[AlphaSigOU]

Ticket prices are really dependent on how far in advance you purchase -- at least 3 weeks in advance for the cheapest, non-refundable coach fare. In most cases, if you can't make the trip, you can use the funds from the unused trip to pay for the later trip, and pay the difference, if any. For most airlines, a change in itinerary on cheap fares can cost as much as $100.

Cheapest tickets are on the low-fare carriers such as Southwest, AirTran or JetBlue. Southwest flies out of Nashville (and it appears to be a major connecting point for them, even though they technically are a point-to-point airline - Southwest and JetBlue do not have a traditional 'hub and spoke' route system like the other majors.)

You could try Priceline.com or Hotwire.com, but it's a total crapshoot since you bid on what you want to pay for a ticket and hafta put down your payment information before you find out if the airline will honor that price.

Depending on where you are going, the major airlines have fare sales to certain destinations, especially if they have heavy competition.