• Air Travel
    Know how to avail senior citizen airfare discounts

    Senior citizens get certain benefits in life. Discounted senior airfares find a place in this bracket of special benefits. However, not all airlines offer tickets at a discounted price. Moreover, the airlines don’t advertise these offers. Airlines which offer seniors a discount, do so under some conditions. Like, you have to be eligible to buy a ticket at discounted rates.

    Keep in mind the following points before you apply under senior offers category:

    Some airlines consider 55 years and above as senior citizens. Others have a criterion set for 65 years and above.

    Airlines offer special destination discounts too. Check the list on the website of different airlines to know if your destination is among them.

    There are affinity groups which give you the benefit of high discounts on airfare. The scope of saving on your travel budget is ample. You can travel alone or with a spouse, who is also a member of the group.

    Local communities across the world offer low fares on domestic flights. Use the Internet to know where you can get free domestic flights too.

    Search through the Internet. Certain websites (third service providers) offer you a cancellation levy also. In other words, seniors can cancel flight tickets at no extra cost. However, it is applicable only sometimes.

    You’ll not get all relevant information from the website. Call up the customer care number every time. Inquire exactly about the destination you plan to visit.

    Terms And Conditions That Apply
    Discounted airfares sound exciting. However, don’t book a ticket a hurry and ignore facts that are important. Here is what you need to know:

    Some websites/third service provider/airlines offer non-refundable, non-transferrable, and non-assignable tickets.

    If you have a choice of cancellation, check the penalty charge. Also, see before booking if there is a provision for cancelling the ticket.

    Holidays and weekend travel may have a surcharge.

    The discounted airfares are usually for round-trip flights only.

    Lowest fares have a booking window of over 20 days.

    Seniors can buy discounted air tickets no matter who they are travelling with. Even if you travel in a group like with your children or grandchildren, you can apply for discounts.

    Sometimes, these offers include extra discounts. One such opportunity is extra discounts on domestic air travel cost.

    Senior citizens have discount offers on entrance fees to local tourist attractions. Make sure to avail all of these to save a lot on your travel costs. A list of senior friendly destinations is also mentioned on the web. Check them out!

  • Air Travel
    Finding a cheap round-trip flight for your vacation

    Going on a vacation is always so much fun. Who doesn’t like cheaper and economic rates for round trip-flights?

    Choosing an affordable round trip flight ticket is as important as choosing the right destination for your vacation. It is also pretty frustrating. Flight tickets sum up to the total expenditure of a vacation hence one must plan a budget accordingly. Though round trip flight tickets are hard to find it is not impossible to find a deal that suits your need. There are lots of hidden cheap round“trip flight deals that a person can find online.

    There is no mantra to find a cheap round-trip flight online. There are only the right sites and the right price. There is no particular time, date or day to book a ticket that would cost lesser. There is no book a ticket in incognito mode to get cheaper deals than the usual price.

    The price of a round-trip flight may vary on various occasions. Rates on a weekday might be a little lower than the rates on a weekend. On national holidays and festival seasons, the round-trip flights are generally expensive. Flexible dates of traveling might help in choosing the right deal.

    Be flexible when you choose destinations to find an affordable round-trip flight deal. Also be flexible in your routes to get a better deal of round-trip flight tickets.

    There is lots of competition in the market. So there are lots of options to choose from. Comparing all airline services of a route will help to book the round-trip flight tickets at a cheap rate.

    Check discounts and special offers that you can avail to get cheaper round-trip flights.

    All search engines are not similar. Search in various platforms to get the best of all deals.

    Finding out if there are any reward systems in a particular air service. Various air services providers’ offers travel reward credit cards, airline shopping platforms to credit points per ticket.

    Subscribing to newsletters might help in finding the low range limited round-trip flights.

    Always buy tickets for just one person. Many airline services show the high price when you book bulk tickets.

    No-foreign-transaction-fee card helps to book your round-trip air ticket with no extra surcharge.

    Booking the tickets well in time and not too early also helps you find a cheap round-trip flight.

    Remember there is no hidden mantra to crack the deals for the cheapest round-trip flight. Do not miss the right time to book the right flight to your dream destination.

  • Air Travel
    Discounted senior airfares

    The US government offers a number of discounts for servicemen and the disabled. However, many people don’t know is that there are a few airlines that offer discounts for senior citizens as well. This means that, if you’re above the age of 65 years, you can avail discounts on airfares. Let’s look at some of the airlines offering discounts on senior airfares.

