Hi, I am planning on traveling to San Francisco from Southern California (LA or the OC) for 2-4 days to visit a friend. Does anyone have any tips for finding the cheapest flights? What are the least expensive days/time of the year to travel? How far in advance or last minute should I book it for the best deals? What websites or airlines will I find good prices? Thanks so much!
2006-07-10 09:43:01 · 7 answers · asked by neverneverland 4 in Travel ➔ Air Travel
Always book 30 days in advanced to have the best option for cheaper fares. The closer to departure the more expensive it is. Stay away from booking Friday and Sunday departure or returns. Tues and Wed are the cheaper days, but booking Mon-Thurs or Saturday are your best options.
Southwest has one way fares from LAX to Oakland, which isnt far from San Francisco for $49 each way before taxes and they are non-stop flights. Frontier LAX-SFO non-stop is $118.60 after taxes and was the cheapest next to SW.
You can check the travel websites, but Ive always found better deals with the airlines itself. You avoid paying booking fees that way.
You can check flying into Oakland or San Jose when comparing prices. They are both co-termials of San Francisco.
2006-07-10 09:59:25 · answer #1 · answered by southrntrnzplnt 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Check sidestep.com. It compares numerous cites including orbitz. You can sign up with travelocity to email you when flights become available for a certain price that you set. Check the airport were you want to leave and where you want to arrive for the common airlines serving both airports...then check the airlines sites specifically for costs. Check nearby airports. I live closest to fly out of Indianapolis, but the Dayton, Ohio airport is only 5 minutes further away and the flights are substantially cheaper.
Check travelzoo.com. Perhaps there is a whole travel package, air and hotel, for less than what you would pay for air only. Travelzoo.com also has a last minute ticket search.
Keep checking if you don't find the price you like. New seat classes open up all the time and you may find a deal.
2006-07-10 09:53:05 · answer #2 · answered by vbrink 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
www.sidestep.com
This is more of a search engine type thing. You put in where and when you want to go, try to select additional airports to search, and it searches all internet published fares and directs you to the cheapest one.
I also recommend searching right after midnight EST and on a Wednesday. At midnight, all seats that were being held that aren't paid for are released and most airlines change their prices on Wednesdays. Tuesday and Wednesdays are generally the cheapest days to fly, with Thursday to Sunday being more expensive. I find the best deals about 6 weeks before travel or the week before for last minute deals.
Good luck!!
2006-07-10 09:50:26 · answer #3 · answered by zippythejessi 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Try www.iflyswa.com and go to special offers and then find the hot deals page and look there. Also try www.kayak.com and the cheapest days are the days no one flies directly on like christmas and new years. I looked on Midwest Airlines and a week before christmas to christmas was well over $400 but on Christmas to New Years it was $234
2006-07-10 13:54:23 · answer #4 · answered by jazsprite 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
These are all very good discount travel sites:
www.kayak.com, www.cheaptickets.com, www.qixo.com, www.cheapflights.com, www.mobissimo.com, www.farechase.com, www.sidestep.com, www.globester.com, www.cheaptravelnetwork.com, www.travelocity.com, www.orbitz.com, www.priceline.com, www.expedia.com, www.hotwire.com
Also go directly to airline websites to look for last minutes deals.
Good luck.
2006-07-10 09:48:46 · answer #5 · answered by TravelOn 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
1 800 fly-cheap, call airlines after midnight, fly on thrusday. if you don't like the price you get wait a couple of hours and call again.
2006-07-10 09:47:57 · answer #6 · answered by boo 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
bookingbuddy.com leads to everything
2006-07-10 11:43:33 · answer #7 · answered by oldbuckhorn 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