Travel Nurse Airline Flights Cheap

You've accepted another travel assignment. Can you find airline flights cheap? If the assignment is within a few hundred miles you might consider driving your car. There are some obvious advantages to this. You will have transportation to and from work when you get there. And there are some tax advantages to deducting mileage if you are not reimbursed by the travel agency.

Of course, if the assignment is 3000 miles away you may not want to drive. Flying to your next destination has obvious advantages. You can fly to anywhere in the continental United States in less than one day. From Washington state to Florida is usually only one day of travel. And if you shop carefully you can get airline flights cheap. In fact, it often will be considerably less than gas, hotels and food would cost for a 6-7 day trip from Washington to Florida.

There are numerous sites online that can help you find airline flights cheap. Hotwire.com, cheap tickets.com, Expedia.com, and Priceline.com are just a few of the many travel sites online. There are also sites that let you check seven or eight of the discount websites from the same site. Kayak is one of the better ones.  They let you compare all the major sites side by side., It's not easy to know which one actually gives you the best deal. Because the deals are always changing. Sometimes cheap tickets.com has the best deal. Sometimes it's Orbitz.com. But there are some things you can do to make sure you get the best deal.

The first thing to do is make sure you compare the sites. Of course this can take time. If you're in a hurry one little trick you can do to get a quick airline flight cheap is go to Priceline.com and use their "name your own price" feature. This is a really great feature if you are willing to be very flexible and aren't picky about what time of day you leave. The trick to using the "name your own price feature" is to do a search on Priceline for the airline ticket you want. Once you know what the average discount price is you can make a lower offer. It's usually best to make an offer that is about 20 to 30% less than the discount price you found. You also can't be picky about which airline you fly with. As Priceline will match your bid with a departure time and airline willing to accept your offer. This is a really great way to get airline flights cheap. It also works for hotels.

The one thing you need to be aware of is that Priceline.com will charge you for the ticket if your bid is accepted. So be sure you really want the ticket and are ready to buy right then when you submit your offer. Priceline will add the airport fees, surcharges, and taxes to your bid. For example, if you bid $100 for a flight from Seattle Washington to Anaheim California your bid will increase to about $138 with all those fees added in. So be sure that when you bid you discount about 5-10% more than you were going to. A nice feature that Priceline has is that if they think your bid is too low they will suggest that you raise it before you submit it. You can decline to raise it and see if there is an airline willing to accept your offer.

Priceline promises that your flight departure times will be between 6 am and 10 pm except in those locations where your paired destinations require otherwise. Some locations have 5 am departure times or redeye flights. They also say that you will only have one connecting flight between your departure city and your final destination. The downside to these tickets is that they are non-refundable and non-transferable. Which means you have to use them and you can't give them to someone else to use. You may be able to change the ticket but there is usually a steep premium to change. Some airlines charge a fee of $100 or more to change the dates on the tickets.

You will be able to collect frequent flyer mileage. Which is another way to maximize your ticket value. if you fly a lot and stay in hotels a lot then you may want to consider having 2 or 3 rewards programs that you participate in. Don't let the points influence your decision too greatly though. for example if you have a ticket offer of $400 with airline A and one for $500 for airline B (and airline B is the one you earn frequent flyer miles with) you still get a better bargain choosing airline A. The reason is that Airline B will most likely charge you 50,000 points for a free airline ticket that you can get for anywhere in the continental U.S. Which means that each mile is worth approximately 1 cent. If your flight is 2000 miles then your reward for flying with airline B is worth approximately $20. You are actually paying $80 more to earn those 2000 miles. So, those airline flights cheap? Not.

Additional Tips for getting Airline Flights Cheap
Hotwire is also a good source for last minute airline flights cheap and economical. The more flexible you are the better deal you can get. Some other things to consider are:

Be willing to fly from a different airport. For example, if you are close to a big regional hub and are willing to drive 50-75 miles to that airport you may be able to save enough to make it worthwhile.

Be willing to be flexible about which days you travel. Airlines have peak days and off peak days. if you are willing to fly on an off peak day you can save money.

Be willing to leave at a very early or very late time. These flights typically sell out last. After all most travelers don't want to leave the airport at 4 am or arrive at 2 am.

Travel light. Most airlines now charge you for checking 1 or 2 bags through to your destination. If you can travel without those bags you can save $25-$50. And be sure to pack your bags light. Most airlines now charge a fee (on top of the $25 checked baggage fee) for bags that are over 50 pounds. Bags between 51-70 pounds can cost as much as $90 extra.

Some airlines are now charging extra for an exit row seat. If you prefer exit row seats don't pay for them when you first check in. Instead make sure your airline profile indicates that you prefer exit rows. Take your chances and wait. If enough passengers don't purchase the exit rows your preference will be honored when they assign seats at the gate.

Some airlines are not available through the travel sites.  To find their best prices you will have to go directly to the website for that airline and search for flights.  Southwest Airlines is one that does not publish via travel sites.  Occasionally, you can find better deals by searching the airlines website directly.  Delta, for example, always publishes the best internet price and matches the lowest price for Delta flights that you can find on the travel sites.  But, sometimes they offer better flight times or seats for that price if you shop directly with them.

So, if you are thinking of getting airline flights cheap for your next travel assignment or for a vacation use these tips and ideas to get the best deals.