Related: Travel Alert – Extra Hotel Fees On the Rise
Budget Airlines
These seemingly wonderful deals are often packed with hidden fees and extra charges. Often, you can find a better deal and a more comfortable ride on competing for non-bargain carriers. Budget airlines like Frontier and Spirit charge in an a la carte style. There are charges for carrying on bags, picking your seat, printing your boarding pass, and even a pack of peanuts. Always make sure your final price includes all fees, charges, and taxes when making your final choice in airlines.
Basic Versus Economy Fare
American, Delta, and United recently introduced basic economy fares to compete for those tight-budget travelers Spirit and Frontier are nabbing. However, the difference between basic and economy fares varies and can be insanely confusing. Kayak helps travelers spot the differences, but other platforms and booking sites can be misleading. If you’re confused, make sure you check out the airline’s policies so you don’t get slammed with extra fees you thought were included.
Third Party Pitfalls
When you use third-party travel sites, you could end up paying more. Just like with hotels, you should always do your research on those aggregators first, then go directly to the carrier at your discounted price point. This way, you’ll avoid any up-charges and booking fees third-party sites typically charge.
Timing
Buy early is the common rule, but there is actually a general sweet spot for booking airline tickets. Typically, 6 to 8 weeks is the marker for the best prices. Of course, there are exceptions like holidays, peak seasonal timing, and demand due to special events.
Related: Hidden-City Ticketing: This Cheap Flight Trick Could Cost You More Than Money
Clean Up Your Cookies
Your computer may cost you. While doing your research your device can store your visit history thanks to the cookies that track where you’ve been. So, while some consider it a myth, there is some truth in sites recognizing you’ve been there before. So, the theory is that once a site sees repeated visits, it believes you’ll be a serious buyer and keep kicking you the same price even though rates may have dropped for new shoppers. Delete your browsing history and clean up those cookies for accurate and updated prices.
Do you have any tips for avoiding hidden airline fees? Share your advice on the hidden costs of your airline ticket in the comment section below.
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