Traveling on a Budget: Plane Tickets

Although some people might think that traveling must always be an expensive endeavor, the readers here know that there are multiple ways to save money while traveling. In the last post(found here), we touched on some ways to save money through better selection of hotel locations. In this post I would like to introduce you to some more of the money saving principles that I have learned over the course of my years traveling and pinching pennies to make the trips last longer.

Flying can provide amazing views as well. The Pyrenees range in May.

The first, and generally the most expensive single purchase for the majority of vacations will be the plane ticket. There are plenty of ways to save money on your airfare like timing your purchase correctly or buying it far enough ahead of time. On top of that, we are also seeing the rise of budget airlines across the world. Depending on your preferences as a traveler, selecting one of these budget airlines will leave you wondering why anyone would ever fly with a more expensive airline. My personal experience has been nothing but positive, but if you buy one of these tickets without doing your due diligence, you may be in for an unpleasant surprise.

When it comes to budget airlines, you definitely need to do a little bit of research to have an idea of what to expect. Is your airline cheaper because they have no service and tight cramped seats? Or is your airline cheaper because they cut back on all the excess that has become normal for most other airlines? For me, when I use one of these airlines, I prefer the airlines that cut back on the unnecessary extras, which often times I don't want anyways. I have yet to eat an airplane meal that I actually enjoyed. Acceptable, sure, but never a truly enjoyable airplane meal. So why would I want to fly with an airline that requires me to buy a ticket that includes this in flight meal? Often times these meals add a cost to my ticket that I don't want or need, but there's no refund for an uneaten meal. Have you ever been on a flight where some passenger is constantly asking the attendants for more drinks or snacks every few minutes? Well guess what, they factor that cost in to your plane ticket and everyone pays a little bit extra to satisfy those few needy passengers. So look into your airfare costs and find the areas that you're spending money when you don't need to be.

When I purchase airfare I generally make a point to look for the seating dimensions. For a person with exceptional “top shelf reaching skills” like myself, I really need to have a decent amount of legroom or that 15 hours crammed into an airplane can ruin a trip for me. Certain budget airlines have made it a point to cram as many people as possible into their airplanes and these airlines have excluded themselves from my list of possible choices. Now, in a recent trip I took a flight on a budget airline named WOW air. There were mixed reviews online, but as I looked into it, the majority of the negative reviews were over issues that could have been easily avoided with just the slightest amount of research. Furthermore, many of these issues were also reasons that I loved the airline. For example, they offer no free food or drinks, which could upset an unsuspecting traveler, but I thought it was amazing. I brought a couple of bottles of water and some snacks in my backpack and I was considerably more satisfied than any airplane food I've eaten in the past. By the way, you have to purchase water at the airport past the security screening, but you can save even more money by purchasing the snacks at a grocery store with better prices and bringing them with you. A little research goes a long way.

Flying into Dublin, Ireland.

Speaking of research, one thing you can research online are the various ways to save money by knowing exactly when to purchase your ticket. All across the internet you can find a variety of theories on when and how to purchase a plane ticket and get the best price. Many of these articles can save you money by doing something as simple as buying your ticket on a certain day, clearing your cookies to get better deals from certain websites, or even choosing to take off a day before or after the original day you had in mind. There is no doubt that carefully planning how and when to buy your plane ticket will save you some money. So isn't it worth it to squeeze in a little time for airfare research during your lunch breaks to save enough for a few more nights in your preferred destination?