Cheap Flights To New York? We Show You How!

Posted by Reshav Singh on August 28th, 2015

With approximately 40 million people visiting in the past 12 months obtaining cheap flights to New York may seem like a hurdle. Of Course, New York is an airline's market, not a customers, and the airlines can charge whatever they please.

Usually you would be correct, but in reality you should be able to find a lot more cheap flights to New York than you would believe possible.

The reason in a nutshell - competition.

Maybe seventy percent of the tourists travel from with the US either for family or business reasons. The others are world-wide visitors, who come for the same reasons. This means a large proportion of the major national and international flight operators from around the world fly to New York.

Also, like in any market, tough competition puts pressure on seat prices. And, the reality is...

You can frequently uncover many more cheap flights to New York city than to other destinations in the US.

Will this mean you can decide on a date and flick through the paper, call a flight operator or search online and immediately get cheap flights to NY straight away. Absolutely not. The airlines aim to make the most money as possible, and the optimum way to do so is to sell as many high priced seats as possible. Obviously, their business model is not based on giving away cheaper than advertised seats. They have to bring in the most money as possible to satisfy their bottom line, and their investors.

But, an extremely cut throat market such as NY will have greater price elasticity. The same as if there is too much availability of any commodity, prices fall; so too with airline tickets.

Understand the most potent weakness of any airline. If a plane takes off with an empty seat, that seat represents lost profit that can never be recaptured. Why? Airplane tickets are intangible. That seat on that exact flight can never be sold again, as that flight becomes a past event. The next flight has its own number of seats that need to be sold. Each flight is based on what percentage of seats are sold on that flight, and that flight alone.

Hence, Therefore an empty seat becomes a complete loss to the flight operator. Now isn't it better to recover 70% - 50% - even 30% of the original ticket price, than to lose the entire one hundred percent through an unsold seat.

Basically, what you have in your favor is the high competition of operators to New York, and the urgency for the operator to fill each seat.

Here are three ways you can use to take advantage of the airline's vulnerability in order to obtain cheap flights to New York.

Number 1: Go Off Peak

Clearly, the national holidays, such as Thanks giving through New Years, summer time etc, there is an enormous level of trips taken, and therefore the airlines have no reason to lower their price structure.

But even within those times - which is more than likely when you have to travel - there are flights that have a weakness that creates price elasticity.

Very late flights. In a word - flight times that are less convenient. You may get to the airport at times that are a pain, such as in the middle of the night, crack of dawn, late morning etc.

Most passengers book the flights that are convenient for them, and will do their utmost to avoid these flights. However the reality is these flights are often flights that work off of feeder flights, that is flights arriving from other locations. To make the schedule work, the airlines add in these off time flights.

When you phone an airline, or your travel agent, or go online always remember to look out for for these off hour times. It's a sneaky method to get big savings, when you travel during peak times.

Number 2: Be Sociable

The airlines have another vulnerability. Cost of advertising. Whatever they can do to lower the expense of getting their message heard is to their advantage. For that reason most airlines have turned to the social networks to get out their messages. Facebook,Twitter, and the other social sites are used by flight operators to promote their service, destinations - and their special prices.

Their aim is to get as large a following as possible signing up on their sites. They are aware price is always an important factor. So they will sometimes advertise a reduced price to a destination only through the internet.

A ticket price reflects traveling trends and analysis on the part of the airlines that sometimes travel agents aren't aware of. Things may be happening behind the scenes in the backrooms of the airlines that create a need to fill particular flights through low price promotions.

The only way you'll know about it is by checking into their social network sites. A few minutes a day a few times a week could end up saving you a bundle.

NUMBER 3: Become a Reader

It pays to sign up and read the airlines newsletters. eZines that drop in your inbox are another method airlines use to lower the advertising bill.

But eZines do much more. They create a relationship through the tone of the writing, the content given, and the special discounts being offered.

Through eZines the flight operators connect to you. They foster an affinity, that is crucial to them. Such an affinity can be a bulwark against their competition. In essence it's about obtaining a loyal customer.

Clearly, one of the enticements they offer is reduced prices. They will usually advertise discounted prices that are not promoted anywhere else - perhaps not even on the social networks.

So, it pays to sign up for their newsletters. You will definitely get a heads up on cheap flights to New York and elsewhere. And, you will often be offered special deals they made with local vendors that will save you even more.

With a little bit of work, and a little bit of patience, you will be able to find cheap flights to New York.