One of the reasons travel agents earn their money is because the world of airline fares is so confusing. You almost need an interpreter to make sure you are getting the best fares. With the internet, you can be your own agent, you just have to be willing to spend some time doing research. But sometimes that extra time spent, combined with thinking outside the box, can net you some serious savings.

For instance, you may want to fly to South America from the Pacific Northwest. If you fly from Portland to Lima Peru, you can find a low advance fare of $810. If you fly from LAX to Lima, you can get a fare of $718. That is not enough of a difference to make it worth booking a $98 R/T fare with Southwest. BUT, suppose that low fare from Portland is no longer available. The next lowest fare I found on my research was $1001 or $1028. Most people would just book that instead. But if the low airfare from LAX was still available, you could easily fly round trip from Portland to LAX on Southwest for $100-$130, thus saving close to $200.

An even better example is this: To go from Las Vegas to Montevideo Uruguay within 30 days shows available minimum fares of $1951 on several carriers. But to leave from LAX, it is only $1481. Do you think you can get to LA from Las Vegas for less than $470 round trip? I do, either on Jet Blue or Southwest. And try San Diego to Montevideo – it costs $1908 but for the same dates out of LAX, it is that same $1481. I imagine I could pay a friend $40 to DRIVE me to LA and still save almost $400.

So the next time you see a discount fare but then it suddenly disappears because that rate is already filled up, think about options from other major airports and weigh the cost of getting to that airport. You might discover the hassle of an extra flight and connection is going to save you over $800 for a pair of tickets. One more travel tip is to allow plenty of layover time so you don’t end up running from Terminal Two to Terminal Seven and missing your flight. Two to three hours should be sufficient time and allow for flight delays and other problems. And another piece of travel advice is to consider flight insurance to guarantee you won’t get trapped paying full fare for a next day ticket IF you missed your connection. Paying out $75 for insurance is nothing compared to the extra $1000 per seat you might be faced with in order not to lose the original $1500, which will be forfeited if you DON’T fly when and if they can re-book you!