Tips to help you in your search for cheap airfare:

The pricing of airline tickets is a complex affair, often defying logic. For instance, from a consumer point of view how on earth can one way tickets cost nearly or indeed the same as a roundtrip?

Well for starters there are many drivers which determine the ticket cost, some of which are, market forces, aka, supply and demand, the booking systems, the inventory and other airline competition.

All airlines input the available flight data into a central reservation system, there are in fact 4 such primary systems; Galileo (which was formerly Apollo), Sabre, Worldspan and Amadeus (Galileo and Worldspan share the same datacenter). The complexity I mentioned earlier is evident here, whereby Galileo used to be Apollo and is really no different from Worldspan – I’m already confused are you? (smiley)…

The first tip then is the obvious one, to search cheap airfare, shop around, you really need a quote from 3 of these systems as they use different datacenters .And the other point here is the algorithm used, when you retrieve data and perform a search there is an algorithm which determines the set of results (or output). It follows then that the different airline booking system will have a separate algo…

It’s also worth taking into account that generally speaking, Monday’s and Friday’s are the most expensive days to fly, on the other hand, Wednesday’s and Thursday’s are the cheapest.

Most of us already know too that last minute prices can be bargain flight tickets, but of course this is only useful if you’re intending to book a last minute vacation or fly on a whim, or perhaps meaningful travel by volunteering abroad

Other than that the cheapest period is usually more than 28 days prior to your intended flight.

Consolidator

It’s usually worth consulting an airline consolidator as these guys purchase tickets in bulk directly from the airlines. There is sometimes a risk involved, so ensure you are dealing with a reputable consolidator and check the terms and conditions.

Search Cheap Airfare on Auction Sites

There are 2 variants of auction site selling, or rather auctioning cheap Airfare. The first type is the regular auction format which involves bidding on airfares listed. The other type of site is a reverse auction whereby you make a bid for a ticket to your specified destination on a date specified by you – if an airline has the availability and accepts your bid, the ticket is yours.

Offline Travel Agents

Don’t forget about the traditional offline travel agent, they often have more resources than most websites to search cheap airfares. Not only that, they are trained on the reservation systems and know a lot of little short-cuts and where to unearth, if possible, that cheap ticket for you.

The Courier Option

If you want to travel with little or no previous planning registering with a courier company is a great way of flying long haul with massively discounted tickets. Basically it means you are unable to take luggage with you save hand-held, carry-on pieces.

You will usually be accompanying some luggage or carrying papers, but as soon as you get to the other end an agent or such like will take over and you’re free to explore wherever you maybe (usually for 14 days). Please note though, you will have to pay for your airline ticket, it will however be heavily discounted. (Also note no expenses are paid and you must pre-register with a courier company to be eligible).

And last but not least I want to tell you about how to secure and search cheap airfare using a secret airfare guide, basically it’s a book written by a former airline pilot who reveals industry secrets on securing complimentary seats, massively discounted airfares. How to get your hands on free flying vouchers etc. The secret guide is on offer right now at $24.95, and it’s a steal for free airline ticket secrets and info on how to get massive airline discounts (up to 80% off). Go Search Cheap Airfare Right Now. Don’t forget to send me a postcard