Get the Best Flight Deals with Ease

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Flight Research:  Exhausted?  Frustrated?  Confused?  Overwhelmed?

As travel agents we frequently get questions about how to find the best deals on flights with the greatest ease.  Here are our insights, tips and recommendations based on our daily digging and sorting of flights for our amazing customers worldwide.  These relate to folks who are starting their travel in the United States.

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The Hill Guys:  Airfare Tips and Tricks

Best time to book:  
​Fares tend to be their lowest on Tuesdays or Wednesdays (the days to purchase, not necessarily the days to fly).  They typically climb to their highest on the weekends.

Consider booking separate tickets:

• Book with a discount domestic carrier such as Southwest or JetBlue to get to a cheaper international departure point
• Allow ample connection time to collect your bags from the domestic carrier, recheck with the international carrier and get back through security... 
  • Albuquerque to Moscow (22 JAN 2020)
  • $1,043:  One ticket
  • $    497:  Two tickets
  • $    546:  Savings

Our preferred public search engine:  Google Flights

• Know that the lowest displayed fare may be in  Basic Economy (possibly no carry-on bag, no free advanced seat assignment, and no checked bag allowed or pay for 1st checked international bag)
• Always proceed to the actual airline's booking page to assure that you are receiving the desired fare and amenities

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Book as early as possible... on Southwest only: 
This is only true for Southwest who offers a limited number of lowest-priced Wanna Get Away fares as soon as they open up their schedules.

There are no best days of the week to fly (varies by destination and time of year): 
Always use your search engine's date comparison tools to see the lowest fares for your particular destination if your dates are flexible.

Cruisers:
Most cruise lines offer flexible flight options through their in-house air consolidator departments which can provide significant savings and flexibility.

• Reserve flights now, but don't pay until the cruise final payment due date.
• Change or cancel your flights through the cruise line without any penalty up to 45 days before departure (varies by cruise line).

Avoid shopping flights during these times as fares are usually elevated:

• Major holidays - When businesses and/or schools are closed and people are off work and likely shopping (e.g. MLK Day, Presidents' Day, spring break, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc.)
• Holiday shopping periods - Thanksgiving to New Year's, Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, graduations, Father's Day, etc.

​Keep in mind... International carriers charge to select your seats in advance:

• While many European and other international airlines may have lower fares, they may ultimately cost more because they usually charge to select seats for each flight leg in advance/before check-in.
• Most US carriers do not charge to select your Standard Economy seats in advance.

Most-popular destinations, major events, captive audiences and holidays increase fares:

• Cruises:  Airlines track when cruise ships are in port and increase fares for embarkation and debarkation days - Arrive early and/or extend after your cruise if possible and the cost of hotel doesn't outweigh the airfare savings.
• Festival Examples:  Oktoberfest (Germany), South by Southwest and Austin City Limits (Austin), Int'l Balloon Fiesta (Albuquerque), St Patrick's Day (Boston), Lollapalozza (Chicago), Summerfest (Milwaukee), etc. 
• Athletics:  NFL games, Rose Bowl, Super Bowl, March Madness, World Series, etc.
• Holidays & Breaks:  Valentine's Day, spring break (March 1st to first week of April), Mother's Day, summer break (Memorial Day to Labor Day), Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years...

Beware of Basic Economy Fares:

• Seats only assigned at check-in (otherwise for a fee in advance)
• Last boarding group
• Some airlines do not allow a carry-on bag/access to the overhead bins
• Basic Economy requires international travelers to pay for their first checked bag that may otherwise be free to those who purchased a Standard Economy fare

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Can a travel agent get me discounted fares?

Likely YES:  International itineraries for Trans-Atlantic and Trans-Pacific destinations

• Travel agents like The Hill Guys often have access to discounted fares through companies called air consolidators (which are not available directly to the public)
• When discounts are available these can result in savings of tens to hundreds of dollars below published fares
• Savings We Achieved:  Only 5 weeks in advance, we booked a single traveler's Standard Economy flights  from Albuquerque (New Mexico) to Moscow with his return from Vladivostok (Russia).   
  • $4,983:  Published airfare
  • $1,243:   Airfare ultimately paid
  • $3,740:  Savings through The Hill Guys (with only 2 connections each way and no ridiculous layover times or changes of airport required)

NO:  

• USA domestic flights including Hawaii, Alaska and Puerto Rico
• Flights within any country or area like Europe
• International flights within the Americas/Western Hemisphere (Canada, USA, Mexico, Central America and South America)

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Why do people use The Hill Guys even when there are no $$$ savings?

Save time / Have better ways to spend their time

Minimize frustration, confusion and fatigue due to too many choices online.

Single point of contact:  Only speak to us instead of getting someone different on the phone each time you have a question or request.

Book with confidence by working with professionals:

• Assure adequate connection times
• Best seat selections based on direction of travel
• We have resources to weed out problematic seats (missing windows, limited legroom due to entertainment equipment, no recline, etc.)

International connections can get tricky:

• Determining when an airport will and won't require inspections of passports and/or baggage (Yes, it can change depending on one's flight itinerary)
• Knowing how much time is needed to connect based on a particular airport's size, complexity, congestion and facilities

​Simplify Open-Jaw Itineraries: 

• Arriving at one airport, but returning home from another
• Multiple destinations in a single trip​

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All tips, recommendations and airfare savings herein are provided and intended as resources for readers to facilitate airfare-related research and air travel, and no results are guaranteed.  Airfares are based on availability and subject to change frequently and can never be guaranteed until purchased. The Hill Guys has no affiliation with nor does it receive compensation from Google, but rather we prefer it and recommend it solely based on our experience with its accuracy, straight-forward displays and ease of use.