How Travel Agencies Obtain Wholesale Flights

Hunting out the best airfare prices might seem a little daunting when you consider all of the options that are on offer to you.
How to compare all of the different options, comparing "apples to apples" so to speak can be quite mind boggling.
Some of the price determining factors you will be faced with when comparing the best air fare prices are:
Factors that effect your ability to acquire the lowest airline ticket prices
-Time of travel (season)
-Date of travel (season and event considerations)
-Day of the week you depart and return (choosing the day of the week can make hundreds of dollars of difference to your fare)
-Length of stay (airlines don't advertise what suits them as they want to pay full fares if possible)
-Where you stay (hotels and airlines have reward systems for each other - again this isn't common public knowledge)
-Seat disbursement & oversell (another airline term that you won't have heard of that determines whether you pay premium or discounted best airfare prices)
These are just a few of the considerations you'll be making when searching online or with your travel agent.
No matter whether you are booking online or with an agency there are a few critical points that can save you hundreds - even a thousand dollars in some cases on airfares and hotel deals.
Do's and dont's to save you hundreds on the best airfare prices:
Do:
-Travel over a weekend if you can, airlines like you to stay for weekends at a destination, especially a Saturday. When searching for online airfares, include a weekend in your dates, this can make a difference to airfare pricing.
-Use wholesale websites, there are a bunch of websites unknown to the general public where you can pick up the wholesale flights travel agencies bid on (airline employees know what these are but can't tell you)
-Be prepared to stay an extra night in an uncommon destination - deferring even for one extra stop off in a non so common city sometimes helps the airlines to fill seating gaps during peak periods. There are even tricks that mean you can get free airline paid accommodation in these destinations if you know how and who to ask.
-Book one way flights, sometimes this can save you a huge amount, if you think outside the box and try a different route made up of one way flights to your destination. It's a common assumption that it's cheaper to book one flight all that way to where you want to go but is can be cheaper to book different legs and include a Saturday (or other airline favored day) and save further on airfare prices.
Don't:
-Assume travelling a direct route is the cheapest. Some of the most interesting destinations are "off the map" and you can take massive advantage of the many nuances & gaps in the way airlines fill flights to get the very best airfare prices.
-Book any hotels until you know which airline you are booking with. Many times booking with a particular airline and stopping over means you can get free accommodation.
-Buy tickets without checking wholesale website fares. You can avoid paying agent (middle man) booking fees with no extra effort.
There are many ways you can bypass many of the consumer or retail on and offline methods airfare sellers use to promote what look like low prices. Many travel companies claim to be offering the best airfare prices, and this is true if you are comparing these with what every other retail paying traveller is paying.