What good is a Caribbean vacation in August when you really want to go in February? For many destinations, airfares fluctuate by season and consumer demand. During low season, airlines reduce the number of flights or utilize smaller planes, but your destination is still accessible at a reasonable rate because of low demand. Rates tend to creep up during peak season because demand is high. However, as airlines ramp up for the peak travel periods to popular vacation destinations, low airfares can still be found at the beginning and end of the peak season if you are willing to book early. If you can be flexible with your travel dates, low fares can even be found buried throughout the peak season. It just takes a bit more time to find them.

Travel Leaders travel agents understand the subtle nuances of air travel and it complexities.  They regularly compare fares of individual airlines with vacation packages from tour operators that bundle travel components for a maximum value and savings. 
Locate a Travel Leaders travel agent now.

Three Tips for Best Airfares
There is no secret formula for finding the lowest fares.  However, if you follow a few simple rules, with a little luck, you'll be able to regularly purchase flights at reasonable rates.

Step 1: Figuring Out When to Buy
The most frustrating part of booking a flight is knowing when to stop tracking airfares and pull the trigger to make a purchase.

Buy Early or Buy Late? During peak travel periods, booking a flight at the last minute can cost you a lot of money. Airfares typically go up 21 days, 14 days, 7 days and 3 days before departure date.

In some cases you can purchase airfares at the last minute for great price when the airlines have a lot of empty seats to fill. If you’re flexible with your travel dates, shifting your departure by a week or even a few days may present opportunities for outstanding deals to popular vacation destinations.

Insider Tip: Many airlines launch fare sales on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, so avoid purchasing airfares on Mondays. Typically you’ll find the best deals Tuesday mornings as airlines may begin adjusting prices by mid-afternoon or sooner based on consumer response.  Lowest fares to many popular vacation destinations are typically found on Tuesday, Wednesday or Saturday departures.

Step 2: Shop Around
Start your search by checking a few of the major online travel sites, like Travelocity, Orbitz and Expedia.  These consolidator web sites will give you an idea of which airlines can get you to your destination, and the average cost to get there. 
Then search aggregator sites like Qixo, Kayak, and SideStep.  These sites search many of the consolidator sites as well as airline sites themselves. These sites are very important to your search process because many of the discount airlines with inexpensive fares, like Southwest, don’t do business with the consolidator sites.
With pricing information in hand, now’s the time to hit the airline web sites to see if the same flights are cheaper of if they’re running any promotions to your vacation hot spot.

Step 3: Use Your Frequent Flier Miles
Most airlines have a very limited number of seats on each flight eligible for miles redemption.  Because these seats go quickly, booking early to redeem your frequent flier miles towards all or part of the price of your air tickets.

Step 4: Use a travel Agent
As mentioned earlier, the best airfares aren’t always found on line. Travel Leaders travel agents have access to unpublished airline fares and are trained to also compare airline fares with vacation packages of tour operators in your region, to ensure best flights, times and fares for your vacation itinerary.