Considering how many people travel, and how much money one can save if one only knew how to pick up bargains as far as air tickets go, it's a wonder no one's teaching it as a subject yet! Why, oh why should you pay through your nose when you can pick up airline tickets for a song? The trick is to know where to get them and to know when to buy them. It requires that you hone certain skills and you do a bit of nosing around and suddenly you come up with a deal that is a bit of a nugget! That's all it takes. A bit of hard work, patience and the ability to smell and ferret out a great deal!

Treat it like a skill, not like some kind of creeping around a back alley trying to pick up scraps. It is something you need to work on till you get it right. And you might need more working on it later too. So give it the respect it deserves and settle down to acquiring these skills and using them when needed. The basic thing you need to do is work at it. Make sure you talk to as many travel agents as possible and befriend them if necessary. Go and surf on the Internet. There are so many deals online, it's not funny. All you need to do is look for them. Just make sure that all the prices quoted are all-inclusive. You don't want to book something and be told that the taxes and other extras have to be paid. Read the fine print and email or call and assure yourself that what you see is what you get - no more, no less. Actually, less would be all right, of course!

The first thing to look at if you've set your heart on a particular destination is the off-season fares. No, it's not a dirty word. It just means you'll be going to the same destination when the hordes aren't there. Isn't that reason enough to rush there? All those poor others would also go if they could, but either work or family or children's holidays don't allow them to. If course, sometimes, it could be the weather in a particular place that makes it inaccessible so find out before you decide. You don't want to go to a place that looks beautiful on a postcard because it's a summer shot but you go and find it's like when hell freezes over!

The second thing is to plan early. You'll have a choice of airlines for one, they'll all woo you with early bird deals and you can take your pick of the cheap seats. Just tell yourself the cheap seat gets you to your destination as quickly as a first class seat and you begin to see the picture. You might even get onto one of these sites where you can bid for seats and put in a few really low bids. Then pray. Who knows, you might well land up with the deal of the century!