How Can You Get A Cheap Airplane Ticket?

You may do an online price comparison among airlines flying to Nigeria as the very first step.

Sometimes you can get discount prices by booking your flight from a travel agent, but it's likely to get agents wanting you to take a tour package along with it.

 

I don't think airlines offer payment plans, but I know STA Travel do offer a low deposit scheme so you can book, but you still have to pay before you fly. No one will let you fly on credit, expect a using a credit card. You could buy on a credit cards and they pay it off each month. That would be the only way as Nigeria isn't a competitive route hub, the prices are never going to be low or have a low cost budget airline flying there.

 

I read something recently about how travel sites and airlines will change rates and increase them when they see that you're interested. They do this by using cookies and tracking your activity to their sites. The article recommended turning cookies off, using several different browsers, or surfing anonymously, and stated that they had tested these methods out, and found that the ticket prices that initially had increased dramatically after they visited the sites a couple of times, suddenly decreased again, once their activity and interest weren't being tracked by the sites.

 

There's a tactic that some people use, although I can't remember the name of it. Airlines hate when you do this, but you can save hundreds of dollars. Basically, you book a flight that has a layover in the city that you want to visit, and then you just stay in the city without continuing on the rest of the scheduled flight. Sometimes, airlines charge you less for going the entire distance with that layover than they would to simply fly to your chosen destination.

 

The best way to save money on airline tickets is to buy them months in advance. I've saved a lot from traveling just by buying tickets very early, sometimes even nearly a year earlier than my intended trip, and for doing that I've had to pay only a fraction of what it would have cost me originally. I only have done it for nearby places though so I don't have much to offer in terms of going far but this method has worked well for me so far.

 

I usually use SkyScanner and/or a travel agency. I like to compare whatever I've found with travel agency fares, just to be sure. I find that these days booking way in advance doesn't seem to make much of a difference. It did used to make a huge difference, but ever since the economic downturn, it appears to me that prices stay more or less the same all the through the year. I used to book months in advance. Maybe it depends on where you are and where you're going.

 

@Lushlala I've noticed that, as well. It seems that before they announce sales, the prices have climbed so much that sale prices are often about the same as normal ones. I haven't flown recently, but I would definitely surf anonymously if I were searching for fares, and I've also heard of the tactic that @troutski mentioned, and have heard it can work. Years ago, I used to fly 'red eye' flights that would leave around midnight, or 3 a.m., and got some amazing deals, but I believe those savings have disappeared.

 

Yea, I too used to used some of those "tricks" @DianeLane. But I think everyone's getting a little greedy, to be honest. I remember not that long ago I could get a return ticket from Manchester (UK) -Gaborone, Botswana for £350. The last time I bought a ticket for that route it was just over £1 000 per person! -and that was the cheapest. There also used to be a difference between one-way and return tickets, but these days there's not much of a difference!