Finding Low Airfares
To Orlando
By Frank Izaguirre
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Tip #1: Keep your Options Open - Look at several airports, not just the biggest/closest. A lot of low-cost airlines use smaller airports. If you are using an online reservation system, do several searches to look at all the airports around you. A good travel agent will know to look around, but it doesn't hurt to remind them that you're willing to drive an hour or so further to get a better fare.
Tip #2: Know the Fares - Many reservation systems, such as Microsoft's Expedia (via its Fare Compare), allow you to search for the lowest fares without having to specify a precise time and date. Once you know what the going rate is for a leisure-class ticket, you have a solid basis for comparison.
Tip #3: Keep your Eyes Open for Bargains -Bargains tend to show up either when the airlines are having trouble filling their seats or when a price-war breaks out. To spot those, you need to watch what's happening in the industry. Sometimes the fares are only available for a few days, so it pays to check frequently for specials that crop up. Have your travel agent keep an eye out for you, or subscribe to airline or reservation system email newsletters.
Tip #4: Subscribe to Airline Internet Specials - Around the middle of the week, many airlines send out an email announcing heavily discounted, last minute airfares for the coming weekend. Southwest is unique in that their weekly specials aren't limited to flights for the coming weekend; instead, you can often book trips weeks or months ahead. But the special fares are only available for a few days, so even if the trip is months away, you have to book within a few days (www.iflyswa.com/hotfares/). Sign up for their email! As an alternative, take a look at BestFares.com's news desk - they list all the Internet specials.
Note: These specials can usually be booked only at the airline's web site and will not be found in online reservation systems.
Travelocity offers Flight-Watcher email and Expedia offers Fare-tracker email to keep you informed of current airfare deals. Also, you may want to consider making a home page at my.yahoo.com. It offers a flight section with today's best fares to and from cities you select.
Tip #5: Special Discounts - Seniors can often travel at a deep discount by buying "senior coupons" from airlines. Many airlines allow seniors to take along an "underage" companion at the senior rate. Also, if one of your family members is a full time student (usually over 18, but sometimes as young as 14), many airlines offer discounted student fares as well. It doesn't hurt to check!
Tip #6: Flying out of Smaller/Nearby Airports - Oftentimes you can find better fares by flying out of smaller or nearby airports because "bargain" airlines use them instead of the major airports. Not just the bargain airlines offer lower fares, but the majors, too, will usually match the lower fares to remain competitive. Following this article is a chart of some of other airports you might want to look at for flights to Orlando.
Even if a smaller, local airport isn't served by a bargain airline, you can occasionally find better fares from them than you can from larger airports. Even if the cheaper flight ends up connecting through the very same larger airport!
RESERVATION SYSTEMS
Following are some of the most popular reservations systems on the internet.
Lowestfare.com - Claims to offer 20% off the lowest published fares. It seems to offer discounts on only TWA flights. If TWA gets you to Orlando, check out this site! You must make reservations through their website to get the discount though.
Microsoft Expedia (Expedia.msn.com) - a general purpose reservation system. Its Fare Compare allows you to find what the various airfares are without knowing specific dates in advance. Expedia also offers a Fare Tracker that will periodically send you the lowest publish fares routes you're interested in.
Travelocity.com - Provides reservations as well as useful information. Their 'Deals in the News' will help spot special airfares and price wars. Like Expedia, Travelocity provides a means of finding the lowest published fares.
Priceline.com - Allows you to make a bid on tickets. However, you are required to buy the ticket you make a bid on if an airline agrees to the price. How it works: you name the price you want to pay and priceline finds a major airline willing to release seats on flights where they have unsold space. Tickets can be requested up to six months in advance of departure. For those who don't need to fly at a specific time of day or on a specific airline, priceline is a great alternative.
Note: not all airlines are listed on reservation systems. For instance, Expedia.msn.com, which is a great online reservation and airfare search system, doesn't have listings for Southwest Airlines.
A last note - 28% of all passengers to/from MCO (Orlando) fly Delta/Delta Express, with over 97 daily flights.
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