You can book and ticket your air travel by talking to a live person at myTravelAgency.com's underlying agency, Courtyard Travel, Inc. - call us at (800)4-AGENCY (424-3629). We use the Apollo Computer Reservation System (CRS) and its low-fare search adjunct for air reservations and ticketing. In addition to air travel, we can book your car and hotel reservations as well. Payment for air travel may be made by credit card or money order, and by personal check subject to some time/location restrictions. We will search internet sites for comparative prices on your behalf, when appropriate. And, we use various consolidators (wholesalers) and chartered aircraft for certain foreign and domestic tickets.

Courtyard Travel, Inc. charges a $29. 00 fee for running or procuring air tickets for you, or for executing voids, refunds, or exchanges. If we reserve cars or hotels for you in conjunction with your air ticket, there is no charge.

TIPS TO GET THE LOWEST AIRFARES

1. Plan in Advance.
   Not only are there 3,7, 14, and 21 day advance purchase discounts, but availability of the inexpensive seats may disappear long before the advance purchase deadline. The operative word is fare basis - the "price basket". There may be 10 or more fare bases on a given flight, and, for example, 15% of the seats may be in the lowest price fare basis. When those are sold out, you will be forced into a higher price fare basis in spite of buying in advance of the discount deadline. This in turn leads to searching for alternate time/dates to get the lowest fare, and these different times or dates may not be convenient for you. So the message is - commit to your flights as early as possible. And try to avoid changing plans - exchanges are expensive!

2. Inquire Whether or Not a Saturday Night Stay is a Factor.
   Frequently, for domestic flights, the absence of a "Saturday night stay" can dramatically increase the cost of your ticket. For example, a flight originating on a Wednesday and returning on a Saturday may be hundreds of dollars higher than the same flight, but with a Sunday return. The Sunday return gives you the needed "Saturday night stay".

3. Avoid Friday and Sunday Travel.
   Fridays and Sundays are usually the heaviest travel days, and consequently the less expensive fare bases are harder to come by. Typically it is easier to find good fares on days other than Friday and Sunday. If you want to travel on those days, try to have fallback days such as Thursday or Monday which may save you a considerable amount.

4. Use Consolidators.
   Ask your travel agent to look for consolidator prices if the fares are higher than anticipated. Consolidators are wholesalers who have agreements with specific airlines for contracted prices, some of whom deal only with travel agents, and some of whom will deal with the public as well. There are consolidators who specialize in high value, near-term domestic tickets, and others who specialize in tickets to foreign destinations. Usually several days are required to execute tickets with a consolidator, so do not expect to order tickets on Monday and get them on Tuesday. Money and tickets must flow back and forth, and that requires time. And note that, generally speaking, consolidator tickets are more restrictive than tickets generated through our CRS system.

5. Consider Alternate Cities/Airports.
   For various marketing reasons, fares may be much lower to a city close to you destination, but not your exact city. For example, when clients request Boston, we routinely check out Providence which is nearby but frequently less expensive. And for trips to Washington D. C. , we check and offer the frequently lower fare into Baltimore. If you are flying in or out of a small city, low demand frequently leads to higher prices. We look at and offer the nearest large city in such a case, saving in some cases hundreds of dollars.

6. Senior Citizen and Youth Fares.
   If you are age 62 or older or have a child traveling with you, do not forget to ask for special senior or youth fares. Senior fares usually are 10% or more lower than the standard corresponding adult fare (but not always!) while youth fares are more usually offered on foreign airlines, with Southwest being the domestic exception.

The above factors are among the many routinely considered when myTravelAgency.com (Courtyard Travel, Inc.) researches a flight for you.