What Are The Best Airplane Life Hacks?

Jonathan Breeze, CEO at AardvarkCompare.com (2015-present)

The best, simplest, hack is to buy cheap - Never buy a Refundable ticket again - you have just reduced your ticket cost by 70%.

A hack is a way of getting more for less when traveling.

Blog | AardvarkCompare.com Airline Ticket Hack

This is a recent example, using American Airlines between Dallas and LA.
I am looking around 6 months ahead of time.

So, we buy a Refundable Economy Ticket. LAX to LHR in August for a week (6 months from now).

American wants $2,100 for a Main Cabin Fully Flexible Seat.Truly and honestly, I have no idea what this is. It’s in the Main Cabin, but is more expensive than a First Class seat. Truly Baffling.

So, we don’t click on this, but seek a more traditional Main Cabin (Economy) seat.
And now, this looks like a bargain, after we managed to avoid the $2,100 fully flex seat.

American wants $1,150 for a Main Cabin Flexible Seat.So, it is flexible, just not ‘fully’ flexible. American are kind; we can change our flights, not lose all of our money, but we will need to pay for the effort to make the flight change. $200. For a change fee. That makes the convenience fee to book a movie ticket seem fair and justifiable. $200 extra to allow me to make a change. Unbelievable.

Still, it’s only $200. It’s not as though the airlines feed on this at all. Surely, it cannot add up to much…

Well, according to the US Bureau of Transportation Statistics, the Top 25 US Airlines rake in $3Bn a year in Reservation Change Fees. And $4Bn a year in Baggage Fees.
Seriously?!

If you didn’t hate the airlines before, you probably hate them now, I would imagine.
But, let’s go beat them at their own game..

Just before you hit the ‘Buy’ button, your brain kicks in, and you, unlike almost every traveler, decide to get creative.
Why not buy a Non-Refundable seat, and wrap it up with some ‘Cancel For Any Reason’ Travel Insurance from a Marketplace like AardvarkCompare.com

American wants $400 for the Non-Refundable Main Cabin Seat.

Add the Insurance, it will cost around $50.

We are choosing a really robust set of coverages..
Cancellation (Sickness, Death, Incapacitation etc) - 100% Refund.
Cancellation for Work Reason - 100% Refund.
Cancellation for Any other Reason - 75% Refund.

So, for $450 a customer booking that DFW - LAX return has nearly the same level of coverage as the person paying $1,150 for exact same seat.
A $700 saving.

Remember that the person in the $1,150 seat still has to pay $200 every time they make a change.
Whereas the person in the $450 seat just needs to throw the ticket away and use their insurance if a flight needs to be cancelled.

Clever Stuff!

If you are even thinking about buying a refundable ticket, then do the math on taking a non-refundable ticket, and a travel insurance.

The airlines are robbing people blind with their 3x pricing on refundable tickets.

Best of all, if you are in the USA, you can have absolute confidence that you are buying at the best possible price - Anti-Discrimination law works to protect customers from overpaying - you cannot find the same policy cheaper anywhere else.

Blog | AardvarkCompare.com - Will I Pay More Buying Travel Insurance from a Comparison Website? Nope. Not in the USA. Insurance prices are filed with state regulators - the price you see from a Marketplace like AardvarkCompare.com is the same price that you will get if you go to the travel insurer’s website. Basically, our services are free of charge to a customer.

Safe Travels!

The more expensive the ticket, the larger the savings.
First Class and Business Tickets can be insanely expensive, unless you play the system..

Blog | AardvarkCompare.com First Class Pricing - Beat the System

For those of you who would prefer to keep the airlines profitable, here is the price for a Refundable First Class Ticket from LAX to LHR..

$23,400 for a First Class Refundable ticket, or $6,800 for a First Class Non-Refundable with Insurance from AardvarkCompare.com

$6,800 for a $23,400 Seat?!

British Airways wants $6,300 for the Non-Refundable First Class Seat.

I then add a $450 Cancel For Any Reason Travel Insurance Policy from AardvarkCompare.com

That’s a $16,600 saving. Same flight. You’re welcome.

Safe Travels!

Travelore Tips: When To Buy Flights For Best Savings...

Flyers are always asking: "When is the best time to book my flight to..."?

After analyzing 1.5 billion air fares, CheapAir.com has determined that in 2014 the best domestic fares were found booking, on average, 47 days in advance. This was based on a review of almost 5 million trips, covering 15,000 markets, watching fares booked between 1 and 320 days in advance.

