Traveling photogs: advice on finding plane tickets

michaelglenn · April 8, 2013

So I recently have the opportunity to fly out to San Jose, California to second shoot a double header on the 28th and 29th of June. The photographer will be covering my flight, but we want to find a solid deal on flights. For those that do travel, what is your method to find the best deals? I'm currently using Kayak and Airfare Watchdog to check out prices. I've heard good things about Flight Fox, but I haven't used it. Just curious what I should do? Some sources have told me to wait six weeks before the flight to find a deal. I've heard Tuesdays around 3pm are the best times to buy tickets. I'm new to this, so I figured I'd leave it up to you guys. How do you go about buying plane tickets to travel?

P.S- this is my first time traveling across the US. I'm really excited :thumb

Moogle Pepper · April 8, 2013

I stick with kayak too. Although sometimes the airline's own site sometimes, not often, offer better fares.

ssimmonsphoto · April 10, 2013

I think it depends on the carrier. I'm flying Delta this weekend and prices on their site match what I find on the deal sites. So I bought directly from them. If you are at all flexible on dates, don't forget to use the +/- a couple days option when you search. You might save a bundle if you fly in a day before (or fly out a day later) you were planning to.

Foques · April 10, 2013

A good friend of mine is running a travel agency, I always go through him.
PM me if you'd like his contact info. the lad has been consistently getting fantastic deals for me and my second half.

michaelglenn · April 10, 2013

Thanks everyone! I plan on flying out 6/27-6/30 (Thurs-Sun). I may try to the 26th because I hear Wed, as a rule of thumb, are the cheapest to book flights.

Foques wrote: »

A good friend of mine is running a travel agency, I always go through him.
PM me if you'd like his contact info. the lad has been consistently getting fantastic deals for me and my second half.

I'm gonna shoot you a PM now, that's seriously awesome!

michaelglenn · April 13, 2013

Good news! I found a ticket for a great price. I figured I'd post what I did to find the best prices:

I first went through with Kayak, to see how much tickets were going for at the desired time I wanted to get there. I also checked how much a flight would cost six weeks ahead of time (which generally has the best rates). This gave me an idea of how low I should strive for when looking for a ticket price.

I then began using AirfareWatchdog and FareCompare in combination with Kayak. With AirfareWatchdog, you can sign up for price alerts to find solid deals. I like using them because it isn't "machine based". Human's actually work there, and post the best deals when available. I also downloaded Kayak's app for the iPhone where I could update prices throughout the day. Generally, I would check prices once in the morning, once in the afternoon, and once at night. If it was midnight, I would also check to see if they post any of the latest deals (at midnight, prices will either increase or decrease from my experience).

After about a week of researching, you get a feel for good prices. Airlines tend to inflate prices so the customer feels anxious to buy a ticket right away. It becomes important to be patient during the whole ticket process. Prices will go down, but it's just a matter of knowing when the airline will post a good deal, and knowing what prices are considered good deals.

It is also important to check one-way tickets as well. I actually found a better deal booking a one way ticket to California and back, rather than what I found with the round trip results. I saved $60 this way. I also found a couple great coupon promo codes using RetailMeNot.

I hope this helps anyone traveling. The experience was slightly exhausting, but totally worth it for the price I paid. In total, I saved $160 for what tickets are going for right now.

Traveling photogs: advice on finding plane tickets

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