    Airlines offering discounts to senior citizens
    United Airlines:
    This airline offers discounts on senior airfares for citizens aged 65 and above to selected places. You’ll get all the details while making the reservations. Make sure to book under “Senior Citizen,” to avail these discounts.
    American Airlines: American Airlines offers discounted senior fares on certain occasions. Discounts are available in some domestic markets for passengers who are 65 years of age or older. However, they don’t have discounted airfares for every flight, throughout the year.
    Alaska Airlines: They currently offer a 10% discount for select itineraries for passengers who are 60 years and above.
    Continental Airlines: It provides discounted senior airfares for passengers who are 65 years old and above for select itineraries. You can avail this discount while making a telephonic reservation. When booking online through their website, choose the “Seniors age 65 and older” category in the advanced search tab.
    Delta Airlines: They do offer a senior fare for citizens above 65 years of age. However, this offer isn’t available online through their website and you need to make the bookings by phone.
    Hawaiian Airlines: This airline offers a 10% discounted fare for certain flights for passengers who are 60 years and above. These fares are mainly available through their phone reservation system.
    Horizon Airlines: This airline offers a 10% discounted fare for select itineraries for passengers who are 60 years and above. This is an ongoing deal.
    Southwest Airlines: This airline has a number of discounts that are available for passengers who are 65 years and above.
    Allegiant Airlines: This airline doesn’t offer a senior discount on online reservations. To avail a discounted fare, you may have to buy a ticket at the airport itself.

    Airlines Not Offering Discounted Senior Fares
    JetBlue Airlines:
    JetBlue fares are already discounted for their customers and so they don’t offer any additional discounts or special fares for senior citizens.
    Virgin America: They used to offer discounted fares for their senior customers but they no longer do so.
    Spirit Airlines: This airline already offers airfare at a very discounted rate. There are no extra discounts for senior citizens.
    Sun Country Airlines: This airline doesn’t provide a discounted fare for senior citizens.

    Next time you book your flight, remember these discounts. You could get a great price for your next holiday!

  • Air Travel
    Best travel tips and advice for the international traveler

    Whether you love to backpack and see the entire world, or you take one international vacation with the entire family at least once a year, you are bound to encounter many challenges and scenarios that are a part and parcel of international travel. So here are some of the best tips and advice from the experts on how to do it right so that you can concentrate on the experiences rather than the administrative side of international travel.

    Effective planning: We cannot stress on this part enough. When we say planning, we do not merely mean that you need to check your passport and get the visa and tickets right. While most people will look for the best airline fares and good deals for accommodation and related things, there are very few people who understand the new country a little before getting there. Doing a little research well in advance can actually help you in avoiding some rude shocks later on. You can take to the forums and chat boards of various countries, travel websites and backpacker forums so that you can find out more about the stay, the people, the local culture and the things to do while you are on the go.

    Foreign exchange: One very crucial thing that will fuel your travel and all the related activities, is money. You will have to find out the rates from the bank and also the travel operator from whom you avail the trip. Find out the cheapest foreign exchange rate so that you can convert some into cash and get a prepaid card or debit card for the remaining expenses.

    Reach your destination early: If you want to avoid standing in line for hours to see the best tourist attractions or theme parks, you will need to start early. Getting up early and reaching a spot will ensure that you are at the start of the line, rather than getting stuck in winding queues for a long time. You can sleep in late over the weekend, but for your vacation in a new place, you should make the most of your 24 hours!

    Do it like a local: You should talk to locals and learn some local language so that you get the best experiences in the local style. Avoid eating at tourist-like places and restaurants so that you can get the best ingredients, and most authentic preparations and prices as well. Saunter down the lanes and find places where tourists do not usually go so that you can have a more authentic feel of the cuisine, the people and various other aspects of the place.

    Carry backups: From batteries to hard disks and extra memory cards for your camera and phone, ensure that you back up all your pictures and information even as you make way for those emergencies where you may lose a phone charger or hard drive. Take a back-up every other day to avoid any chaos or lost memories later!

  • Air Travel
    How to get cheap flight deals at the last minute

    Not every time we would be able to plan our vacation in advance. Often, we are left with no choice, but to make a last-minute travel plan. The most difficult part of a sudden vacation plan is booking a flight at a reasonable cost. Here are some important tips that will save you from the frustration and the extra money while booking your flight in such scenarios

    Search for flights in private browsing mode
    This may seem odd, but this is true that if you keep on searching the same route, flight prices will increase because they will want to persuade you to buy the tickets as soon as possible, anticipating a continuous surge in flight price. That is a part of their marketing strategy; don’t fall a prey to this gimmick. Always search for your last minute cheap flights incognito.

    Know the best flight search engines
    To book your flight at the last minute, you need to know some websites, which will show the perfect deals as per your needs. Here is a list of few popular and consistent flight search engines:

    • Skyscanner
    • Momondo
    • Google Flights
    • Cheapoair
    • TripAdvisor

    But no search engine always provides the perfect results. Hence, to make the best out of it, make time to search in most or all of them.

    Choose the best day for your flight
    Whenever you go to a particular website to book a flight, you will always be shown different rates that are applicable on different dates. Choose the date that will be appropriate for you, which also has a low price. In this way, you will get the best last minute airfare deals.

    Find the cheapest airport to land
    If there are more than one airports in and around your destination, then check the airfare for both of them. You never know, there may be a price difference between the tickets for each of the airports. In the case of a difference, obviously, choose the airport with cheaper airfare, provided you do not face any problem landing there.

