How to Find Cheap Fall Airfare

While summer trips may be what you hear people talking about most often, ask anyone who travels frequently when they prefer to get out of town and it’s very likely they’ll mention any season except summer. Sure, summer weather can be great, but summer travel also typically comes with higher prices and bigger crowds – two things frequent travelers like to avoid whenever they can.

The good news is that planning a trip in the fall (especially the early fall) means you get to skip the biggest crowds and highest prices – and, in many cases, you still get fantastic weather to boot. Of course, the word is getting out, so fall travel deals aren’t always as easy to find as they used to be. Don’t get caught paying more for your fall trip than you should – here are some ways to help you save money on fall airfare.

Stay Flexible

You’ll hear it time and again, but one of the best ways to find cheap airfare – any time of year – is to not limit yourself to only a particular day of the week or a time of day to fly. Certain days and times are cheaper than others, and you may not know when those cheaper days and times are. Starting with a more open search for travel dates gives you a better chance of finding those cheaper tickets.

While you can manually check the prices on flights at different times on different days, the easiest thing to do is use an airfare booking site that allows for flexible searching. Look for a box near where you enter your travel information that says something along the lines of, “my dates are flexible.” Check that box, and you should get results that cover a few days on either side of your target date.

Learn When Flights are Cheapest

As mentioned above, there are certain days and times when flights tend to be cheaper. Although those days and times can fluctuate and you may not always know when they are, there are some days and times which are typically lower and are – at the very least – good places to start.

The cheapest days to fly tend to be Wednesday, Tuesday, and Saturday. The cheapest times tend to be the earliest flights of the day, and the latest departures (including red-eye flights).

Check Budget Airlines & Alternative Airports

Variety is the spice of life, and seeking it out can also lead to cheaper airfare.

Depending on where you’re going, it’s a very good idea to scan a list of all the airlines that fly into the area – as well as all the airports that are reasonably close to your destination. Some smaller airlines only cover certain regions, and you may not have heard of them – but they may offer cheaper flights than the big carriers you’re familiar with. At the same time, some airports are more popular with those budget airlines – and if you only look at a city’s biggest hub you might not see the cheaper flights into a secondary airport. Remember to look at your transportation options from any alternative airport to make sure you’re not spending the money you save on airfare on a bus or train ticket, of course.

Seek Out “Shoulder Season” Destinations

Obviously the seasons themselves will be different depending on what part of the world you’re in – winter in Australia is summer in the United States, and things like that – but the so-called shoulder seasons of spring and fall are shoulder seasons everywhere. It may be fall in the U.S. and spring in Australia, but both are still shoulder seasons.

Some places may be better spring destinations rather than fall destinations (and vice versa). If you’re really into wine, for instance, and want to go to a place that’s having lots of harvest festivals, then you want to make sure it’s fall and not spring in the vacation spot of your choice. On the other hand, if you’re really into spring gardens, hop on a flight to the opposite hemisphere when fall rolls around in your neck of the woods.

>> Looking for specific holidays or festivals to build a fall trip around? Don’t miss our holiday travel guide calendar with links to all sorts of events around the world.

photo by Marufish