I live in Hawai'i so if I want to travel anywhere beyond my 60-mile radius island, I need to fly. Just to leave Hawai'i and reach the Continential US is a a 5,000 mile and 5-hour trip. As an avid traveler who racks an average of 30,000 miles during a slow year, I fly a lot. Some people are surprised to know and wonder how a twenty-something entrepreneur with a meager five-digit income can afford to travel so much even with a young family in tow. This past year alone we've been to Maui, California, and Chicago (twice) for $1750 total (2 persons since our daughter is still under age 2 and thus flies free) in airfare. Here's how you can fly within your budget:

1. Make a budget and stick to it. I have flown first-class maybe once or twice not because I had the money to but out of pure luck or a nice airline clerk. If I had the money, maybe I would fly first-class but the point is that I don't. I might have to sit in a seat 3 inches smaller but I save at least $300 one-way. $300 for 3 inches is not worth it.

Also, I keep a "fun money" account, part of which is reserved for traveling. If I save $25 a month for 12 months, I just bought myself a comfy $300 seat to the West Coast or 4 round-trips inter-island (for us Hawai'i folk). Saving $25 per month is much easier than all of sudden being $300 in the hole when I impulsively buy a trip out of want or need.

2. Do your research...or have someone do it for you. Keeping with the theme of anticipating some sort of future travel sign up for www.airfarewatchdog.com. By selecting your hometown or nearest airport, you receive weekly emails or new alerts to airfare deals, many of which are unadvertised or are listed in websites' "deep links" like Travelocity Deep Link. Basically, Airfare Watchdog does most of the research for you. I used to scour the websites and make calls to travel agencies for hours but now rely a lot on the fine fast folks at Airfare Watchdog to do all the busy work for me and just tell me when they've got something good. It was them who alerted me to an unadvertised $265 round-trip flight from Honolulu to Los Angeles within a week of my desired departure date. All other websites were posting at $575. Now that's a watchdog!

3. Plan ahead or keep an open schedule. It is generally true that buying airfare in advance ensures the cheapest deals. Generally. But sometimes waiting a bit longer can show the ace. For example, I'm attending a wedding in Iowa this upcoming June. Flights are being posted on Travelocity for $880 round-trip per person, totalling $2640 for myself, husband, and daughter (who will sadly be 2 1/2 and will no longer fly free). $2640! Wow I would sure like to eat something on that trip! Experience tells me that if I wait a bit longer until within 2-3 months of my travel date, I should be able to score tickets for $480-$525 per person, a total savings of $1200 for three of us. Now that's a nice meal and then some.

On the other hand, leaving an open calendar allows you to take advantage of many awesome last-minute deals airlines and agencies have to get rid of seats. Frankly, I live too far from anywhere to really take advantage of those deals (half of my weekend would be spent on a plane) but when I lived on the mainland, I sometimes just woke up, found a flight, and caught a plane for as much as I would spend shopping that weekend anyway. Ahhh.

Unless you have frequent flying experience, it can be hard to determine whether or not you're getting a good deal. I recommend:

4. Farecast.com. This is a brilliant website which is an essential tool in predicting the rise and fall of airfare. Simply type in your departure and arrival cities and dates of travel, and its search engines will predict based on current and past trends whether or not it is a good time to buy or wait longer. So far, the site has accurately predicted price fluctuations for my airfare plans. Although I have a knack for predicting airfare prices (yes, a rare and odd talent) and generally finding things for dirt cheap, I like the technology and security behind Farecast.

5. After checking out Farecast, head over to kayak.com. These guys are simply the best in digging out the lowest airfares. They have consistenly found the best deals and made my job as a consumer easier. Instead of searching each and every major travel site (i.e. Priceline, Expedia, Cheaptickets, airline websites), they search it for me. (But remember that budget airlines like Southwest Air aren't listed on most websites so you'll have to check it on your own.) I always go to them to see what the standard is.

