Cheap flights deals, checked before you pay

Most people judge a flight deal by the number in large type. Our booking desk judges it by what you end up paying on the day you fly. A $189 fare that charges $70 each way for a carry-on bag is not cheaper than a $239 fare that includes one. A nonstop that saves you a hotel night on a missed connection can be the real bargain even when it costs more upfront.

That is why every result on Airfinns shows the fare family (Basic, Main/Standard, Flexible), the cabin, the number of stops and the total for all travellers on the booking. When you open a fare, you see what it includes before you choose it.

The five kinds of deals we see most often

• Fare sales. Airlines periodically release a block of seats at lower fare levels for specific travel windows. They sell out or are withdrawn, often within days.
• Shoulder-season pricing. The weeks just before and after peak season — late April to May and September to October on many US routes — tend to price lower than school-holiday weeks.
• Alternate-airport fares. Flying into Newark instead of JFK, Oakland instead of SFO, or Fort Lauderdale instead of Miami can shift the price meaningfully.
• One-stop itineraries. A connection through a hub frequently costs less than a nonstop on the same day.
• Mixed one-ways. Two one-way tickets on different airlines can undercut a round trip on one carrier. We will tell you when that is the case — and when it makes changes harder.

Before a fare is confirmed — online or over the phone — our booking desk runs the same five checks. We call it the Fin Check, after the tail fin where every airline paints its own colors. It exists so a cheap fare does not turn into an expensive surprise.

Airline pricing is dynamic. Fares are filed in tiers, and as the cheaper tiers on a flight sell, the price you see moves up to the next one. That is why a fare you saw yesterday may be gone today, and why we never describe a fare as guaranteed until a ticket has actually been issued.

As a working rule our desk uses with customers: for US domestic trips, the strongest prices usually show up between one and three months out; for long-haul international trips, between two and six months out. Peak holiday dates (Thanksgiving week, late December, spring break) are the exception — the cheaper tiers on those dates tend to sell first, so earlier is safer.

These are patterns, not promises. If a fare on your search works for your budget and your dates, it is usually wiser to book it than to wait for a lower number that may not arrive.

Being an independent agency means we can tell you when the lowest number is the wrong choice. We will point it out when:

• The fare is Basic Economy and you have told us your dates may change.
• The connection is under the airline's comfortable minimum, or requires you to collect and re-check bags.
• Two separate one-way tickets would leave you unprotected if the first flight is delayed.
• A red-eye arrival would cost you an extra hotel night at the other end.
• Travel documents (a transit visa, for example) would be required for a connection country.

The total on Airfinns is made up of three parts, and the checkout page lists each one separately:

• Airline fare — set by the airline for that fare class.
• Taxes and carrier charges — government taxes, airport charges and any carrier-imposed surcharges.
• Airfinns service fee — $35 per traveller on online bookings, shown before payment. Agent-assisted bookings carry a service fee of $50–$250 per traveller, which our agent states on the call before any charge.

Optional extras (seats, bags bought later, travel insurance) are never pre-selected. Full detail is on our Service Fees & Taxes page.