Last Update: 12/30/15

You're happily chatting with the woman seated next to you on a flight to Paris when you discover
an unsettling fact: she paid $250 while you paid $800 for the exact same flight?! You spend the
rest of your flight as well as most of your vacation fuming, and you are unable to enjoy the sights in the "City of Lights." Sound familiar? 

The airline industry is a maze of rules and regulations, but you can help avoid such unpleasant surprises by familiarizing yourself with the way airfares work. Here are the main factors that can affect the price of your ticket: 

Advance Purchase - Buy your ticket at least 7-14 days before your departure date if not earlier. The least expensive fares usually have advance purchase requirements. So when exactly should you buy your tickets for a trip? While there's no definitive answer to that question, a good guideline is if you are certain of your travel plans, and you find a fare that you are happy with, buy it! You might possibly save a few dollars by waiting, but you could also risk paying hundreds of dollars more. Also, even if a sale fare appears at the last minute, chances are there won't be availability for the dates and times you want to travel. 

Availability - Even if you are able to meet all the restrictions of a fare being offered, in order to
purchase a ticket at that price you still have to find availability for the dates and flights that you want. Airlines basically allot a certain number of seats for each economy fare level offered. So even though there may still be plenty of seats in economy class on a particular flight, the cheaper seats may already be sold out. 

Length of stay - Most of the lower-priced fares only allow for a stay of up to 30 days. They also
usually require at least a Saturday night stay (this prevents most business travelers from taking advantage of the lower-priced fares). Shortening your stay by a few days to remain within the 30-day maximum restriction or lengthening your trip to include a Saturday night stay could mean substantial savings. 

Travel seasons - Fares to most destinations can vary drastically depending on the season of travel. Basically, expect to pay more if you want to travel when everyone else does. Fares to Europe, for example, have roughly the following seasons:

High season (most expensive)- mid-June to mid-September (summer vacation) and mid-December to New Year's (holiday travel period)

Low season (least expensive)- November to mid-December and January through March Shoulder season (mid priced)- rest of the year

Travel seasons will differ by destination. Also, fares are generally affected only by your season of departure. The return date will not affect the fare even if it falls under a different season as
long as you remain within the maximum stay restriction. So if you are planning to travel to Europe in early- to mid-June, try to leave before "high season" begins. Traveling a few days earlier could save you several hundred dollars. 

Weekend/Weekday - The least expensive fares usually apply only to weekday travel (Monday
through Thursday as far as most airlines are concerned). For weekend travel (Friday through
Sunday), a surcharge of $20-25 is generally added per direction. 

Blackout dates - Some fares do not allow travel on certain dates (usually around holidays). For example, the Wednesday before and the Sunday after Thanksgiving are traditionally blacked out
for most of the cheaper airfares. Try to avoid traveling on these busy days if at all possible. 

Stopovers - Stopovers are defined as stopping at an intermediate city between your origination and final destination for longer than 4 hours for domestic travel and longer than 24 hours for international travel. Most inexpensive fares do not allow stopovers at all. If a stopover is allowed on a fare, it is usually allowed only at an airline's hub(s) - the place where you would change planes anyway along the airline's route.

Taxes - Taxes can range up to $100 depending on your destination. Don't be surprised if that $200 special fare to London advertised in the newspaper ends up costing $300 once the taxes have been added. Most fares are quoted before tax. 

Roundtrip/One-Way/Open Jaw tickets - Since the airlines prefer that you fly roundtrip, one-way fares are often more expensive than the roundtrip fares. Be aware that it is against airline regulations to buy a roundtrip ticket without intending to use the return portion. (On that note, it is standard practice in the travel industry to advertise fares as "each way based on roundtrip purchase." That does not mean you can buy a one way fare for that price. It just means you have to double the advertised rate and add taxes to get your final roundtrip price.) 

If you are visiting more than one destination, consider buying an open jaw ticket. An open jaw ticket is one that arrives at one destination and returns from another (i.e. Boston to Paris, returning from Madrid to Boston). As long as the fares allow it, an open jaw fare is usually just the average of the two roundtrip fares. It will often help you avoid wasting time and money retracing your steps. 

Change/Cancellation penalties - The penalties for changing or canceling a ticket you have purchased vary widely depending on the fare. For most published fares, there is usually a $75 (for domestic travel) or $150 (for international travel) fee for changing a ticket in any way. In addition, if the change causes a change in the airfare, you will have to pay the fare difference (often a hefty sum) on top of the change fee. Cancellations involve the same processing fee, but usually no money is refunded. You are given a credit for the remaining amount, which can be used towards future travel on the same airline. There are also some fares that don't allow any changes or refunds at all or have much higher
penalties. So make sure you are aware of all the change and cancellation rules before you purchase your ticket. 

Keep in mind that all the factors listed above are general rules and do not apply to every fare. They also apply mostly to "published" fares. These are fares that are offered directly by the airline and can be purchased either through the airline or from any travel agent.  

There are many "private" fares that don't follow these rules. These are fares that many travel agents or consolidators negotiate with the airlines. They cannot be purchased from the airline directly. If you are a youth or student, for example, many student travel agencies ... will offer special discounted
fares that allow for a stay of up to one year. These fares often do not have advance purchase requirements and have a lower penalty for changes or cancellations (a consideration that is sometimes as important as price). They also may allow for relatively cheap one-way travel and include free stopovers. So shop around. 

© 2000 Smarter Living, Inc