New York City is one of the most popular destinations in the world, however, getting there can sometimes be a little bit tricky. Even though there are three major airports near New York City, affordable fares are not always guaranteed.
Below are a few secrets to finding cheap flights to New York City.
1. Take a Red-eye
Take a red-eye if you really want to save on cash. Depart late at night and arrive in the very early morning hours. Red-eye flights are considered to be much cheaper and this will cut down on your accommodation costs. Plus, watching the sunrise in New York City is such a magnificent experience.
2. Visit after a holiday
Did you know that just after a holiday you can find a cheap ticket to New York? After the hustle and bustle surrounding a holiday, fares tend to drop tremendously. Take your trip just after Thanksgiving and you will have something to be thankful for!
3. Fly on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Saturday
Flying on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Saturday is the golden rule of finding a cheap ticket to New York. If possibly, avoid flying on Fridays or Sundays. Depending on the day of the week, plane tickets prices tend to vary widely. Search engines, namely Skyscanner lets you compare flight prices by month. Once you have collected an overview of the prices, search for flights on those dates. Have your credit card handy as many airline launch sales on Tuesdays! To get the lowest prices flight, flexibility is the key!
4. Purchase Your Ticket During the Prime Time Frame
Booking your flight too far in advance or too close to your departure date may limit your ability to find lower prices flights. It's best if you purchase you ticket no earlier than 4 months prior to your desired departure date and no later than 3 weeks. Purchasing your ticket within two weeks of your departure date will almost never get you reasonably priced tickets. You can sometimes get great last-minute flights by signing up for alerts from various websites namely Airfarewatchdog or The Flight Deal. However, do not rely greatly on this option thinking you will get a bargain. It could easily backfire.
5. Utilize Flight Search Engines
If you are searching for cheap flight tickets to New York City, start your search by using flight search engines. These are sites that hunt down the best prices which are offered by airlines and online travel agents (OTAs). Search engines differ from OTA by the fact that search engines find you all the fares out there but they do not sell you the flight.
When selecting your flight, you get redirected to the company offering that fare. On the other hand, OTA’s you purchase the ticket from the website directly. The most well-known OTAs are Travelocity, Priceline amongst others.
Since search engines scour the internet to offer an enormous number of flight options, travellers tend to use search engines more than OTAs. These sites are very user-friendly and help you to experiment with your travel plans to find the cheapest fare.
6. Mix and Match Your Airlines and Airports
Most airlines sell one-way tickets at reasonable prices and you might save out flying out on one airline and returning on another. All the major search engines allow you to search for one-way fares. You can save immensely if you combine 2 one-way fares on different airlines into a round-trip.
Try and look into flying into one airport and departing from another, such as flying to JFK Airport and flying home from Newark Airport. By this, you will not only find cheaper fares, but you will see more of New York!
You can also fly to a nearby city and bus it to New York. If you would prefer to save money and you have extra travel time, take a look at flights to nearby cities such as Philadelphia, Boston, and Washington D.C. these cities are only a few hours away from New York City. Bus tickets’ prices start from $10.
7. Sign Up for Airfare Alerts
Nearly all search engines, airlines and OTA’s offer the option to sign up for price alerts. You simply enter your departure and destination cities and when ticket prices immerse, you will get an email immediately. You can also set-up your alert to notify you only when an airfare drops below a specific amount.
8. Use Social Media
Social media namely Twitter and Facebook are used by Airlines and travel companies to alert flyers to sales. Be prepared to book your flight fast, due to the fact that deals that show up on social media go fast. The Flight Deal is especially important to follow on Twitter and Facebook. It is a website which is run by savvy travellers who are super at finding low fares. Besides posting deals on their website, they tweet every day, sometimes even every hour with great deals.
9. Take Advantage of Student Discounts
You may save money if you use you student I.D. STA Travel is one well-established student travel agency. Some others are Student universe and Student Flights.
10. Join a Frequent Fliers Program
To get a free flight, you do not have to fly a lot. There are loads of way to earn miles, which are sometimes called ‘reward points’. However, the easiest way to do so is by signing up for a credit card that offers a sign-up bonus. Many credit cards offer sign-up bonuses, reward you with an enormous number of miles, which would be enough for a free round-trip!
To receive a sign-up bonus, the only requirement is to spend a certain amount of money within the first 3 months of opening the account. To make sure you receive that bonus, pay all your purchases by credit card. Use your card to pay for everything namely groceries, phone bill, gas, etc. You would be surprised how all the little things add up!
11. Become Part of an Airline Alliance or Loyalty Program
If you are a frequent traveller, try to travel on the same airline. Even if it might mean that you will pay a few dollar more, it is wiser to accumulate miles so you can enjoy a free flight sooner or later. Some airlines form ‘alliances’, meaning they partner with other airlines. By this you can earn miles and redeem miles by flying on one of their partners.
12. Get a Refund if the Price Drops After Purchase
What could possibly be more frustrating that purchasing a ticket which you think you purchased for a great price, only to get to know that the next day the same ticket got even cheaper. it is a fact that only a few people know that airline offer refund if the price drops on a flight you already purchased. One of the easiest way to find out if the price drops on your purchased flight is by using Yapta, which is a website that tracks airfare prices and send you an alert if the price goes down on a flight you have already purchased.
Article Provided by michela@welovenyc.com