Cheap Airfare Step 6: Get fare alerts

Fare alerts automatically send you an email when the airfare to your dream destination drops

Sign up for a fare alert and you'll get an automated heads-up email whenever the prices to your favorite destinations drop. It's really that simple—and, in the age of the Internet, really that easy to sign up for and implement. (Many now have apps for iPhone and other smartphones that will send you a message the instant the ticket price drops.)

All the deals fit to Tweet
Both the fare alert service Farecompare.com and the aggregator Fly.com are offering Twitter feeds of airfare deals leaving from your local airport(s)—great for pouncing on those empyreal sales and act-now bargain flights.So, if you're planning a trip to, say, Italy, research all the going airfares and package prices long before it's time to actually book them, then sign up for these alerts and sit back and wait to see if something better comes along while you bide your time.

Even better, many airlines and booking engines now have a lowest-price guarantee: if you book a fare but then find a lower one, they will refund you the difference—so read the fine print!

A few of the more popular fare alert services include: Airfarewatchdog.com, Farecompare.com, Bing.com/travel (incorporates the old FareCast.com), and Yapta.com.

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