HOW TO FLY INTERNATIONAL FOR CHEAP

Does North Carolina (or wherever) to Brazil for $601 roundtrip sound pretty good? I sure thought it did considering Orbitz lowest fare was $1179.  Through years of trial and error at trying to get airborne on the cheap, I’ve stumbled upon a technique that generally beats the major airfare websites by at least a couple hundred dollars on international flights.  Here’s how to blast off for less!  

Rethink Your Routes: Connect the Gate Cities

A gate city is one that serves as a major transportation hub for a country or region. 

For your purposes locate one that has a high volume of flights to-and-from your destination.  Examples would be Los Angeles or San Francisco if going to Bangkok, or New York or Boston to London, or Miami to Central America.  These routes between gate cities are going to consistently offer the cheapest flights to your destination and great specials because they have several flights going back-and-forth daily with seats to fill!

Break up your search into two objectives:

1.  Find the cheapest flight from a domestic gate city to destination gate city

2.  Find the cheapest flight from here to domestic gate city

This has the potential for some great savings!

 

Example – Wilmington, NC (surrounding area) to Bangkok, Thailand          

The cheapest flight search from Wilmington, NC to Bangkok, Thailand on Orbitz.com pulls up a flight that costs $1600 and connects thru Atlanta, GA and Seoul, Korea.   

One of the awesome websites I’m going to tell you about is currently publishing Los Angeles (LAX) to Bangkok (BKK) for $719!  

Objective 1 is complete, so now if I can find a cheap flight from here to LAX I’m going to save money.  I see low fares from nearby Myrtle Beach, SC to LAX on Spirit all the time ranging from $150 to $300.  If I can locate one of these fares, I have the potential to save $600+, or over 40% off the original ticket search price!!!  Even if I only find an average priced ticket to LAX I saved $200-300! 

For some reason, the big airfare websites don’t always send you through the gate cities.  And even when they do it is still possible to break up your flight into segments and find two lower priced tickets that beats their fare.  

Just be careful!  I have saved hundreds this way on many flights abroad but a little mistake can be major.  Because you are booking flights separately and usually on different carriers, they are not inclined to work with you if you miss your second flight because your first flight was delayed.  So leave at least a couple hours of layover time between flights (plenty more if you checked luggage or worry a lot).  And try to avoid connecting through cities that have higher risk of snow delays if traveling during the winter months.  

 

High Season vs. Low Season

Many destinations have a high season and a low season for tourist travel and this can dramatically affect airfare.  If possible, try to visit your destination during the shoulder season- the period between the high and low.  This is when all the stars align… less crowds, the weather is still ideal, and airfare and lodging prices are down.

 

Common Tips to Remember  

- Do your research and check multiple sites

- Book as far in advance as possible

- Try to be flexible with your dates

- Be ready to act – if you see a low low fare grab it because it may have gone up by the  next time you search