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If you’re heading off on a long trip and planning to fly at all, the ebook we review in this post might be a good investment. The Unconventional Guide to Discount Airfare by Chris Guillebeau looks at a variety of ways you can save money on airfares.

In general, we enjoyed the book, since it’s short and snappy and full of good ideas. We didn’t find everything useful, since it’s very US-centric, and some of the information about lounges and points schemes doesn’t really apply to the kind of travel we do. We also found that Chris didn’t mention some of the sites we use the most, like skyscanner.net, bahn.de and megabus.com.

Some of the things Chris talks about are:
- How to get airline lounge access

• How to get elite status on several major airlines
• How to hitch a ride on an airplane
• Alternative routes and free stopovers
• Surviving Euroshock in Europe
• Discount airlines in Europe, Asia, and North America
• Round-the-World and regional travel

We think the people who will most benefit from this book are:

• Americans who fly nationally or internationally.
• Anybody who flies to or in America a lot.
• People planning a gap year or multi-flight holiday.
• People planning more than one long-haul flight a year.
• Experienced travellers, who might find some new ideas.
• People who are just starting to travel and want a useful resource.

Get US$5 off the Unconventional Guide to Discount Airfare by using the coupon code indietravel until September 5th 12th. We think you’ll be able to save at least the price of the book by using the tips Chris outlines in his book.

Since Chris’s book is mostly centred on US travel, we thought we’d sum up some things we’ve learnt from travelling in Europe.

• 1. Be willing to shop around.
• 2. Use comparison sites to find what you need (e.g. skyscanner.net).
• 3. Book in advance.
• 4. Go point-to-point.
• 5. Be aware that airports aren’t necessarily near the city they’re named for (or even in the same country as the city they’re named for, in the case of Vienna (Bratislava).
• 6. Take your own food and drink, and be prepared to pay cash if you want to buy food on a plane.
• 7. Don’t take your own booze.
• 8. Pack as light as possible. Try to downsize to a carry-on if you don’t need a pocket knife or razors. We check one bag between us, which means we can keep our sharps and our excess booze in the hold.
• 9. Sleep at the airport to save transport costs for early flights.
• 10. If you miss a flight, try to minimise damage and know your rights.

Poll of the month:

Note: Chris has written an article for us touching on utilising frequent flyer points. Check out On your way to a free flight.

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This article was written by Craig and Linda

Craig and Linda Martin have been living on the road since February 2006. Both born and raised in Auckland, New Zealand they are ... somewhere in the world! Craig and Linda host the Indie Travel Podcast - you can get in touch with them here.