"When you buy your flight makes a huge difference," said CheapAir CEO Jeff Klee, who noted that the study found that the price of an average trip changes 70 times during the period it's available for sale. He added: "No one wants to find that the person sitting next to them on a flight paid $100 less for their ticket. We spend a lot of time collecting and analyzing fare data so our customers can make more informed decisions."

In fact, the study found that the average savings that could be achieved from buying on the "best" day versus buying on the "worst" was $201 per ticket.

Analysis of the data revealed a general pattern that, beginning when flights open for sale 11 months in advance, fares tend to drop slowly but steadily until reaching a low point somewhere between 27 days and 114 days out. CheapAir calls that three month window, between one and four months in advance, the 'prime booking window.' "Way more often than not, the best fare for a domestic trip will be offered at some point during that window," Klee said.

Not surprisingly, the study revealed that travelers should make sure to buy their ticket at least 14 days in advance, or pay an average of $111 more. That amount jumps to $174 more if you buy within 7 days.
But it also revealed that buying a ticket too early, can be costly, too. Tickets tend to be about $50 more expensive than their eventual low point when flights first open for sale.

The study found different dynamics exist for domestic and international flights, concluding that for international flights it is generally best to book earlier than the recommended window for domestic. The best time to buy cheap airline tickets to Latin America, for instance, averaged out to 96 days in advance. To Europe it was 276 days – that's about 9 months! Mexico was close at 251 days and Asia was even more extreme at 318 days.

Travelore Tips: January is The Least Expensive Month To Fly

(Photo: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

If you think only the rich can afford to jet off on winter vacations, you could be missing out. January is generally the cheapest month of the year to fly.

Dates for cheapest month of year

January (and part of February) is a dead zone, or off-peak period that begins once Christmas and New Year's flights have ceased

The period generally begins Jan. 7 or 8 and ends in mid-February. The precise dates can vary by airline, especially at the end, but look for prices to rise around Valentine's Day when Spring Break season gets underway.

Tip: When Valentine's Day falls on a weekend as it does this year, getaway flights and hotels tend to be pricier, so consider flying midweek or another weekend for your romantic getaway.

Expensive January destinations

Not all January and early February destinations are cheap. Expect fares to warm weather destinations like the Caribbean and Hawaii to be expensive, but you can find good deals to cities in Florida or destinations like Gulfport or San Diego.

Cheapest days in the cheapest month

For the ultimate January bargain, fly the three cheapest days: Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. Check out these itineraries (but again, fares can vary by cities and routes).

• Good: Depart Friday, return Sunday
• Better: Depart Tuesday, return Saturday
• Best: Depart Wednesday, return Tuesday

Contributed b Rick Seaney,  USA TODAY

Follow us on Twitter: @TraveloreReport

Travelore Money-Saving Tip: Search Airfares One Person At A Time, Even If Flying With A Group

This oldie but goodie is worth revisiting for anyone traveling with family or a group of friends this summer. Even if it's just two of you, you can still save some money.

Tip: When you initially shop for multi-passenger airline tickets, use the two-step method

Step 1: Begin by checking prices for the total number of people in your party in one window or tab. But don't buy tickets before testing step two.

Step 2: Shop for a single passenger in a different window or tab.

If you see a difference in tickets prices on these two shopping requests for your intended itinerary, shop one-passenger-at-a-time separately, then try adding another passenger until there is no price difference.

Why all the fuss?

A quirk in airline reservation systems requires all passengers booked in a single reservation to get the same price - even if there are a few cheaper seats at a lower price.

This simple multi-passenger shopping technique will let you test if there are some cheaper seats for a portion of your party, and if so, you can simply make two bookings at the different rates. Otherwise, if shopping for everyone in a single booking, you'd pay the higher price for all.

Changes and seat assignments

Your bookings are covered - meaning you can change/cancel them - using either your airline's 24-hour hold policy or its 24-hour cancellation-with-refund policy, per the recent wave of consumer-friendly Department of Transportation (DOT) rules.

When it comes to most airline seat assignments (basic, non-premium free seats), take note of empty or available seats during your initial booking so you'll be able to scoop them up when you make your second booking.

I have used this technique several times over the past few years and it has saved me thousands of dollars. It's especially cost-effective on big family trips overseas.

