Now that you have your visa in hand, it's time to start looking around for the best flight at the best cost. Keep in mind that there is not a magic wand that you can wave in getting the best flight for the best money. Some people will spend hours looking and or days and weeks and good flights and prices will pass them by as they think there is a better deal out there if they just wait.  Rule of thumb; the flight you choose is your choice and what you deem is important to you, will be your guiding light. There are so many factors to consider, time of day, time of week, airlines, accomadations for luggage, seat location and leg room may be all factors for one traveler but not for another. So, once size will NOT fit all.  Let's look at some of the options and places to look for purchasing your ticket.

 

Let's begin by understanding an often overlooked oportunity that maybe you never considered or knew this segment of ticket selling existed, and that is an airline consolidator. An airline consolidator is a wholesaler of airline tickets. Airlines use consolidators as a means to reach out to more niche target audiences and by offering discounts & fare flexibility that is relevant to the target group. Consolidators work through contracts with major carriers to sell at reduced prices. The main benefit being that fares through consolidators will be lower than published rates available from the airlines themselves. Airlines consolidators do not buy the seats in bulk for resale, they sell the available inventory at contracted rates. Airlines normally preset the selling rates for these fares for sale to sub agents and to end customers and thereby ensuring that the fares are not undercut.

 

We recommend that you visit asaptickets.com. They are a ticket consolidator and many times they can save you a lot of money. Use them to compare from other ticketing sites you have visited or will visit.

Ask for Sage (A nice guy to deal with & delightful): 
Travel Agent | International Travel Network
Direct Phone: 855-975-9223 | General Line: 800-677-2943 Ext #22776
Fax: 800-677-1449 | Email: sage.t@airconcierge.com
Customer Support Hotline: 800-750-2238

Through data combed by Kayak, they have found that if you book 5 months ahead and travel on a Wednesday you will find the best prices for travel to Asia. Of course you can't use that bit of information when you don't know when you are getting your visa, but just for thought.

Other sites to check for fares:

 

Google Flights

Kayak

Skyscanner

Seatguru

Himunk


These are the people who write the software for most major air carriers use for their reservation systems. ITA software.

I often use the ITA Software Matrix, which is one of the most useful tools to search for available flights and low fares. ITA Matrix is awesome, in that you can type in all kinds of commands like which airline you want to fly, certain dates, specific airports and whether you will change airports to get a better price.  After you click Search you will be taken to a calendar displaying the lowest fare departing each day. Clicking on a particular date will bring up the lowest prices departing on that date.
 
Unfortunately the ITA Matrix is only for finding airfares. You dont have the ability to book directly through this site. Write down the dates and flight numbers that work for you, and book directly through the airline site or online travel agency you prefer. I hope this helps.
 
For advance instructions in using ITA and the seven tips for booking cheaper flights go here for a great article.