6. Don't forget about your local travel agency. Travel agencies usually have an allotment of discounted tickets from a number of specific partner airlines. For example, a Honolulu travel agency that I frequently patron tends to carry Delta Airlines tickets. When Delta runs out of their tickets without my getting a chance to buy them, I call my local travel agency to get the sale price ticket. Meanwhile, everyone else is still surfing the web for "that deal Delta had" but is stuck with the non-sale price.

Also, supporting local business and establishing a relationship with an agency is bound to pay off more and more. I don't have a specific travel agent (personally, I don't believe in paying anyone to do something I can do) but the folks at the travel agencies I use notice that I come back for business and thus are more willing to do what it takes to keep my business (i.e. search longer and harder for lower prices and desired travel times). I call it "Travel Karma".

7. Call in sick to work. It is true that flights are cheaper during the weekdays. This is where you have to weigh your costs: the cost of not going to work (loss of pay, respect, job, whatever) and the cost of taking a cheaper flight. For our last trip to Chicago, my husband wasn't sure if he could get a half-day off in order to catch a cheaper flight on Thursday early evening. (That and the fact that he really doesn't miss a day of work, like, ever.) To fly on Friday evening was an extra $350 per person. I broke it down for him like this:

To call in sick: $150 pay cut

To catch a cheaper flight: $700 savings (2 persons at $350/each)

$700 > $150 = We're flying on Thursday, buddy.

In the end, it worked out because he attended a conference during the day while my daughter and I hung out in the city so his job considered it work and actually paid him to go. More about this in Step #10.

8. Don't stop searching. Airlines generally issue new prices on Thursdays and Sundays, and when their websites are least used (so not during regular business hours). So if I find that the prices are low on Wednesday then high on Thursday, I wait until Sunday evening for the lower price to pop back up.

9. Know your limits. Like any good gambler (not that I gamble aside from stocks and trying to find the biggest back for my buck), you have to know when to fold or, in this case, when to just buy the ticket already. Southwest Airlines, a super budget airline, offers its great prices only if purchased more than 7 days from date of departure. At the same time, you can't purchase more than 3 months in advance. I save Southwest Airlines for the little connecting flights, like San Francisco to LA. So if I buy my Honolulu - San Fran ticket 4 months in advance and then book my San Fran - LA ticket 3 months in advance.

To play any game and have the best chances of winning, you not only have to know your limits but also your players. Know which airlines fly from your departure airport. Know where those airlines are home-based (Delta in Salt Lake City, American Air in Atlanta, etc.) and when their sales end and their fares generally increase (i.e. American Airlines raises their price within 2-3 weeks of departure, American Airways seems to base their price primarily on seat availability so you can still find the same price seats regardless of date as long as the seats are open). This will help you to choose your route which requires you to:

10. Be creative. With budget and research on your side, you can play with the best odds of landing that airfare deal. This might mean sacrifices like not having a direct-route or waking up early in the morning to catch the red-eye flight but you have to do what you have to do. I personally don't want to spend an extra $200 per person just because I'm too lazy to wake up or feel it's too much of a hassle to stop in Las Vegas for 30 minutes on my way to Colorado. (I could probably use a bathroom break, leg stretch, and a real meal anyway. Not to mention, traveling with a one-year old requires advance planning for plenty of run around time!) Creative airfare finding includes:

* Fly in and out of less-frequented municipal airports (i.e. Orange County instead of LAX, San Jose instead of San Francisco, Midway instead of O'hare, LaGuardia instead of JFK). Sometimes it's even cheaper to catch a taxi or van between the two in order to make connecting flights. Maybe a bit more hassle, depending on how many people and bags you have, but the scenic trip could be worth the savings.

