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Airfare savings
Finding cheap fares

Here you gain the "mind set"—the outlook needed—to find the cheapest fares.

Imitate the French—a special hint

Think of this. Americans and Canadians—especially English-speaking Canadians—tend to decide what they want to eat first, and then go to the market to buy it.

On the other hand, the French usually go to the market first in order to experience the freshness and price of the food—and then decide what to eat. "Ah, the Alaska salmon and asparagus are outstanding—and not endangered. I will cook them tonight."

Why not do the same when you travel for pleasure?

Because your airfare may be your largest expense, why not holiday where Southwest, WestJet Canada, and other budget airlines reduce fares, instead of deciding on a destination before researching prices? The savings can be incredible.

Business travellers too

Even business travellers can profit from this outlook.

For example, from an airfare standpoint, it's astronomically more expensive to open a new national sales office in Memphis or Minneapolis than in Houston or Kansas City, because the latter two cities are far better served by budget airlines.

And business travelers can

• consider airfares when prioritizing the appointments they want to make,
• time appointments to avoid backtracking on a trip, and
• cluster meetings to avoid more than one trip to an area.

Study route maps

Want to find cheap destinations? Study the route maps of budget airlines.

You don't have to travel these airlines—other airlines usually match their fares—but you'll want to know where they go.

Naturally, the more service these have to a particular destination, the more likely they are to foster lower overall fares.

Which budget airlines?

Budget airline routes to check in North America include the following:

• Southwest.com
• JetBlue
• AirTran and
• Westjet (Canada)
  

But, always compare their fares for U.S. departures with fares of a true discount site like Hotwire.com.

Think of competition

You'll also want to think about where many people from your area travel—this fosters competition.

In Toronto, lots of travellers vacation in Jamaica. Few, however, reach Cabo. In Seattle, you'll find the opposite.

Jamaica fares tend to be cheap from Toronto, but more expensive from Seattle.

Go on to Last-minute fares, or learn about Combining fares.

For more airfare savings tips:

Go to >> Airfare savings introduction
Go to >> Finding cheap fares
Go to >> Last-minute fares
Go to >> Combining fares
Go to >> Open jaws & circle trips
Go to >> One-way (single) airfares
Go to >> Bereavement flights
Go to >> Weekend internet fares
Go to >> Budget airlines, or Southwest Airlines
Go to >> Bucket shop fares
Go to >> Visit North America fares