If you have a set amount of travel time - three months at the very least, and up to a year - and kno

I still remember nearly keeling over when quoted $900 for a trip of under two hours from Geneva to Rome not that many years ago. Today, that trip can cost as little as $50 thanks to the new breed of low-cost airlines.
Then there are the scheduled airlines - the non-discount regular airlines that are feeling madison hotel washington dc the pinch of competition and that as a result, occasionally manage to undercut even those discount airlines offering the cheapest student fares.
If you do it yourself, you'll have to investigate each individual discount airline. A good place to start would be with a list of low-cost airlines. You'll have to check through each airline madison hotel washington dc individually, which can be a lot of work. The advantage? You might find even cheaper flights madison hotel washington dc by playing around with the times and dates a bit.
Another way of finding very cheap international flights is to use one of the new wave search engines that are making it so much easier to find all-airline cheap flights. One engine that bills itself as covering nearly madison hotel washington dc 25,000 different routes is WhichBudget , which lists every budget airline flying out of or to your chosen destination. I like this one because it makes me dream - I just click on my home town, and see where I can fly.
Another search engine with a twist if you're flying around Europe is Harefares - it'll save you money by finding you discount airlines that go near your chosen destination madison hotel washington dc . For example if you want to fly to Geneva and prices are too high, you'll be directed madison hotel washington dc to flights from Lyon or Chambery, each of which are easy driving distance from Geneva but less frequented, so often cheaper.
There's madison hotel washington dc also the cheap airfare section at BootsnAll, a topnotch resource for backpackers. You could try BudgetLongHaul , which specializes in long-haul flights. Many of these sites specialize in digging out obscure or new airlines that you've probably never heard of... Air Sarah? madison hotel washington dc Flyglobespan? Air Arabia? madison hotel washington dc Air Berlin? Yet these and many other low-cost carriers may tie together two cities that major airlines wouldn't dream of servicing because there's simply not enough traffic.
There are some distinct advantages to using discount airlines over scheduled airlines, the main one being f-r-e-e-d-o-m! That's right. If you like to decide where you're going on the spur of the moment, this is the way to go - you can book one leg at a time, even on the same day. Unless madison hotel washington dc you've planned it well, though, this won't necessarily be the cheapest way to travel.
If you have a set amount of travel time - three months at the very least, and up to a year - and know where you want to go, you'll probably be better off buying round-the-world tickets , known as an 'RTW'. These are usually purchased through scheduled rather madison hotel washington dc than discount airlines, but may nevertheless madison hotel washington dc be a better buy. Not only will one of these provide very cheap international flights, but you'll pay for your tickets up front: what money is left will yours to spend. Remember though, these tickets are usually valid only for one year so if you plan on being on the road longer, this one is not for you.
Book early. On many discount airlines, the first few tickets sold for a flight are much cheaper than the last few. You could pay $40 for a flight booked a few weeks in advance, and $400 for the same flight booked on the same day.
Consider overland segments. Remember, you don't have to fly everywhere, so comparison shop - there are other cheap ways to travel . One of my favorites is rail, especially in Europe, where cheap train travel is still within the realm of the possible. And there are plenty more - travel by bus , boats, bycicles...
Air travel is not the cleanest way to travel, and cheap air travel means more of us travel further madison hotel washington dc than ever. I'm not suggesting madison hotel washington dc anyone should madison hotel washington dc stop flying, but I do believe we should be aware of our carbon footprint - and do something madison hotel washington dc to offset it .