Air travel isexpensive. But I'm not telling you something you don't already know. There aremany ways to save money on air travel ? some of them will save you a little,some will save you a lot. Before you book your next trip, see if any of thesemoney savings tips are options for you.

• Consider flying out ofanother airport. Sometimes the nearest airport does not have the best rates.Checking the rates at one or two of the next nearest      airportsmay yield better airfare ratesthan the airport that is closest to you. It may be worth it to travel an extrahour to the airport to save hundreds of dollars.

• Ifyou have a trip planned for the future, butyou aren't ready to order yourtickets yet, sign up for e-mail alerts from all of the airlines that fly fromthe airport(s) near you to your destination. You never know when an airline maybe running a special to your exact destination.

• If you are ready toorder your tickets, order them as far in advance as possible. The cheapestairfares sell out quickly. The closer to the flight you buy your tickets; themore expensive the tickets are likely to be. This is especially true around theholidays.

• If you are bookingtravel during the holidays, consider flying on the holiday itself. The daysprior to a holiday, airfares can be the highest they are all year. If you canfly on the day of the holiday, you can get some of the lowest airfares of theyear.  If you do decide to book on theholiday, try to book as early in the day as possible in case there are anydelays so you don't miss the holiday festivities once you get to yourdestination.

• If you are phoning theairline directly for your tickets, ask for the cheapest fare, not just the farefor coach. There may be a cheaper fare in a better seat, but you'll never knowif you don't ask.

• Fly on the off days.Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and sometimes Saturday are considered the offdays (unless it's around a holiday). If you can fly to and from yourdestination on those days, you are much more likely to get      cheaper flights.

• Check out the fares onred-eye flights. Those flights don't sell out as quickly as other flights andtherefore may have less expensive fares. Sure, if money were no object, thered-eye probably wouldn't be your first choice, but then again you may sleepyour way through the whole flight. That's always a good way to spend a flight.And if you combine flying on the off days with flying a red-eye on an off day,you may get a real deal.

• Do your homework bycomparing rates on the different websites. Travelocity, Priceline, Expedia,Orbitz, Cheap Tickets and many other websites have discounted airline ticketsas well as discounts on hotels, car rentals, and other things related totravel. Take the time to check out the rates for each website each time youbook your travel.

• While you are doingyour homework, don't forget to check out the airline's websites. Sometimes theairline's websites have even better deals than the discount sites. All thishomework takes some time, but it will pay off in the end with bigsavings.
  

• Go outside yourcomfort zone. You may be used to always flying the same big airline, but if youconsider one of the newer smaller airlines, you may be surprised at the savingsyou can grab.
  

• Before you book yourtickets, make sure that the price you have includes all fees and taxes. Ifyou're not getting the full price of the tickets including fees and taxes, youmay not actually be booking the least expensive airfare.
  

Now that you've saved money on your airfare,there are some things that you can do to help save money in other areas of yourflight.

• Find out what themaximum luggage weight is for the airline you are traveling, and make sure youdon't exceed it. If you check in luggage that is over the weight limit, theairline can charge you a fee for each bag that is over thelimit.

• If you are driving tothe airport, plan to leave early enough so that you can park at one of the offsite parking facilities that are close to the airport.

• Ifyou've got a collegeage niece or nephew, next door neighbor or someone in that age range who livesnearby ask them to drive you to and from the airport. You can pay them $25 eachway and save a bundle on airport parking, and get door to door service to theairport.

• Take your own snacks.If your airline does serve food, they may charge for it, and chances are itwon't be very good. You also won't be tempted to pay the high price for thesnacks you buy at the concessions after security because you'll already havewhat you'll need on the plane.

• Same goes for yourreading materials. Bring your own that you already have at home instead ofbuying them from the airport stores. A flight is the perfect time to read thatbook you've been meaning to read.