Travel has changed and fierce competition among airline carriers has ensured that the savvy customer benefits. Unlike earlier tickets on a flight are not sold at a fixed rate. Most airlines have an elaborate grading system in place. For example:

• In Y class the airline may choose to sell say 10 of tickets at USD 100 each.

• In X class they may allocate 50 seats at USD 110.

• In S class they may want to sell 75 seats at USD150 each.

• In C class the airline may choose to sell say 5 tickets at USD 300.

So at any given time when you try and buy tickets you would come up with different rates depending on the number of tickets you wish to buy. As a traveler you need to log on to websites that sell discounted or cheap airline tickets at different times of the day or night and check whether you strike gold.

Here are a few tips that may help you get the cheapest airline tickets:

1. Get familiar with the workings of major plane ticket search engines and web directories. Examples are Expedia, Hotwire, and 1888airlinetickets.com . Most tend to release new discount tickets quotas on Wednesdays. So the best time to buy the cheapest tickets would be Wednesday night from midnight to around 5 am.

2. If you are planning a trip for the whole family then aim for off season travel. Ticket prices are lowest just before and after major holidays and in fall. According to experts the best time slots would be say mid-January to end February, April through May, and mid-September to mid-December.

3. Try not to buy tickets last minute the prices are the highest from 14 days before departure date. So either book around 21 days in advance or take a chance that a plane may be empty and book just before departure. Many airlines give away unsold tickets at bargain prices around half hour before departure.

4. In case you just have to travel during holidays. Choose the day itself and not the day before. Experts have found that planes go empty on Xmas, Easter, and Thanksgiving days while they are chock-a-block the day before and after.

5. To get the most benefits you must comparison shop. Log on to several travel sites and compare prices for the sector you want to fly on.

The airlines and travel websites offer greater discounts for tickets booked online because it saves them overhead costs. One-way tickets are more expensive than two way so, book a round trip and reap the many benefits. Similarly tickets are much cheaper mid-week than weekends.

Try and collect loyalty reward points by flying the same airline each time. That way you will benefit more and you can also choose to club credit card reward points with flying miles. If you are traveling constantly then sign up for email notifications of discounts, promotions, and change in prices.

Traveling by plane now has so many aspects that a traveler needs to keep abreast with changes in the system and new innovations. The World Wide Web has changed air travel by offering so many conveniences online.