So you want to pay the lowest possible price for a flight? Well, ideally, you will have booked sometime last century. Booking an age in advance is a great cost-cutting tactic but demands vision and luck (for that 2015 world tour to run as planned, your life had better run smoothly).
An alternative way to score a sweet deal is to simply input an online promotional code — if you can squelch misgivings that may arise. Online promotional code coupons might strike some readers as low-rent — the currency of stingy airline dorks who need to get out more.
But once you commit and establish a semi-automated system for tracking down the magic numbers, the picture changes. Anyway, greed should be motivation enough.
Never forget all the money that airfare promo codes can save you. Lots of money.
Discover the insider secrets that, with luck, will enable you to track down the cost-cutting codes and take the sting out of booking a flight. Happy hunting.
Straight search
One focused and no-nonsense way of finding airline promo codes is to run a search on the name of the airline that takes your fancy plus the search terms "promo code". When the results churn up, scan them for codes — clusters of capital letters and numbers. Click on promising candidates and, bingo!
Coupon hubs
Coupon hubs sound dreary. But, thanks to their focus, they are a slick way of finding promo codes. One coupon hub ranked highly in search results is
RetailMeNot.com. Company co-founder, Guy King, claims the coupon codes that his site offers are "totally legitimate".
Some codes are gathered directly from merchants, but most have a social source. "People like you and I are teaming up to save money together," King says. You can tell which RetailMeNot codes are most likely to work because the website invites users to rate coupon validity so that active coupons are pushed to the top and expired coupons get voted down.
Other coupon hub options include eCoupons.com and FareCompare.com.
For an Aussie take, try Tjoos. Run by mercurial Manly-based diver Bart Jellema, the Flight Centre-slanted site sports a clean interface that reflects a belief in simplicity.
"We search the Internet for every coupon we can get our hands on," says Tjoos in his mission statement. "Then our coupon experts regularly verify all our coupons to ensure they work, so you get more coupons and less crap. And all this without crappy Google ads or 'Hit the Monkey' banners."
Watchdog
Tailored for bargain hunters determined to fly for less,
AirfareWatchdog.com owes its existence to consumer travel issues analyst George Hobica, who is ably assisted by a pack of eager "deal hounds". The low-airfare alert site with a friendly dog logo covers a host of airlines and specifically lists promo code airfares.
The slant is US-centric. But the deals can be stunning.
"Promo code savings range from 10 percent to — sometimes, believe it or not — 100 percent," Hobica says. Fetch!
Twitter feeds
Subscribing to an airline Twitter feed is a dynamic method of uncovering promo code secrets. Just zero in on the airlines that you are most likely to book with and listen in on their chatter.
Or, if you want to keep track of tweets generated by several airlines, enlist the might of Listorious — a directory of "follow-worthy" Twitter lists. The specific link — www.listorious.com/TravelTweet/airlines-airports — shows Twitter streams for a range of airlines including Lufthansa, British Airways, even Pet Airways (save cash for catnip).
Forums
Forums revolve around social engagement, which makes them unpredictable but intriguing sources of promo code gossip and leads. Good general travel forums include the frequent flyer community FlyerTalk and pundit powerhouse TripAdvisor.
Dedicated discount forums often supply promo codes too. Online travel marketer Mark Mannell singles out the community-driven bargain hunter site, Slick Deals, as a top contender. Another of Mannell's tips is Fat Wallet, which centres around a set of groups that let users publish deals. Whichever forum you choose to investigate, stick at it.
"It does take some weeding out," Mannell says. Despite his misgivings, he is adamant that discount sites can deliver the digits with little effort. After test-driving a discount site a couple of times, you can scan for the data you need in a snap — a minute or two.
Feeling nice?
Saintly aerial deal hunters happy to share any money they save should surf to
GoodShop.com: an online mall that has teamed up with stores including Delta, JetBlue, Orbitz, Priceline, STA Travel, Travelocity and more. The site lists dozens of airline coupon codes.
The difference with GoodShop is that it gives a percentage of every purchase back to the charity designated by its users. The figure depends on the store.
Got any more ideas for finding the best price to travel? Enter your comments below.
