I bought my tickets, for this summer thru AARP Travelocity! $40 cheaper than travel agent got them and I get in two hours earlier than the rest of the group :o)

I subscribe to the websites and newsletters of the two airlines that I use to fly out of here. They send email notifications when they have seat sales. Then I can book online and take advantage of the savings, usually anywhere from 30% - 50% off regular prices.

When I'm planning a trip, I always keep checking different airline sites, never go through an agent...And, like Barbara3 posted, have them send you specials...You'll also see, if you keep checking, fees will change almost hourly so if you see a good price, jump on it, it might not be there the next time you check....If I were you, I'd go directly to the site and book on line...Some airlines don't hold you to the 14 day advance and some, you don't have to get a round trip, you can fly 1 way on 1 airline, come home on another.....Good luck!

I've never not been able to sit with my companion on Southwest. And they can be MUCH cheaper. Try Cheapotickets.com, I sometimes use them rather than Orbitz or Travelocity.

We've always been able to sit together on Southwest, even when we had a party of six. I usually buy our tickets 6-8 weeks ahead, that's when I've had the best luck.

Also, try the airline's website direct, I've been finding that cheaper than expedia.

A new favorite site is Farecast.com. It will tell you whether you should buy now or wait.

My travel agent always gets me cheaper tickets. She beats anything I can find online - plus she does all the work!

i use either a travel agent or go directly to the airline and i haggle the price once it's quoted. a little "you can do better than that" goes a long way.

maryanne

Could be the days you're traveling....Mondays and Fridays are two of the HIGHEST PRICED fares(along with Sundays). Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays are usually the cheapest. Consumer Reports says .... and I find this to be true as well...that you pay at least $10 less per ticket by booking DIRECTLY with the airline. I often go to Travelocity or Expedia-type sites to see which airlines fly to where I wanna go. Some airlines charge the same 14 days in advance as they do for 3 days in advance. Most charge a premium for booking 3 days or less in advance. Oh yeah, one more thing...a ticket costs MORE if you CALL the airline rather than book online.

thanks everyone. I went with SW. Yes, if we left on Tuesday, and come home monday it would have been at least $500 cheaper. Sheesh! wednesday was a little different, but not much. DH just can't leave that long.

BTW, kat -- With SW, go online within 24 hours of your departure to print out your boarding passes -- if you do it really early, like 23 hours 55 minutes before your departure time, you'll get earlier boarding preference. You'll be able to sit together, no problem. And you'll have to do the same 24 hours before your return flight.