How to Find Cheap Airfare for Cinco de Mayo

No matter where you’ve decided to spend Cinco de Mayo, if it’s not somewhere you can drive to easily then you’re looking at a flight – and the vast majority of the time, the biggest part of your travel budget is going to be what you pay for airfare. So, regardless of where you’re off to this May 5th, it’s a very good idea to figure out how to avoid spending too much on your ticket.

Most of the tips you’ve probably heard for saving money on airfare will apply to any time you book a ticket, but sometimes they’re even more important – and this is especially true if you’re traveling over a holiday or for a special event. The airlines have their holiday travel calendars out, too, and they know why you’re flying.

Here are some of the best tips for saving money on airfare, for a Cinco de Mayo trip and whenever you take to the skies.

>> Cinco de Mayo – May 5th – in 2012 falls on a Saturday.

Stay Flexible

This is the top tip for saving on airline tickets, and thankfully it’s something that’s fairly easy to do. Most airfare sites these days have a box you can check that says something like “my dates are flexible” – make sure you check that before you begin searching and the site will give you results for (typically) 2-3 days on either side of your target travel date. By doing this, you’re much more likely to see a bargain fare close to when you were going to travel anyway.

Know When Flights are Cheapest

The reasong staying flexible with your travel dates can save you money is that the prices on tickets go up and down throughout a given week and even throughout a given day – and since those days and times aren’t set in stone, searching over the span of a few days helps make sure you don’t miss a super-cheap fare. But there are a few days and certain times of the day that are usually cheaper, so starting with those is an even better idea. The cheaper days to fly tend to be Wednesday, Tuesday, and Saturday, and the cheaper times to fly are first thing in the morning and late-night departures (including red eye flights).

Check All Area Airports

Not every city has multiple airports nearby, but many have at least two that are worth checking for fares. Sometimes all we know is the largest airport serving a city, but that airport may not have the best prices on tickets – even if it’s the busiest airport in the area. Some airfare search sites will let you search multiple airports with one city code – try typing in a city name and see if you spot an airport code that says “all airports,” such as LON for all the airports in London or NYC for all the airports in New York.

Consider Budget Airlines

Some budget airlines are primarily regional, which means we aren’t always familiar with their names or routes – but just because a budget carrier doesn’t fly from your home airport doesn’t mean you should disregard it entirely. If there’s a discount airline that flies into any of the airports in the destination you’re visiting and your flight requires a layover somewhere along the way, look into switching to that discount carrier at the layover point.

photo by allygirl520