Articles - Archived Money Matters

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Now is the Best Time to Fly

With holiday trips over, we are now in the slowest travel period of the year. Planes may have one-third of their seats empty during January and February, meaning lower prices and a great time to fly for those who didn't break the bank over the holidays. Here's how to steal a great deal…

Set fare alerts.

Set low price alerts on airline websites or online booking sites like Expedia, Orbitz and Airfarewatchdog by entering your departure city and desired destination. It's best to use more than one. To get a snapshot of prices, go to www.kayak.com/explore, plug in your hometown and see a world map with the latest fares to all destinations. Once you find what you want, be aware the best deals usually have a limited amount of seats, so be prepared to act fast.

Follow airlines on social networking sites.

Along with everyone else, airlines have taken to social networking to promote sales they don't announce anywhere else. Usually, the airline tweets or posts a sale with a promotional code you use to get the reduced fare when you book the flight on its website. Sales don't happen every day and they come and go quickly, but it doesn't hurt adding this to the list when you're following fares.

Go south for the winter.

You may be under the impression that it's most expensive to travel to warmer destinations in the winter along with everyone else who wants to escape the cold. Actually, it's the routes with the most airline competition that offer the best deals. Off to the Caribbean!

Go straight to the source.

A sale fare on a booking site may seem flashy, but sometimes the airline's regular fare will be cheaper. In fact, many of the best deals must be booked online at the site of the offering airline. The key is to monitor several sites at once.

Remember: Airfare and other travel costs begin to climb around mid-February when school vacations begin, and bump up again at the end of March for the spring travel season. Bon voyage!