How to find the cheapest flights
I’m going to give you the complete checklist for finding cheap flights, either it’s the cheapest airline ticket out there or the cheapest ticket by a certain airline. Finding cheap flights has many variables, but this is how you’ll get the cheapest flights for your next trip.
1: Use a search engine
I always start my search by using a search engine. A search engine will give you the best variety of prices from different airlines. It’ll scour the internet in seconds, to give you the best possible prices out there. You can use filters if you have any specific airlines you want to travel with or filter by travel time. You will always get the cheapest possible journey up first, but the travel time might be 30 hours due to long transfer times. Filters will hide the flights that doesn’t meet your criteria.
I personally prefer either Momondo or Skyscanner. There are several search engines out there, use whatever search engine you prefer and save time while hunting down the cheapest airline tickets. Before booking through an online travel agency, I always make sure to check the prices of the airline’s website. I do this because I want to make sure I get the best price out there, but my main reason is this: Booking a flight directly from the airline will give you more leverage in case of changes, cancellations or delays. I always try to book directly, but if it’s far more expensive, I just book through an online travel agency.
2: Be flexible with your travel date and time
Airline tickets vary depending on what time of year, day of the week and the time of the day. For instance, traveling for Christmas, New Year’s or peak summertime, is more expensive than other times of the year. Why? Simply because it’s when people have the time to travel. If you want cheap tickets, you need to fly when people generally aren’t flying.
When it comes to day of the week, it’s cheaper to fly on a weekday rather than on weekends, simply because more people fly on weekends rather than weekdays. For a weekend trip, you’ll get tickets at a lower price if you either fly out on a Thursday or back on a Monday.
Always make sure to check more than just one date, so you can map the prices for the period you want to travel.
3: Be flexible with your destination
It’s easy to come up with a place you want to go and just get your tickets. The is the most common way, but also the most expensive way. As I’ve just mentioned, it will save you money by being flexible on date and time, but it will also save you by being flexible on destination. There’s always a good deal somewhere!
Momondo and Skyscanner also has an option that helps you select a destination, based on price. With Momondo, after you’ve chosen your outbound city, you just click inside the box “To where?” and “Anywhere – See where you can go on your budget” will pop up as an alternative. Personally, I think this is the greatest way to compare destinations!
Skyscanner also has a function like Momondo, called “Everywhere”, but it results in a list, rather than a map over the entire world like Momondo.
4: Activate alerts on Momondo or Skyscanner
When you have entered the details for a trip in the search engine, you can active alerts for this specific destination for this specific time. You’ll receive an e-mail when the price drops, which means that you don’t have to check the prices all the time, you will be notified whenever the prices have dropped.
5: Check different forums for offers
There are several forums that roam the internet all the time, scouting for the lowest prices and the best deals. I would recommend paying a visit to one of these sites if you’re in the process of getting tickets. You will most likely find more good deals for business class and first-class tickets on these fora’s, but they will also announce low economy class tickets.
6: Choosing the cheapest airport for your destination
If there’s a specific place you want to go but the flights to this place is quite expensive, check other airports in the area. It may be cheaper to fly to another airport close by and for instance take the bus the remaining distance. Sometimes you might find an airport just across the border that is cheaper than the one you’ve been checking out. It might also be cheaper to do a transfer somewhere instead of flying directly to your destination. Keep in mind that if you choose to book with two different airlines and the first flight is delayed, resulting in missing your second flight, you need to buy a new ticket for your second flight. The airline for your second flight won’t give you a new ticket if you were late with a different airline.
7: Book early but not too early
Prices do vary, so you should know what a good deal is and book whenever you see that price. This means searching the web every now and then, to make sure you catch a good deal. As I mentioned earlier, prices do vary. If you look at flights 4 months before departure and the prices are good, don’t freak out when the prices are higher 3 months before departure. It still might be some awesome deals 2 months before departure. However, don’t wait ‘til the last minute to book! Those tickets are always expensive.
8: Cheap one-way tickets
If you just need a one-way ticket, it’s easy to just choose “one-way”. If you’ve ever done this, you’ve probably experienced that these tickets aren’t cheap. Whenever you’re in need of a one-way ticket, make sure to check the price for a return ticket as well. It varies, but I’ve experienced several times that it’s cheaper to book a return ticket even though I only needed a one-way.
9: Check if it’s cheaper to pay in local currency
Due to different strengths between currencies, it might be cheaper to book airline tickets in a weak currency. If it does work, you can save hundreds of dollars on the exact same flight, with the exact same airline.
10: Different outbound and return destination?
I’ve mentioned it several times already, airline tickets vary all the time. If you want the cheapest tickets, you have to make sure to check all the possibilities every time, because a method that gave you the cheapest tickets once, might not be the method that’s going to give you the cheapest tickets twice. If you’re in the need of a ticket that has different outbound and return destination, make sure to check both possibilities:
- Booking two one-way tickets
- Booking a multi-city ticket
Happy ticket hunting!
