Where to Buy Airline Tickets

Finding the best-priced plane ticket will usually take a little hard work and research, but there are many places you can go to find a good deal. Although online travel sites are gaining in popularity, don't assume your local travel agent will be more expensive.

There are two types of plane fares:

1. Published fares, set by the airlines, and available to buy direct from the airline or a travel agent.
2. Unpublished fares, which come from consolidators and are often lower priced than published fares. These fares must be purchased through a travel agent or direct from the consolidator; they cannot be bought from the airline itself.

Consolidators

A consolidator is a company who buys tickets from the airlines in bulk or carries its own contract with the airlines. Some consolidators sell these low price tickets to travel agents, while others may sell them directly to the traveler.

Independent Travel Agents

When buying plane tickets, don't forget to check your local independent travel agent. They have access to many consolidator fares, and can quite often find a fare cheaper than it is online.

Online Sites

There are hundreds of online ticket agents and consolidators to choose from. Some online travel sites may not offer a consolidator ticket (non-published fare), but may quote a published fare that you could obtain from any agent. It pays to shop around as prices can vary widely between sites.

Charter Flights

Charter companies, such as Air Transat and Thomas Cook, can often offer much cheaper flights compared to scheduled flights. The downside of charter flights is that they usually provide less choice of flight dates and destinations, and the planes tend to have more restricted legroom. (See our article on seat pitch to compare leg room allowances for different airlines).

No-Frills Airlines

You can also buy low cost tickets from no frills airlines such as Southwest and jetBlue in the States or Ryanair and Jet2 in Europe; these fares are usually only available from the airline in question. The cheapest tickets on these airlines are on a first come first served basis, with only a certain number allocated to each price bracket. As the date of departure grows closer, the cost of these fares tend to increase in price.