Air travel bargains

The world of budget travel can be filled with excitement and appeal, and in our expensive world today traveling on a budget is becoming more necessary if you want to travel at all. It is important to keep costs low when traveling. And when it comes time for you to formulate a budget for travel, you should first prioritize by deciding what is most important to you and what you can cut back on.

If you’re looking for a low-cost vacation, here’s a tip: Check regions of the world where local competition makes air travel particularly inexpensive.

Tim Leffel, author of “The World’s Cheapest Destinations,” identifies Latin America, especially Central America, and Southeast Asia as the top two low-cost areas.

Spirit Airlines, for example, flies out of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to 14 destinations in Central and South America, often for less than $250 round trip. If you join the airline’s Fare Club for $39.95 a year, you’ll get offers for round-trip fares as low as $18, excluding taxes and fees. Little-known Copa Airlines flies from several U.S. cities to a number of South American countries through Panama City, a regional hub.

“It takes more homework,” Leffel said, “but it costs a whole lot less than flying on a major carrier directly to where you’re going.”