Flying cheaply

I’m sitting in Kuala Lumpur International Airport writing this post and thought it appropriate to write about flying cheaply. I’ve met a fellow surfer from the Gold Coast and he has paid almost 3 times the price of the same ticket that I’ve got.

He paid $2515 for his round-trip from the same airport I left from, same plane class. same everything. I paid $985 inc taxes. That’s for a round-trip ticket from The Gold Coast in Australia, via KL, Malaysia, over to Manila, Philippines, back to KL and back to Australia!

I’m outlining this in a special chapter in my Travel and Work eBook that’s coming out early in 2008 There is always a tip or trick to make your ticket cheaper. On a usual year (over the last 10 years) I’ll fly from Australia to New York, Hong Kong, Manila, Bangkok, New Delhi, London, Phnom Penh, KL, Singapore, Colombo, Taipei, Rome and many other cities.

I almost always manage to fly on the best airlines and at the lowest fares. The reason I’m interested in cheap flights and discount airfares is because I’m running my own business I’m the one paying, therefore I’m motivated to find the best deals. I often get my fares paid for to speak at events like the one I’m going to next week. Here’s the speakers list at The Global Knowledge Event which is being opened by The Prime Minister of Malaysia. But thats another chapter.

In a nutshell there are several things you can do to drastically cut your costs when traveling including the number one tip:

Use the Internet before you buy! The net has some great deals which only require you to use the right keywords to find unbelievable deals. These are sometimes direct from the airlines, sometimes from bucket shops and often from a discount broker or ticket consolidator. But remember the net is not always the cheapest way to travel cheaply. Here is a good place to start at ArtOfTravel.com

Other tricks I’ll cover in the ‘Travel Cheaply’ chapter of my book include:

- how to create the cheapest itinerary
- how to get a free upgrade to first or business class
- how to become an international air courier and fly free
- where to buy discount tickets (on the net, in person or over the telephone)
- information the airlines are hiding from you
- how to reroute your ticket in the easiest and cheapest way
- which countries and airlines offer the cheapest fares
- choose from a dozen air-passes world wide - thousands of miles for spare change
- obtaining refunds easily
- take excess baggage without paying for it
- how to get you confirmed from a waiting list
- how to profit most from the frequent flyer programs

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