For those who remain undeterred by the daunting lines and flight delays at Canadian airports, questions remain about how to save money on air travel amid mounting fuel costs and inflation.
Airfares — often the biggest line item on a vacation — jumped 11.6 per cent year over year in May, according to
"Airlines are raising ticket prices to cover higher fuel and labour costs," said
Flexibility is helpful when looking to save cash, since the times you choose to book and travel — and which airport you take off from — can play a key role in the cost.
Weekends are often pricier, and flights scheduled early in the morning and late at night are frequently cheaper, as fewer folks want to fly then, said
"Don't plan to leave on the first few days after the school year ends ... and also don't return home on the weekend before Labour Day, because that's going to be a huge demand weekend," he said.
Dee also recommends travelling in the off-season rather than peak summer months, or to consider less sought-after spots. "
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Booking one to three months in advance for local flights and three to four months for international ones may also yield cheaper fares, he added. However, "dynamic pricing" means there are no hard and fast rules, as algorithms respond to demand and booking curves on the fly.
"Many consumers will report being quoted one fare and a totally different — higher or even lower — if they search an hour later," Dee noted.
One way around attentive algorithms are alternative airports. Those in
But voyages within
"International travel, outside of
"To get a car rental in
"If you're going to go to
Gradek recommends classic Canadian getaways this summer. "Go to
In
The incentives come on top of the provincial staycation tax credit, which grants up to
Low-cost Canadian carriers such as
A handful of travel hacks offer more clever savings.
So-called hidden city fares, where passengers skip out on the second leg of a trip to disembark at the connection point — their actual intended destination — allow travellers who found cheaper fares on a roundabout route rather than a direct flight to save cash, though carriers frown on the practice.
"Hacker fares," which refer to two one-way tickets, can also yield savings. Search engines including Kayak and Google Flights offer round-trip queries for a pair of one-way flights. Kayak and Hopper also provide price alerts, and recommendations on whether to buy immediately or wait for lower fares.
For the more tech-savvy, bargain hunters can mask their computer’s address with a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to sniff out fares that target local residents in other countries, though deals aren't necessarily better. For the less digitally inclined, finding a foreign travel agent may be an easier option.
This report by
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