We recently wrote about how we were observing a downward trend in airfare prices (at least seasonally). For example, September roundtrip economy flights between Asheville, North Carolina (where we live) and Paris, France (where we wish we lived) are running in the $2,000 range. In October, those fares drop to the $500 range. We’re seeing business class fares significantly lower in November.
This piqued our interest in further researching trends in airfare. After all, the costs of flights has the potential to make or break a river cruise trip. What good is it to get a great deal on a river cruise only to have to pay dearly for the airfare to get there? So when airfare prices appear to be trending lower, we take notice.
In last week’s survey, we asked about your booking preferences. During the next few weeks, we’ll be discussing our own strategies for getting the best airfare. For now, we’ve summarized the results of last week’s survey, and we begin with how you book your air.
Booking air through your cruise line or a travel advisor can often save you time and perhaps money, but many of you prefer to take control and do it yourself.
Fully 60 percent of our survey participants opt to book their own air. A couple of their tips:
“Track flight prices a year in advance on Google Flights“
“Book as early as possible to try and get the best deals”
Of course, credit cards are always a great way to earn miles and even protect your travel investment. Which credit cards are our readers using mostly?
“Costco Citicard, Chase Sapphire Preferred. Take advantage of great (points) transfer programs”
“Capital One credit card”
“Last 7 years all our air/hotels are booked thru points on Chase Reserve”
“Collect points, points, points. Use a number of loyalty plans for the best use of points. Book early with points.”
We’ll have more about these strategies in the coming weeks.
Many of us have probably experienced getting a good airfare only to discover that each checked bag would cost a princely sum. That’s disappointing. One way around it is to not check bags. But only 11 percent of those surveyed travel with no checked bag.
Some of our readers opt to use low-cost carriers. However, one reader warns to “be careful of the ultra-cheap airlines, especially to South America (where, yes, there are river cruises.) Additional fees when you check in can cost hundreds of dollars extra. The websites are so poorly written that you can’t pay for luggage in advance.”
A clever tip from one reader encourages people to fly First or Business class to their destination and return home on Economy Premium/Comfort. This way, you’re able to fly comfortably and get rested to arrive to your destination with your best foot forward, and when you’re flying home you can stay awake in Economy Premium to stave off jet lag.
We actually prefer to find great fares to fly business both ways, and we’ll share our tips with you in the coming weeks.
While there are many ways to get creative to save money on flights, most of our readers wouldn’t go too far out of their way (literally) for savings. In fact, one writes, “‘Saving’ is a relative term. If you can afford to go, you can afford to enjoy.”
When it’s cheaper for me to fly out of Charlotte, I often still opt to fly from Asheville – having to drive two hours home after a 9+ hour flight is anything but relaxing.
We’ll be sharing our own tips in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!
This article was originally published at River Cruise Advisor.