    Check round-trip fares even if you don’t require them
    It may again sound crazy, but sometimes in the rarest of cases, a one-way ticket is much costlier than a round-trip ticket for the same journey. It is almost impossible to hear, but it really happens. And if you are lucky enough, you will find one such deal for yourself.

    Find the perfect discount voucher
    Some websites provide coupons before payment, which will give you an additional discount. You just need to find such websites. One such website famous for its discount coupons is Cheapoair. There are also websites that provide student discounts for travelers under 26 years. Staying aware is the key.

    Choose a longer layover
    People generally choose to avoid longer layovers. But they are the ones, which have cheaper flight rates. So choose such an option for a remarkable reduction in fare.

  • Air Travel
    Tips on how and where to find senior citizen flight deals

    Senior airfare discounts are hard to find these days. There are airlines that still offer flight deals for them. One of the most common offers that you may come across is the ˜10 percent off on full fare price of a flight’. The age eligibility ranges from 50-65. The 10 percent off deal may sound great at first, but it’s a fact that offers like these can become obsolete because of the ever-rising flight prices.

    If you’re not able to find a senior discount, there are still ways to find low-cost airfare:

    • You can subscribe to airline’s newsletters via their official website or subscribe to other travel booking websites to keep a track on various offers and deals for senior citizens.
    • If you are not getting the appropriate senior citizen flight deals, you can always preplan your trip. This way you can save a certain amount on your pre-bookings.
    • Be aware of hidden costs. There are airlines that charge extra for preferred seats and some even for meals. So if you are okay with not having in-flight meals, you can certainly save some dollars.
    • Senior fares might cost more than the airline’s on-line-only specials, but, there can be benefits to booking these discounted tickets as these tickets are often refundable if you cancel your flight.
    • Go thoroughly through the fine print of the terms and conditions before booking any such deals. Even better, get in touch with the airline authorities before going ahead with the booking.

    Here are some of the popular airlines that offer senior citizen air-fares:

    • American Airlines offers senior citizen fares for some domestic flights. The age eligibility is 65 years and above.
    • Delta airlines offer senior discounts on certain itineraries, but they aren’t available online.

    United Airlines: United offers senior citizen discounts in certain markets.

    Air France: Senior citizens of age 60 and above, flying with Air France can avail discounts on airfares. To avail the discounts, proof of age must be shown. The tickets can also be changed at no charge or even refunded in certain conditions.

    British Airways: Partnering with the AARP, British Airways offers discounts of up to $400 on certain flights exclusively for AARP members.

    Southwest Airlines offers discounted fares for citizens 65 or older and must be booked over the phone. You can also avail additional benefits as senior fares are fully refundable. You can get in touch with the airlines by visiting their official websites or contacting them through the phone to avail senior citizen deals.

  • Air Travel
    The science behind booking the cheapest airline tickets

    Airline tickets form a major chunk of any vacation plan, which would require us to spend less on the actual fun stuff that we plan. But if you manage to book your tickets really cheap, you can have the best vacation ever, all within your budget. All that is required is planning and some patience to dig through the numerous travel websites that offer deals to find the best rates.

    Planning is key: Start your planning by deciding on your destination. Once this is done, mark your calendar for the tentative period of your trip, but not the exact dates as ticket prices can vary between days. If you stay flexible and mix and match your travel date with a weekday, the prices could be comparatively lesser. In this case, even during the holiday season, with some little effort, you would be able to grab very cheap airline tickets.

    Check several websites for prices in different airlines using various permutations and combinations of your dates and timings to note the outcomes of the search engines. Search engines such Skyscanner and Trip Advisor are very user-friendly as these sites will also help you with a recommendation on your stay and things to do at your desired vacation spot, which would aid you to plan better.

    Check closely on the terms of all the available options. Sometimes booking a full-cost carrier might be cheaper when you consider all the extras you will end up paying for the food on board the plane, luggage and so on, which would be covered in the ticket of your full-cost airline by default. When you check for the fares, do not choose only round-trip options. Check one-way tickets as well since sometimes you might end up with a cheap flight ticket by choosing the right one-way tickets for the to and fro journey. Similarly, if you don’t mind the stopover, check for options that has a layover at some point, especially on a long-haul flight. This would be a godsend to stretch your legs and relax while awaiting the next flight.

    Stay on track with the latest updates: Join the mailing list of websites such as Airfarewatchdog, which sends you good travel deals. So, you can even plan a trip on a last minute basis, if you find cheap airline tickets and take an impromptu vacation. If you don’t mind visiting your coveted destination during the non-peak seasons, you might most likely get amazing deals on not just your flight, but also on the hotels and you can start ticking off your bucket list. But then again, if you wish to experience the holiday atmosphere of the peak period, with proper planning, by looking out for packages and deals, it is still possible to enjoy your vacation without burning away all your cash.

    So worry no more about travel expense. Start planning, keep an eye for the cheapest airline tickets and go on a much-awaited vacation!