Searching for Discounted Airfare

Any seasoned travel planner will admit it: there isn't one single clear-cut path to finding discounted airfare. Well-connected agents know how to find negotiated and bulk rates, but they'll still want to check a few places before giving you their best quote. So you, as a consumer, should know that your mission to find the lowest discounted airfare may be a tedious one.

Get informed

Before you can begin on your discounted airfare search, you have to know two things: your itinerary options and the published rates on those itineraries. Thanks to the Internet, it's not hard to get a handle on these issues, particularly when you are planning a domestic trip.

First, you'll need to find out which airlines actually service your selected destination. If you are traveling to a relatively small domestic airport, just click over to the airport's website. If you are flying into a major domestic destination or any international destination, search for your itinerary on a couple of online travel agencies that show itineraries inventory from various airlines. Make a note of the prices and list out the airlines that show up in the search results.

Go straight to the source

Armed with your airline options, go straight to those airlines' websites and price your flights. Also check Southwest Airlines' website, since Southwest fares don't appear in third-party sites. Pricing your trip directly with the airlines allows you to see published fares that are free of booking fees. You didn't take this step first because you wouldn't have known which airlines to check out. If you want discounted airfare, these published rates are the benchmarks you need to beat.

Finding the deals

Travel wholesalers and established travel agencies have access to discounted airfare, but you won't see any ads that tell you how to find those lower rates. If you have a trusted agent, consult with her on your dilemma; tell her what you know about the published fares and see what her thoughts are on finding something cheaper. Understand that while your agent should have connections with air consolidators and access to bulk air deals, she does not work miracles. It's definitely possible that on the day you're looking, there just aren't a lot of options available.

Some established travel agencies provide online booking that consolidates airfare inventory from a variety of sources; this type of system will give you access to any discounted airfares in the system, including bulk fares, plus customized itineraries that combine flights from different airlines to create a route for you. Look for special symbols next to the search results to indicate exclusive or discounted fares; they might be marked with "exclusive fare" or something similar. Compare these fares to the ones you found when you were identifying available itineraries.

One caveat though: if you find the discounted airfare you want, you'd better book it fast. Truly discounted airfare deals don't last, particularly if a large network of agents is working to sell them.

You can also try bundling your airfare with your hotel or rental car. This is a pretty common strategy, but that's because it works. Travel wholesalers can hide discounted airfare within the bundled package; this allows them to compete without contradicting the airlines' standard fares.
Catherine Brock operates BrockComm Travel, an online travel agency that is backed by MTravel.com, the full service host agency division of Montrose Travel, a Top 50 travel company nationwide. Having been in business since 1956, Montrose is a reputable, financially secure, $100 million company with the products, services and unpublished vacation deals that enable BrockComm Travel to fulfill your vacation needs on a budget. BrockComm Travel also produces online travel destination guides including a Southern Californiavacation information portal.