When you sat in front of your screen with a list of prices for flights to your chosen destination, you must have noticed that the prices vary. In some places, it may seem too high, while with others, it’s comparatively low. Most people don’t understand the basic economics that goes into flight pricing. You might as well just open your computer and look for the cheapest service, but is it actually the cheapest? Here are some ways which may help you get smarter the next time you need to take off:

Try this out. Go to an airline's website and look for flights in the USA. Note the prices and then, look again after a few minutes. You will see a substantial rise in the flight prices this time. The browser uses cookies to record your preferences and will show you a higher price than before. To solve this, try incognito! An incognito browser won't save cookies and you can have the best price for your flight for booking. You may also come back to look for another flight without having to worry about higher prices than before.

Plan early. How early? Well, you need to be months in advance. The airline has certain booking classes for selling flight tickets. So, for example, you may be flying in economy, but you will have paid more or less than your fellow travelers. The cheapest booking class is sold first and the most expensive one at the last, explaining why flights get so expensive when booked just before the date of departure. If you get early, you may get the cheapest booking class and yet fly in economy just like everyone else.

That should be the best tip you'll ever get. When you compare prices online, you'll be able to see the difference between the prices of various airlines. These websites are really helpful as they can give you the prices for direct as well as connecting flights, allowing you to choose between various options. The additional advantage with such software is that they won't show you increased prices when you look for the same flights repeatedly. Personally, I'd recommend Fareboom. What about you?

Flight prices tend to be higher during weekends. You should therefore, try to avoid flying out on Saturday and on Sundays. There are higher operational rates for airports during the weekends, thus airlines increase the prices for their planes departing during this time. Unless it's absolutely necessary, you should be smart and avoid them. Airlines also tend to denote the weekend schedule as a busy one - resulting in higher prices.

Most people use travel agents to get their flights done. You may think an agent gets you the cheapest deal, also, you get to skip the hassle. This may not always be the case. The agent, alongside getting you your tickets, will also take a processing fee for their services. You would be saving some precious amount of cash here - use it to buy a sandwich on board maybe? Doing the process on your own will also let you choose the airline you need and want - sometimes, airlines are known to offer a commission per ticket to the agent involved in booking it.

Flying can be a very good way of getting to your exotic holiday, business meeting or event in another city fast and with very little hassle. If you are flying or plan to do so in the near future, our list of tips for you could be useful. You may want to use them and get the upper hand when booking those tickets. So, without wait, log on and you'll soon be cleared for take-off!