Airport Avenger: Tips and Top Secrets for Airlines, Airfares, Fees, Security and Cancelations

It may not be a good idea to jump at the first cut-rate fare you see. Check the fine print, restrictions and fees.

Keep an eye on fares when you’re more than a couple of months away from a flight. Don’t wait too long, especially if you're flying from a smaller airport where fares are usually higher.

In that case, grab a good fare when you see it. In any case don't worry about getting the absolute lowest fare. Aim for a good deal that fits your budget.

• Airfares are relatively cheap. It may not seem like it, but fares on many popular routes haven’t gone up much in the past 15 or 20 years. When you take inflation into account, some are the same or even lower.

• They've stayed low because airlines have been so competitive with each other and flew lots of flights in and out of almost any airport they could find. That also explains in part why some of the big carriers--Delta, Continental, US Airways--went bankrupt for a while.

• Things changed in 2009 when the price of oil shot up to $147 a barrel and the cost of jet fuel took off. Airlines started charging for checked bags, food, reserved seats and other things that used to be included in the ticket price. In 2010 they made about $10 billion on fees.

• The airlines have cut back on the number of flights they offer, especially on less popular routes. This means they can fly fuller planes and make more money per passenger.

If the airline you want to fly on doesn’t immediately match a sale price you've seen from another airline, check back.

Airlines file their fares to reservation systems three times a day: late morning, early afternoon and early evening, eastern time. They also file some fare changes in the late afternoon on Saturday and Sunday.

Watch for quicky and last-minute sales on airline websites and on Twitter. Airlines have been doing more of these recently.

How quick is a quicky? United once announced a sale on Twitter for first-class seats from Chicago to a number of destinations around the country. Sure, you had to fly at odd hours and commit to a two-day or Saturday night stay, but the seats went for a fraction of full-fare: About $400 roundtrip versus over $2800. The seats were gone and the sale was over in two hours.

After JetBlue tweeted it's All You Can Jet pass for unlimited flights anywhere they fly, they were sold out in a couple of days.

So set alerts on airline websites and travel sites like Expedia for low fares to places you want to go to.

You can book your flight on an airline’s website or an online travel site like Orbitz, Travelocity or Expedia. Check them all to get the best selection of low-priced seats.

Bear in mind that Southwest does not list its fares on travel websites. You have to go to the airline's website for fares and booking.

If you plan to fly from a larger hub airport like New York or Atlanta, fares on some flights could fall before they start rising again a couple of weeks before a flight. There's more competition between airlines at bigger airports. If a flight isn't filling up, an airline could trim fares and run a last-minute sale to get more seats filled.

More tips and top secrets about airfares:

Flying Somewhere?

Weekend Airfare Wonders

Find Stealth Airfare Deals

Airlines and Airports on Twitter

Tracking Traffic