Register for the AFCP Conference and Book Your Airfare Today!

by Craig McMullin

Booking an airfare can be easy or complicated depending on your willingness to shop around. But, if you're willing to invest a little time, you can SAVE BIG!

I'm amazed how many times a member calls me to complain about the airfares to the annual AFCP Conference. Myrtle Beach has been no different.

They'll tell me how the best fare they've found is $864 round trip and while we talking, I'll pop up Expedia, Orbitz and Travelocity and find the same itinerary for $329. I ask them where they were looking for that airfare and they'll tell me that they called their local travel agent and that what's she quoted him. Or, they'll say they haven't actually looked, but one of their employees told them that was the best they could find.

I tell them where I found the fare and off they go to SAVE BIG!

Now, I'm all for supporting your local travel agent (if these businesses even exist anymore), but make sure you know how much your "loyalty" is costing you. None of us would care about paying a handling fee for processing the ticket, but hundreds of dollars? That's excessive.

I found Airfare Watchdog, which will automatically watch a given planned trip, like to Myrtle Beach on Wednesday, April 22 and back home on Sunday, April 26. They'll notify you when they find good fares. It's no guarantee, but worth the time to register and see what they can do (www.airfarewatchdog.com).

The other site I've used is Booking Buddy, which automatically checks most of the major online sites to see who has the best fare. It saves time. Just go to Booking Buddy (www.bookingbuddy.com) and open a free account. Then, enter your trip and let it check the other sites.

Often, I use these sites to find the best fare and then go the airlines own website to actually book the flight. I fly in and out of Denver a lot, so I fly United a lot. I find the best fare on Expedia, which is nearly always United as they control 70% of the flights in and out of Denver. Rather than pay the $7 handling fee Expedia charges, I go to united.com and book the same flight there to save the handling fee. And, they give me an extra 1,000 miles for using their site.

Keep an eye out for low-cost flights to this year's conference. They are out there, if you're willing to spend a little time and effort to find them.

Also, check some of the regional airlines that fly into Myrtle Beach. They often have great fares. Look at the list on our website at http://www.afcp.org/events/travel.php.