Tips to land the Best Deals On-Line

Without a doubt, the best deals are found when you combine your air and hotel (and even car) together. Just like with many other expensive things you might buy, when you buy more than one item you get a discount. Typically, if you book your flight and hotel together, you can save between $200 and $300 - now that will pay for those room service charges! See Current Packages now!

Its no secret that business fares are the highest. This is where the airlines make most of their profits. So naturally, the peak times for business travelers are also when fares are at a premium. Try avoiding the peak times, like Monday mornings, or Friday afternoons. Here is a great tool that will show you the best fares on a calendar so you can plan your trip around the best fares: Show me the Best Fares on a Calendar!

If you want to find the least painful (and least expensive) way to visit the in-laws, check frequently for Weekly Travel Deals or Last Minute Deals. Quite often, undersold airline seats and hotel rooms are offered at amazing discounts, providing you with (perhaps) enough incentive to finally go and visit Aunt Thelma in Springfield.

Sounds crazy, right? Well the way the sophisticated airline reservations systems work, they typically search for the number of seats you requested in the lowest fare class. If they can't find adjacent seats, they will automatically search for adjacent seating in the next fare class.

Of course, if you are searching for an just one seat, chances are good you will find individual seats in the lowest fare class. This move can save you anywhere from 30 to 70 percent. The downside is you and your party won't be listed in their reservation systems as being together, which means you may not be assigned the same seats. However, you can overcome that as well by either going on-line and selecting your seat assignment using a graphical map of the airplane), or you can call the airline directly and ask for seat assignments together.

If you can manage a bit of an extra drive to or from an alternate airport, you most likely will score with a discounted fare. The largest airports are home to the airlines' hubs, so fares tend to be higher, than their smaller neighbor. For example, consider San Jose or Oakland instead of San Francisco; Midway airport instead of O'Hare, Baltimore in place of Washington Dulles, etc. The savings can more than make up for the extra gas, and often times smaler airports are easier to get through as well.