While many of the best premium ticketing strategies require some flexibility with dates, there’s many ticketing strategies you can check even if your dates are locked in.
When it comes to the Travel Lifecycle, people are usually in one of three stages: Trip Dreaming (no destination, no dates), Trip Planning (have destination, but no dates), and Trip Booking (have destination and dates, need to book tickets now!).
We recommend using FCF at the start—rather than at the end—of that Lifecycle, because you infinitely increase your opportunity for a great deal if you’re thinking about tickets while choosing a destination and/or dates.
BUT we know that’s not always possible in reality. So if your destination and dates are etched in stone (cousin Clint’s wedding in Paris on February 14, the old romantic) then we’ve got a list of things to try—which often do NOT come with the otherwise common availability challenges that tend to arise when you’re later in the Lifecycle and have locked yourself into dates.
Check Amex’s IAP Discount
If your dates and destination are etched in stone, why not nip a couple hundred or more extra greenbacks off the price? We’ll show you exactly how to save on many normal fares with Amex. Dates are almost never an issue.
Check Vacation Packages
Package deals can offer amazing value, particularly to Europe. We found a package deal on American and British Airways at short notice that offered a 52% saving with accommodation at a five-star hotel. And with vacation packages, finding volumes of dates with availability of discount seats can often be easy.
More insights on package deals: American and British Airways to Europe, American to Brazil, and Delta to Australia.
Check Partner Space
You’d think an airline’s own miles would offer the best value on their own flights. Well, that’s not necessarily the case as we uncover with Delta and their partner Virgin Atlantic. And what’s more—when you find the best value with miles (even if it’s not being redeemed for that airline’s flights), you’re not just getting a better value, but often more availability too.
Check Mixed Class Fares
Sometimes it makes sense to travel to Europe in Business Class, and return in premium Economy, or vice versa. Find out when mixed class fares make sense and how to book them—as these deals don’t come with date requirements per se.
Check Using Miles for Upgrade, Not Free Tickets
I’m a huge fan of using miles to upgrade, rather than using them to buy a free coach ticket (like most people do). And the numbers back me up. We have ten reasons why you should be doing this too—including great availability oftentimes.
Check Using One-way Mileage Awards
Most folks buy a round-trip mileage ticket when traveling. We have another way. Actually, we have two: two one-way tickets. Divide and conquer! Because, one-way tickets increase our chances of getting a First or Business Class seat at a lower award-cost level and for low-cost. More insights on one-way award tickets: To Asia, Europe, and South America.
Across the Pond
If you travel to Europe often, heads up. You can take advantage of the fact Europe to the U.S. fares are often cheaper than the other way around, and date restrictions are often minimal.
Consider Buying Points or Miles
If you see a great miles or points deal and you don’t have any miles or points—but you see an FCF Sweet Redeem report with dates wide open—it isn’t the end of the line. You can buy them when they’re cheap. I do it all the time. Here’s also how to buy up to 500,000 points with Amex.
Book what you can now, and continue to check for better space
If you thought that once you booked a flight there’s no chance of scoring a better deal on that trip, think again. We have seven ways to improve your situation even after you’re booked and confirmed.
BA AARP $200 discount for Business Class travel
When airlines offer a gift, take it. In this case, British Airways’ $200 AARP discount per flight, yours for a mere $16 a year—and available to anyone of any age! This often has great availability too.
Check Open-Jaw Fares
An open-jaw fare means that rather than going to a specific destination and returning from that destination, you go where the value is by adding another destination.
For instance, there are huge fare differences to Europe depending on which city you fly into, even though the cities might be close together. So, go where you have to go, then get yourself to a much cheaper return fare city.
Hey, it’s probably a cool place too. With published open-jaw fares, finding volumes of dates with availability of discount seats can often be easy.
