As you all know, I embrace a relatively frugal lifestyle; however, if there’s one thing that I would never give up is my love for travel. There are some things that cannot be substituted and for me, it’s traveling.  Until somewhat recently (2014), there was one category that I found difficult to find large savings and that was in the price of plane tickets.

I started searching for ways to save our hard earned dollars. To help you save your money,, here are my top 5 ways to save money on plane tickets:

1.  Get in the know

There are many forums and email lists that let you know when there are error fares, mistake fares, and airline promotions. Subscribe to all of them, keep your cell phone close by and your email open.

2.  Make your own alerts

Several web pages allow you to make personalized alerts, if you are set on a specific flight and time, set an alert to inform you when prices drop. Disclaimer: you will most likely not get huge savings like this, but you will most likely keep some dollars in your pocket this way.

3   Move fast

It’s not unusual that when there’s a special fare for a popular destination, that the tickets can be sold out within an hour or two (if not sooner). Remember, most times these are error fares and are significantly cheaper than the regular price.

4. Be flexible

Frugal flying means that you will have to be flexible. Sometimes you will have to fly off-season, sometimes you won’t. Sometimes you will have to drive to the closest city or arrive at a less popular airport when reaching your final destination.

5. Know your airline’s rules and costs.

Most airlines allow you to cancel your ticket for a full refund within 24 hours of booking. HOWEVER, in the increasing world of no-frills airlines, there are a few things to keep in mind when deciding to capture that great price. Here’s the truth about no-frills airlines.