Looking for some San Francisco travel deals? Plane tickets can be expensive these days, but with a littler knowledge and know-how you can get some cheap flights to San Francisco and save yourself a good chunk of change that you could use instead on San Francisco activities or other events once you get there. Here are a few rules of thumb to keep in mind while you’re planning your trip.

1. Use credit cards that earn you frequent flier points. Don’t just use this as an excuse to go on a shopping spree so you can save a few bucks in San Francisco travel deals. I’m talking about using these credit cards on things you already buy, like groceries and for paying your bills. You’d be surprised at how fast these can add up.

2. Purchase tickets at least 3 months in advance, or at the very last minute. My mom always insists that tickets skyrocket in price right before departure so that airlines can take advantage of desperate last minute travelers. This simply isn’t the case. Once the plane takes off, the value of unfilled airplane seats is $0. Use this to your advantage to get cheap flights to San Francisco or some other cheap travel deal.

3. Flights tend to be cheapest on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so try to plan your trip with this in mind. Go onto some of the major websites and fiddle around with the dates until you can find the cheapest combination of departure and return flights. Then take those dates to Priceline and use their bidding feature to begin bidding with an initial price of 50% of the best deal you were quoted earlier. Raise the price in $50 increments until you get your tickets.

4. Don’t think you have to fly into SFO. Do some research and begin to check the prices against Oakland and San Jose’s airports. Often times these are cheaper even if you factor in the cost of a taxi or a ride on the BART.

With the above tips you should be able to get some great San Francisco travel deals. This leaves you with more money to spend on your actual vacation (and not just wasting it getting there). The most important quality that underlies all of these though is flexibility. If you can be flexible about when you travel, and which airport you arrive in, you will will be certain to get a cheap travel deal.