Sometimes there just aren't any cheaper seats for you to snag with this shop-one-passenger-at-a-time method, but if that's the case, at least you'll be confident you covered all the bases in your quest for the best deal.

Contributed by Rick Seaney 

Follow us on Twitter: @TraveloreReport

Travelore Tips: 7 Secrets Of The Travel Industry You Should Know

The travel industry seems transparent these days—real people will give you the scoop on your hotel on TripAdvisor, you can compare fares yourself with flight-search websites, and it's pretty much impossible for a terrible tour provider to hide its reputation on the Internet. But there are still a few tricks of the trade that travel insiders and providers don't want to share. Here are seven little secrets you're not supposed to know about.

Two One-Way Tickets May Be Cheaper

You don't have to arrange your departure and return flights to a destination on the same airline. In fact, it may be cheaper to split your trip with two one-way flights from different carriers. Try searching for each fare separately. Kayak and Skyscannerboth automatically compile itineraries that have two one-way tickets on different airlines as part of your booking options.

Lying to the Airline Can Save You Big

You don't want to lie to the airline about your name or birthdate when booking a flight, but fibbing about your final destination can save you a ton of money. Most airlines use hub-and-spoke systems for their flight routes, meaning that the hubs are where most of their nonstop flights begin and end, and flights to the spoke cities connect through the hubs. Naturally, flights to the hub cities are the most expensive, since so many people pass through them.

You can game the system and get a cheaper fare by booking a flight to a spoke city even if your final destination is a hub city. For example, if you want to fly from Boston to Houston, which is a United hub, you may find that a flight from Boston to Austin with a connection in Houston is actually much cheaper than a flight from Boston to Houston. In this scenario, you could book the cheaper one-stop flight to Austin and simply get off the plane in Houston. Of course, you would have to fly carry-on only so that your bag wouldn't get checked all the way through, and you would have to book two one-way tickets (a separate one for your return flight) as the airline will cancel your entire ticket as punishment if you fail to fly your second segment.

This is called "hidden city ticketing" or "throwaway ticketing," and we should stress that it violates the rules of carriage you agree to when you purchase an airline ticket. So we're not suggesting you do this—in fact, do this at your own risk—but we'd be remiss not to acknowledge that savvy travelers have been using this strategy for years.

Hotel-Room Rates Are Negotiable

In need of a last-minute hotel room? Sometimes, walking into a hotel and bargaining with the front-desk agent can really pay off. Most times, the first price you're quoted won't be the last, especially if a prospective guest pretends to walk out and go somewhere else. After all, the hotel makes no money on an empty room, so it's better for the hotel to let a room go at a reduced rate than to let it go unoccupied.

Deleting Your Cookies Can Get You a Cheaper Flight

Ever been shopping for a flight online only to find that after you've checked it a few times, the price has mysteriously gone up? Some travel websites covertly install your computer with a cookie that keeps track of your shopping behavior—and then jacks up the ticket cost once it knows you're interested. Try clearing your cookies and searching again if you don't think the price should have increased that much in a few hours.

Airline Employees Have More Power Than You Think

"In interviews with ticket agents, airline employees, and travelers, I've learned that ticket agents can punish problem passengers in a variety of ways, often without anyone even knowing it," writes consumer advocate Christopher Elliott. "They can exact their revenge on travelers by bumping them off flights, forcing them to check more luggage, or sending them to a security line for a once-over from the TSA." Conversely, being polite to a frazzled ticketing agent could snag you the last seat on the next flight out after yours has been canceled.

Buying Individual Plane Tickets Might Be Cheaper Than Group Tickets

Most things are cheaper when bought in bulk, but that theory doesn't always apply to plane tickets. Sometimes, airline websites will show group tickets at higher rates than individual tickets. Try running a search both ways (as a group and as individuals) before purchasing.

Hotel Receptionists Can Make or Break Your Stay

It pays to be nice (or at least not to be a complete jerk) to the front-desk clerk when checking in. One anonymous front-desk clerk tells Conde Nast Traveler, "Guests don't know it, but we often have a lot of leeway to decide on which room you get right up to the very last minute. If you're impatient or nasty, you'll get a room in front of the elevator or, at our hotel, one that overlooks the street where the tramway runs until midnight. So be nice."

Do you know any travel-industry secrets? Tell us in the comments!

Contributed by Caroline Morse