The ticket flight is one of the most expensive parts of a trip. Everyone has already stayed in front of their computer for hours trying to find the cheap flights.
But the good news is, with a little effort and know-how, you can find some amazing deals and save big on your airfare.
I’m about to share some of my top secrets for finding cheap flights. Gone are the days of overpaying for airfare, because with a little research and some smart planning, you’ll be flying high without breaking the bank. So buckle up and let’s get ready for take off on our journey to finding budget-friendly flights.
Are you ready? Let’s do this!
Book in advance
Timing always plays an important role, as the tickets generally become more expensive closer to the departure date. If you know your destination and you planned your trip in advance, I advise you to do not to wait until the last minute to book your tickets flights but also to not book too much in advance.
Based on the demand, the ticket flight prices fluctuate a lot. The best time to book your flights is between four months and three weeks before your departure date. It is the perfect period to find cheap flights.
It depends on your destination, if you plan to go to the other side of the globe I advise you to book between four and two months in advance as the prices are more expensive for far destinations. But if for instance you are in a European country and you want to travel in Europe you can buy your tickets three weeks before your departure date.
Use the best flight search engines
I always begin all my research with google flights, this engine allows to see the prices for several destinations. And even more, it shows you the best prices for each day of the month, so you can use it to find the best days to flight.
I also often use Skyscanner. This website provides instant online comparison for flights, it is one of the best website to find cheap flights. I always try to check other comparison websites such as Expedia or Kayak. However, Skyscanner and Google flights stay the best tools for me.
If you want to book your hotel with your flight, you can try to find good deals on Expedia (Flight + Hotel), before you check airline website, to see if it is better to book separately.
Even if you prefer a website over the other, I wisely advise you to combine all the search engines, to avoid missing any good offer.
Furthermore, if you find a flight, do not forget to check on the airline company website as they can have their own exclusive offers that are not visible on the search engines.
Be flexible with your dates
The flight prices fluctuate according to the demand. Some dates and hours are more popular than others, but also more expensive.
If you are looking for a flight, you will quickly notice that the prices are more expensive on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. As most people travel during the weekends.
Therefore, it recommended to travel during the week, as the probability to get a cheap flight is higher. Moreover, it is know that late night and early morning flights are cheaper, as people do not want to travel.
Book a night flight is a good way to save money on your tickets, not only because the prices are cheaper but also because you will avoid paying a hotel for the night you travel.
Even one day difference can enable you to save a lot of money.
The best technic to find the cheapest day to travel is to check get an overview of the price for a whole month, to see which days are the cheapest for your itinerary.
Google flights offer this option, you just have to click on the date to change it and a calendar per month will appear with the price of the cheapest flight for each day.
Be flexible with your destination (City)
Do not hesitate to check if the prices are cheaper in cities that are not far from your final destination.
For instance, let’s say you want to fly from Paris to Casablanca in Morocco, during the estival period but the tickets are too expensive. You can opt to fly from Paris to Rabat (1 hour from Casablanca) as the ticket will be twice cheaper. And you will need to spend a very little amount of money to join you final destination.
Moreover, you have to be flexible with the airports. Indeed, you can save a lot of money according on the airport you choose.
Use private navigation to search
Using hidden navigation to find a ticket flight is one of the keys to find a good deal. When you do research, the website records your behaviour.
You certainly already noticed that when you are attracted by a particular ticket flight, the price increases when you check back. Airline companies know that you are likely to buy this ticket, so they try make more benefits increasing their price.
To avoid that problem, you should use hidden navigation or you can also delete your search cookies.
How to do it :
- On your computer, open Chrome.
- At the top right, click More. New incognito window.
- A new window appears. At the top corner, check for the Incognito icon .
Take non-direct flights
Non-direct flights are often cheaper than direct flights.
To check if it worths to take a non-direct flights, I personally use Google flight. First, I select the option without transit, to first obtain the prices for direct flights. Afterwards, I select one transit maximum or with transit to see if a non-direct flight would make me save an important amount of money.
When you opt for a non direct flight, do not forget to check if you need a transit visa.
Create your own non-connecting flights
Do not hesitate to create your own non-connecting flight !
Non-direct flights are sometimes two to three times cheaper than direct flights. For instance is sometimes cheaper to flight to Bangkok and take another flight to join Puerto princessa in Philipines, than fly direct to Singapore from your departure city.
This is exactly what I have done when I went to my trip to Philipines, the ticket flight from London to Puerto Princessa was 800 Pounds (950$). So, I booked a ticket from London to Bangkok for 320 Pounds (384$). And then, another ticket from Bangkok to Puerto Princessa for 100 pound (120$).
I spent more time traveling but it allowed me to save 380 Pounds (446$), so it was really worth.
To use that technic, first you have to search the price of flights from your country to your final destination. And then, look at the flight prices to the countries arround, in the same continent. Finally, you can check the price between the country you want to transit in and your final destination and see if it worth in terms of saving.
Moreover, do not forget to verify if you need a visa for the transit country, and take in consideration the price of the visa.
Also, always make sure that there is at least 4 hours between the first and the second flight. In order to have the time to pick up your luggages, make registrations and reach the second flight.
You can also try to find cheaper flight from another city or airport in your country. For instance, when I was living in Paris, I often took flights from ”Beauvais Airport”, which is situated 2 hours from Paris to travel in Europe, as Ryanair often offer cheap flights from this airport. It costs only 14,5 Euros (15,3$) from Paris to ”Beauvais airport”.
Use student discounts
If you are a student or under 26 book your holidays through student travel agencies can be a good way to save money.
Student universe, is a world leader travel booking site for students. They are acccredited by IATA (the international association for travel agents) and a great rating from the BBB.
The company works with airlines to offer exclusive discount to students and people under 26. These discounts can be up to 30% off your flight.
Join a mailing list
Receive too many advertisement and newsletter can be boring and annoying. Nevertheless, it can be a good opportunity to get updates from the last minutes or special offers.
The cheap flights are usually available for no more than 48 hours on the internet. So, subscribe to a newsletter will allow to not miss a great deal.
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