12 Surefire Steps to Cheaper Airfare

A surefire solution to find the cheapest airfare to Europe every time, from search engines and major airlines to bidding sites, consolidator fares, vacation packages, last-minute deals, and travel bargain newsletters

We'll get to the whole "12-Step" bit in just a minute. First, the two Big Questions.

How Far in Advance Should I Buy My Plane Ticket to Get the Best Price?

Never buy your plane tickets more than about 2 1/2 months before your departure date. Why? Because no one is discounting those seats yet, so you'll pay top dollar—which is misleading called the "lowest published fare."

My advice? Buy about six to eight weeks out from your travel date. That's when airfare consolidators lock in their fares, and most airlines will already be running sales by then if they plan to. As a general rule, the cheapest tickets will sell out more quickly during peak travel season (summer, Christmas), and fire-sale fares will pop up closer to travel dates in low season (winter). In other words, wait a bit longer in winter than in summer.

How Much Should A Flight to Europe Cost?

That depends on (a) where you're flying from and flying to, (b) when you fly, and (c) luck. In winter, you can fly from New York to London for as little as $170 roundtrip. In summer, $800 would be considered a reasonable price to get from Seattle to Madrid. Here are some sepcifics:

Where from: Flights to Europe are cheapest from the East Coast, especially New York/Newark (with Boston, Philly, and Washington/Baltimore right behind). Next lowest prices tend to come from other mega-hub cities and gateways (Atlanta, Chicago, L.A.). The way around this dilemma if you live elsewhere: the Big Apple Switcheroo.
Where to: London is almost always the cheapest European gateway to fly into, because it's close (less fuel), among Europe's most trafficked (high volume), and, unlike the rest of Europe, actually has two hometown rivals (British Airways and Virgin Atlantic) vying for your custom—never discount good old-fashioned Econ 101 competition as a great means to lower prices.
When: Winter is cheaper than summer; spring and fall are the mid-priced "shoulder seasons." (For more, read about travel seasons.)
Luck: You can make your own luck. Here's how.

So, How Do I Find the Cheapest Airfare?

Ah, the heart of the matter. Remember that old travel truism: no two people flying in the cheap seats actually paid the same price for their tickets, even though they're going to the same place and getting the same service.

The guy in 22B might have ponied up $1,200, while the person in 22C with whom he amiably chats during takeoff paid just $300 (note to person in 22C: don't break it to him; you'll ruin his vacation).

This site will help you be that bloke in 22C.

(As for the Big Spenders up in 2A and 6B, well, bully for you. But this site will never discuss life up on the other side of that little curtain of social status that separates us normal travelers from the expense-accounted folks in Business Class or, God forbid, First Class.)

The pages in this section, while working fine on their own as resources, also take you one by one through my very own 12-step program designed to result in the absolute cheapest airfare available.

The Four Critical Steps

After you follow these four steps, you will have found the cheapest regular airfare you can get through regular means. You can then choose to take the time to explore the techniques in the other eight steps to see if you can't shave that low fare down a wee bit more.

Now, whether a cheaper airfare will pop up next week is anybody's guess. But you know what? Life's too short to spend all of your time wondering and waiting for just the right moment to strike when meanwhile you could be having a lifetime's worth of moments on a European vacation—and your vacation time's too precious to fret endlessly about saving an additional $50.

1) Search Engines.

Visit all (not just one) of the search engine and the aggregator sites. Plug in your departure and arrival cities and travel dates and see what price each comes up with. Regardless of which engine came up with them, write down the best three, including which search engine it was on and the airlines used. The cheapest one should be considered the most you will end up paying. Now let's lower that ceiling.

2) Major Airlines.

Hit all of the major airline sites to see if special sales and such—not always included on the search engines—might beat that price. Start with the three airlines that turned up the cheapest fares on the search engines, but when I say hit all major airlines, I mean (a) check all the US ones, (b) check the national airline(s) of the country to which you're flying, plus (c) check at least British Airways, Lufthansa, Iceland Air, and Air France (all of which frequently have good rates to cities in Europe besides those in their countries of origin).

Do both a standard airfare search on your flight dates/cities, but also poke around the site for any link using the terms "sale," "promotion," "special fare," "e-saver," or anything else that looks like a bargain. Jot down the best you get. That's your new highest price.

3) Consolidators.

Now that you know the best price retail, go wholesale. Check out consolidators and see if they can beat it. From major gateways, they usually can. Write that price down, too, and put a little box around it. It's probably the cheapest airfare you're going to find. There is, however, one last place to rummage for deals.

4) Newsletters.

Sometimes, a "Sale!" page on an airline site was just hidden, or you didn't know that there's a fantastic fare to Rome on KLM Dutch Airways. Comb through the main travel newsletter sites for ongoing sales and deals. (Heck, you should sign up for these free newsletters anyway as soon as you decide you'd eventually like to take a trip somewhere.)

The Other Eight Steps

Some of you won't be satisfied with the price you get after those four steps. That's why there are eight more steps offering alternatives to straight airfare that may not appeal—or be available to—everyone:

vacation packages

that bundle

airfare along with hotel stays

with rental cars,

alternative airlines

across the Atlantic, discounts for

students and teachers,

bidding sites

like Priceline and opaque fare engines like Hotwire, the truth about

last-minute deals.

There are also two ReidsGuides.com special tactics which I call

The Big Apple Switcheroo

—booking a cheap airfare to Europe out of NYC and then using no-frills arilines like Southwest to get to the Big Apple—and its Old World cousin

The Big Ben Switcheroo

—flying into London cheap (remember: London's always cheap), then onward into Europe using a European no-frills airline like easyJet or Ryanair.

If any of those methods or options floats your boat (er, flies your plane), click to those sections and keep trying to whittle down the overall price of your vacation.

If you're happy with the regular airfare, then bon voyage!

Book your tickets and then delve into other sections of this site to help plan the rest of your trip, from