Everyone has budgets to deal with these days, so when it comes to travel expenses the cheaper you can do the better. Remember, it's the destination that counts when traveling. I could care less what kind of crappy airline food I get served during my trip. Chances are it's not going to be that good, I'll just sleep through the meal, and save my self the gastronomical torture. So, no since pay for an overpriced plane ticket, when I know I can find cheap ones somewhere.

Cheap airline tickets are becoming a bit of a rarity these days, as the greedy fuel mongers are squeezing every last dollar they can, out of those barrels of crude oil. That's not to say you can't find good deals. What it does say, is your going to have to look a little harder, be a bit more patient, and make some compromises along the way. In the end, you feel better about what you pay, and the value you get for your vacation dollar.

One little item you may want to be aware of is, how airlines are being about their pricing offers. In an attempt to cut out more travel agents, and travel web sites, several airlines only make the best prices available to customers on their own private websites. Which means buying tickets from Expedia or Travelocity will cost you more than buying directly from the airlines sites. While this may make sense from an airlines perspective, it's not so great for the customer. It means you have to spend time checking several airline websites, instead of seeing a good comparison of prices all in one place. Definitely more time consuming.

Of the bigger airlines, Southwest remains pretty competitive. It would be worthwhile checking their web site directly for any seat deals.

Don't assume anything, when buying tickets. For instance, sometimes it's cheap buying two one way tickets then one return ticket. I know, it doesn't make much sense, but this is airline ticket pricing were talking about here. Sometimes you just have to experiment, and try different things to get the best price.

The bottom line here is, you want to do your homework. Compare airlines, with comparison travel websites. You can even take that a bit further, and compare the comparison sites. Are there better deals on Travelocity than Expedia, or vice versa? Even, when you've found the best price on a comparison site, be sure to check out the specific airlines website. Sometimes you'll get even lower prices there. If that doesn't work, you can actually call the airlines. If your having problems navigating the travel sites, sometimes a real person is the best answer to cheaper tickets.