Air travel is the fastest mode of transportion, preferred by many highly mobile Pinoy Entrepreneurs whether for business trips or vacations, especcially with the long weekend holidays for 2009 and 2010. Despite the world economic crisis, Philippine domestic travel increased in the last quarter of 2009.

Airfare, however, may weigh down the expense sheet of the business. Here are some tips to minimize necessary travel expenses:

Book in advance. We’ve already said that, but we’re making sure you remember it. Low-fare airlines offer promos in variuos times of the year (but don’t expect generous promos during peak seasons, like Christmas). Promos booked in advance are much, much cheaper than tickets you buy a day or two before your flight. A P1 round-trip promo will easily become a P4,000-plus purchase, one way, if you buy the ticket one day before the planned departure.

Stick to your promo flight schedule. You’re ecstatic that you’ve availed of a good promo. Then, as the day of the travel wheels (or flies?) nearer, you decide, for whatever reason, to re-schedule. This is the time when you’re going to wish to have read the fine print. Many promo fares are non-refundable and non-transferable. Which means you might end up paying more at the airline counter. It happened to me once (well, before we started this travel agency). It could happen to you.

Take the first or last flight. Not all time slots are created equal. The first flight (which is usually before dawn) or the last flight (when half the world is already asleep) is usually cheaper than other flights. Of course, we can’t do anything if you hate to wake up early.

Take the Tuesday or Wednesday flight. Days furthest from the weekend are usually less expensive. Would you normally take a vacation in the middle of the week? Most probably you’ll say “No”. And that’s the reason why it’s less expensive.

Choose off season travel. Airlines and other carriers make a killing during peak season, including Christmas. Also, there are usually no promos during peak seasons. Worse, the sea of humanity makes the travel more, how shall I say it, challenging. So, to get away from all these, choose off-peak travel. In the Philippines, that’s June to mid-December.

If you have other tips to share, please use the comment section below. (Thanks to our friends at Jetscape Travel for allowing us to reprint the contents. If you want to share your original article, please let us know through email. You could also submit posts at the Group Blog.)