Flying to Another Country on the Cheap

Undeniably, the best and cheapest tickets for air flights can be found online. The various travel sites have a distinct advantage over travel agencies. They are selling in massive volume, so their overhead per sale is much less. That being said, there are a few ways to find the best deals when trying to fly cheap.

1. Search for a range of go and return dates. Don't get fixed on particular dates. A flight leaving on Thursday may be 30 percent less than a flight leaving on Friday.

2. If you are willing to rough it a bit, look for flights leaving around midnight or later. International flights out of San Francisco to Asia are 25 percent cheaper if you leave after midnight. It might sound brutal, but it actually works out pretty well since you immediately go to sleep and knock eight hours or so off the flight time.

3. There is no "best" site when trying to fly on the cheap. They all have different ticket allotments at different times. Don't be lazy. Check across all of the major sites. You'll be surprised to find you can save as much as 50 percent.

4. If you are flying domestic in the United States, keep in mind that Southwest Airlines does not participate on the big travel sites. You must book on the web site for Southwest. It is usually very cheap.

If you are looking to go international, but really need to save money, the best answer is a chartered flight. Chartered flights are small airlines that only operate during certain periods of the year. They usually fly out of major cities once or twice a week. A bevy of them are active during the summer months and offer flights to Europe. Because they are unknown, don't have high labor costs and can't compete with big airlines, they will offer round trip tickets for half of the going rate. It is definitely a no frills option, but it is very cheap.

Finally, you have one really cheap option if you only need to be somewhere for a week or two. The infamous air courier system exists and is extremely cheap. If you are close to a delivery time, air flights can be free. Realistically, you should expect to pay about 20 percent of a normal ticket. The only drawback is that you can only visit the location for roughly 10 days before you have to come back.

As you can see, there are a couple of different ways to go if you are trying to fly on the cheap Show a little flexibility and you can save some big bucks even in high season.