* Fly during low-seasons. I don't have children of school age yet so I don't live by the Summer-Christmas-Spring Break vacation schedule which are the highest and most expensive travel seasons. But my husband and I do have jobs that more or less require a level of responsibility. This is where we take a look at our quality of life and try to find a balance. I imagine that we'll carry this mindset in some form even when our children are in school. There were times when we just felt a need to go away, get away, and sometimes we actually did. Did we miss a half day of work or not do the yard work for a weekend because we decided to take a trip to see loved ones or have memorable life experiences? Yup. Was it worth it. You betcha.

* Frequent Flier miles and similar deals. I'm not a big fan of credit cards for the simple fact that I'm afraid I'll spend it all. But there are multitudes of good credit cards affiliated with airlines that offer miles/points/rewards from making purchases, travel or otherwise. We have 2 credit cards that we rack miles with while so far not racking up debt we can't afford. We simply forget it's a credit card with a sizable balance and pretend it's our debit card whose amount is dictated by our bank account. The credit card payments are automatically deducted in full from our bank account without problems. We are also a part of every major airlines' reward program, even if we don't fly with the airline a lot. Airlines codeshare between each other (i.e. Hawaiian Airlines and Northwest Airlines) which allows the miles for one to be used for another.

* Have your boss pay for it. Like I mentioned in Step #7, we found a way to legitimize my husband's travel to Chicago. He attended a conference that was related to his industry. His job was impressed by his initiative to go and ended up paying him regardless of his time away from work (5 days) while the equally impressed folks that held the conference offered to reimburse him for all of his travel expenses (airfare, hotel, car, meals, spending). Granted, he was in a conference from 9am - 5pm but we had breakfast in the morning together (which also ensured that baby and I got an early start instead of sleeping in th hotel), dropped him off, met him again for lunch, then picked him up for dinner and family time around town. We also padded our travel time with one day before and after entirely to ourselves with no conference. My husband was reluctant to inquire with his boss if he could even attend but was thrilled he did after I prodded and nagged so much. See, it doesn't hurt to ask.

Granted this is a very creative way to making travel cheap. But it worked! Find ways to tie mix business with pleasure. Maybe you could attend a conference, conduct field research, build a client or affiliate relationship. Even if your employer doesn't outright pay you, your initiave will be duly noted and could pay off in the future, perhaps in the form of a pay raise which, of course, means vacation!

* Search Ebay and Craigslist. You've probably seen ads on Ebay or even Craigslist/your local newspaper selling airfare vouchers worth $300 for just $200. A word to the wise: READ THE FINE PRINT. Vouchers often come with numerous restrictions and conditions, such as expiration and blackout dates, departure and arrival cities, transfer requirements, age of travelers, etc. If buying from an individual seller (for example, someone who has an open ticket and is unable to use it), meet up to have them call the airlines with you in earshot to verify the voucher's legitimacy. Sometimes you have to know the credit card number or other personal info about the original ticket holder in order to make an actual flight in your name. So make sure you're clear on what's expected of you. Document your three-way conversation with the airline rep in case you need to back up your story later on. I don't usually go this route because it's usually not worth the legwork for me. (That being said, I have an airfare voucher for Delta air worth $200 that must be used by 2/28/08 that I'm willing to sell for less.) But if you absolutely meet all of these conditions then buying an airfare voucher could be the deal for you.

* Search in reversed order. Many travel sites like Airfare Watchdog let you search for flights to a city without having a departure city. This option allows you to see where the deals are to get somewhere. Sometimes you can find a cheaper deal to that city and then onward to your desired destination. For example,

LAX - JFK = $500 (regular)

LAX - LAS = $100 (regular)

LAS - JFK = $300 (sale)

LAX - LAS - JFK = $400 = $100 cheaper than LAX - JFK

If you're an avid traveler or want to become one, make a travel folder. I keep coupons, offers, and general info all in one place (well, actually two places, counting the digital files on my laptop and flash disk). Sooner or later, you'll recognize the trends that rule the airline industry and hopefully with the resources provided in this article, we'll be flying high and free in no time.