Nowadays many of us travel by aeroplane, whether it is for business or pleasure. Air travel has meant that we can reach our destination quicker and has also opened up the whole world to us. There are so many airlines these days that are competing for our business. They are all offering us better levels of service and cheaper airfares to encourage us to choose them over the competition.

Airfares can vary greatly between airlines depending on where and when you want to travel. As with everything else that we buy, the best advice is to shop around to find the best airfare.

Obviously you want to get the right balance between the services offered and the cost of the airfare and there are a number of different factors that can help you find the cheapest airfare to suit your budget.

The earlier you can book your flight the lower the airfare. This is often the case with most airlines. Many offer a limited number of special airfares and they are on a

first-come-first-served basis. This lower airfare is to attract enough passengers to make the flight viable in the unlikely circumstance that no one else wants to take

that particular flight. Whenever possible, book your flight at the first opportunity to take advantage of these reduced airfares.

The day of the week you travel on can affect the cost of the airfare dramatically. If you are not restricted to the particular day then it is worth considering flying mid-week. Obviously the most popular days for people to fly are Monday and Friday and the airfares for these days are high. Airlines will often lower their airfare for the other

days in the week to encourage passengers to fly then and avoid having lots of empty seats.

Another way of paying a lower airfare is by travelling to a different airport. You may find that certain major airports are more expensive to travel to and using an alternate one will save you money on the airfare, even if you have to pay for local transport to reach your final destination.

The time of year that you fly also makes a huge difference to the airfare, especially around holiday seasons. Try to avoid school breaks, mid-summer and Christmas as

everyone is trying to fly then and the cost of the airfare is much higher.