare. Put it off to the weekend and chances are you will overpay, as airlines typically pull those deals late Thursday night.

But there are plenty of other ways to overpay. Let me run down ways for you to avoid them.

For more air travel news and insights visit Rick's blog at: http://farecompare.com.

No. 1: Research Airfares

Remember those all-nighters during finals weeks? You would be wise to do a little brushing up on the subject of your upcoming trip before you fly.

This is so you'll recognize a bargain when you see one. I can hear you saying, 'Well, of course I'd recognize a bargain,' but -- would you? Suppose an airline or an airfare shopping site screams on its website, 'Burbank to Salt Lake, Now Just $250 Roundtrip!' You might jump on it, right?

And you'd be wrong.

As I write this, the going price for that flight (during the latter part of this month and early September, anyway) is actually $230. A little research would tell you this, and by research all I mean is just glancing at a couple of months' worth of airfare price calendars for that trip. That's all.