Scoring a $1 flight is a great feeling. This guide has tips and tricks for finding cheap airfares along with a schedule of low and high season dates for each continent.

Airlines have an obligation to fill all the seats for their scheduled flights. Here are some ideas for finding seats cheap and things to be aware of when you book budget flights.

1. Watch for Sales and Book Early - Airline mailing lists (especially from budget airlines like ryanair, airasia, jetstar, southwest etc.) are a great way to be notified when a sale is about to happen.

When a sale does open, buy your tickets as quickly as possible because airlines will only release a limited number of seats per flight at the discounted price. Waiting one day could mean losing hundreds of dollars!

When booking multiple tickets at once (eg. for a group), it's a good idea to do an initial search based on a single passenger as sales will often only offer a single seat or two per flight. If the price increases with the number of passengers, you can then do two separate purchases and share the discount

So you buy one ticket at the Promo Fare ($109) and 2 at the Economy Fare ($300) and share the cost:

2. Be flexible, midweek and low season saves money - The key to cheap flights is flexibility. If you are able to book weekday flights (as opposed to Friday - Monday which are generally more expensive), and off-peak times (midday, late evening or early morning) then you will save money.

If you are planning an international trip, flexibility on dates and locations will make an enormous difference. It can be hard to predict foreign national holidays and other events which may impact a flights price. The low season guide (pictured to right) will give you some general ideas on when to go. In general, shoulder seasons give the best combination of reasonable weather and value for money.

3. Find the Cheapest Route - The number one way to find a cheap route is by researching your departure point or destination at: www.whichbudget.com

whichbudget.com lists all the budget airline routes from one destination to another.

Cheap flights invariably leave from big airports like London Heathrow (LHR) and Los Angeles Exchange (LAX). This is because a lot of budget carriers (eg. Ryan Air - London, Air Asia - Singapore/Kuala Lumpur, Virgin Atlantic - New York) have large hangars at these bases.

This means you can save a lot of money by flying less direct through one of these centers.
eg. flying direct from New York to Athens ...

4. Look at Expedia, Kayak etc. but be careful! - Flight aggregators (like Expedia, Kayak and others listed to the right) will track visits so that when a particular flight or hotel is viewed a certain number of times, they can automatically raise the price before you book it!

The best way to use an aggregator is to check your dates once and then buy the flights on your next visit to the site - you can also look at disabling cookies on your web browser which will partially prevent them from tracking and fleecing you.

5. Make sure your dates are correct - Sounds simple but it's very important with budget airlines. Recently, some friends of mine booked flights on air asia and had to change the dates. It turned out that changing the dates was going to cost more then the tickets! As the tickets were purchased during a sale, they were also non-refundable

6. Free Upgrades - This can be tricky unless you have a friend who works for the airline. Generally, airlines will give preferential treatment to their 'good' customers so if you fly with one airline a lot and have a lot of frequent flyer miles, they are more likely to 'bump' you up to business class or give you extra leg room in the exit row.

If you can't talk your way into an upgrade at check-in and you have loads of frequent flyer points, ask the flight attendants about spare seats when you board.

Another trick that sometimes works is checking in for the flight really late and asking for an exit row - depending on the airlines policy, they might allocate you a spare one. Of course, if you stand 6 foot 10 inches tall, you might want to check in early and explain that you don't fit in a standard seat =]

7. Pick the Best Seats - Although some airlines are beginning to charge for exit row seats and creating a new 'Economy Plus' class they can charge for, if you have the chance to pick your seats, definitely have a look at:
www.seatguru.com
- it has some great tips on leg room, laptop power points recline angles and more!

OK, that's it for now. Good luck planning your perfect getaway!