When and how should you buy, which search engines to use and what mistakes to avoid before issuing an air ticket. All the details and useful information in the note
By iProfessional
27/03/2023 – 08,00hs
Purchasing a plane ticket is usually the first step before start planning a trip. Only when one has the aerial ones, in general, does he begin to organize the terrestrial part. About buying tickets there are several legends or myths such as “a friend told me that it is cheaper to buy the ticket in Uruguay” (or whatever neighboring country it was).
There are some myths that they must be shot down or at least to understand what may have motivated them.
–In Argentina there are many distortionary taxes on air fares. But when that is said, it is not contemplating that the value on which taxes are applied is not a “real dollar.” When it is said that in Uruguay or Chile you can buy a cheaper ticket because you do not have all that tax burden, you do not put on the table in the comparison what that ticket costs in the “real” currency. Is it cheaper or not? That will depend on what each one finds and compares to see the final costs of each ticket, something that is not usually well clarified and only the opportunity to buy abroad is repeated.
It is true that in recent years it was cheaper to leave from Foz do Iguaçú or São Paulo, because good opportunities were obtained, even paying all Argentine taxes. To that we had to add the transfer to Puerto Iguazú and then the crossing, or see how to get to San Pablo. In many cases, the sum of these independent sections continued to undercut the costs in relation to a “normal” ticket. But always, always, you have to compare. There is no fixed and it can change.
–Do the values change according to the day or time where the ticket is purchased? Myth… what matters and makes a difference is the day of the week or the month of the year of the flight. The airlines’ algorithms also increase prices as a plane fills up, as well as when they detect many searches for a specific flight. So there yes: it is not convenient to always search and search for the same passage.
And then knowing that if you want to travel in July or January, it will not be easy to find cheap tickets. So if you want to fly in high season, it is best to search in advance.
–It is convenient to use metasearch engines to monitor flight values or find opportunities. There are some known as Google Flights or Tourism City among many others. But also be careful when a metasearch engine results in a site that is not in Argentina. Because sometimes you could order it as the best price, but without taking into account that it will be billed outside and then the credit card will add all the taxes and perceptions on the total expense. While an airline or agency that issues in Argentina will do so on the net rate without fees. Furthermore, the big risk of foreign sites is the impossibility of further contact in the event of a change. And don’t be confused by the fact that it shows it in pesos (Edreams, for example, in Spain or MyTrip from who knows where) because that value may be “orientative”, but in reality it is a trap and ends up costing more than issuing in Argentina in any known site or a trusted travel agency.
What to consider when buying a plane ticket
-There is nothing that is fixed like “Tuesdays at dawn are the best deals.” Many repeat that because nobody verifies it, but there is no reason for an airline to lower prices on a Tuesday morning as a gift to those who have insomnia.
Perhaps that myth was built with someone who couldn’t sleep and just found an offer, but we’ll never know if he wasn’t there a few hours before too.
-The best trick is always to compare, having flexibility, being able to have alternatives with different airlines and scales and having the credit card at hand. When you see the offer or the convenient price, you should not let it go. Then it may be late.
