One of the most effective
ways to get a cheap last minute flight is to contact the
airlines directly. This is because each flight seller
will receive a commission on every flight sold. If you
are an affiliate then you will find that the airlines
will gladly pay you around $5.00 for every flight
booked. So you can be sure that the flight bucket shops
will be making more commission than this per flight.With this in mind you
need to contact the airline directly when you are
searching for a cheap last minute flight because they
are the only people in a position to make any profit out
of the sale. If you contact the brokers directly then
you will find that they may refuse to offer you any form
of discount because it will effect their profit margins.
If the commission level is too low they would rather you
book with someone else.
That being said, if you are
booking a cheap last minute flight then you may get the
deal if you make it as a package including a hotel stay
for example of maybe car hire. This means that the
broker or travel shop will make up the commission they
lost on giving you a good flight deal so they can reap
some profit from the hotel and car hire booking.
This is how the business
works and it is important that you understand the
concept. Once you know this you will always be in a
position to get cheaper flight and that illusive cheap
last minute flight because you are one very smart air
travel passenger.
So my advice is that when
you are looking for a great flight deal and you have
left it late to book then try contacting the airline
directly. You never know, they may be able to offer you
some real incentive to book the cheap last minute flight
so that you are both happy with the result.
