1. BOOK EARLY
The earlier you book the more chance you have to get the cheapest possible seat. While waiting until the last minute can pay off at other times of the year, those who wait to buy seats for the holidays may find little or no availability.

2. INCLUDE SATURDAY NIGHT STAY
Try including Saturday night during your stay at the destination. Most of the carriers offer a discount on their fares for travel including Saturday.

3. AVOID WEEKEND TRAVEL
Traveling Monday through Thursday is generally cheaper then Friday thru Sunday. This applies both to departure and return travel. Airlines charge more for weekend travel. If your schedule is flexible, think about flying on less popular days. Tuesdays can save you a lot of money. Most business people travel on Mondays and Fridays, while vacationers travel on the weekends. If you are flexible, Tuesdays can be much cheaper.

4. AVOID PEAK TRAVEL DATES
Certain dates around the holidays are more popular for travel than others, and with so many passengers competing for a set number of seats in the airplane, booking an affordable airfare on these busy days can be quite difficult. You should try not to fly on the Wednesday before Easter, the day before Christmas Eve (December 23), the day after Christmas (December 26), and the day after New Year's (January 2).

5. DON'T STAY MORE THAN 30 DAYS
If your stay is 30 to 60 days long, you can pay 10 to 15 percent more for your ticket. And, if your stay is 60 to 90 days long, you might pay 30 to 40 percent more for your travel.

6. EXTEND THE AIRPORT SEARCH
By avoiding major airports and flying out of smaller, less popular ones, you may find more availability on major carriers and have access to the many budget airlines that tend to use alternate airports as bases of operation. Most of the search engines are able to search for the lowest fares using multiple airports within large metropolitan areas.

7. USE ONLINE FARE COMPARISON TOOLS
Save time using the so called fare comparison webistes, which allow you to compare prices posted on a great number of sites on the Internet, such as online travel agencies and low-cost carriers. You will no longer have to look at each website individually and worry whether you have found the best deal online.