How to Find Cheap Flights and Travel More
Finding cheap flights for domestic and international travel is so exciting! It takes time and effort but can save you hundreds (sometimes thousands) of dollars when you are booking for a family. The fluctuation in flight prices can be shocking. The following are strategies that I have used for booking flights for worldwide travel, and have saved LOTS of money! So, learn how to find cheap flights and be a worldwide traveler! This is all of my best information from years of experience, with lots of top travel tips (I saved one of the best travel tips for last- don’t miss it!)
Best way to find cheap flights
1) Use flight search websites
Google Flights
My favorite! Google Flights is the best way to search for cheap flights. On this website, you can put in several airports (click on the + to add) for your departure (aka “Where From?”) and arrival (aka “Where To?), along with specific dates. You will then see the lowest fare possibilities for all of the routes. Now, here is the really exciting part- You can put a country or continent in the Where To box. For example, SFO to Europe, with specific dates. The ingenious map option allows you to see the airfares to various cities! Now let’s say you know exactly where you want to go, but you are flexible on the dates. Another fantastic Google feature- put in the “to” and “from” cities, then click on the calendar. Now you can see the fares on any day of any month. I like to do this while looking at one-way fares.
Kayak
Kayak is easy to use and has a flexible dates option with plus or minus up to 3 days, flexible weekend, or a new flex month search. You also have the option to choose nearby airports for searches. I do NOT recommend following any links to outside websites or agencies (such as edreams) to book your airline tickets. Some will sneak in a commission and there may be more restrictions on changes to your reservation. It’s always best to find the low fare then try to book direct with the airline.
*Try changing your search country to the country in which you are visiting, on the bottom right of the screen, hit search, then go back to the bottom right of the screen and change the currency to USD. This may save you a significant amount of money!
Momondo
This website is very useful because it searches all of the major airlines as well as the budget airlines around the world. It has the option to check the box for nearby airports and shows the airfares for the month (although I haven’t found these to always be as low as what’s shown.)
ITA Matrix
This site enables you to search from and to multiple cities and see the lowest fares for a month. You cannot book travel here, so just go to the website of the airline with the lowest fare and book direct.
Best way to find cheap flights
2) Be flexible with your dates, times, and airports!
Leaving a day earlier or later can save a lot of money, as well as the time of day. Note that a flight that leaves at 12:00 midnight could be the lowest price, but will only come up if you have a flex date option selected, or search for the day after. Flying to a different airport and taking a connecting flight can save BIG money. Take Europe for example…When traveling to or starting your travels in a particular country, you don’t need to fly directly to the nearby airport. Find a cheap flight getting you into Europe, then do a separate search for flights connecting you to where you want to go. Check out the Ryan Air route map and the Easy Jet route map and connect the arrival city (which you may want to check out for a day or two) with your destination. *Note that these low-cost airlines sometimes fly out of the smaller airports which may not be the same airport in a city that you are flying into. So make sure you allow for enough connection time and figure out the transportation details and price before you book.
Best way to find cheap flights
3) Fly on the low-cost airlines
There are some great low-cost airlines that offer cheap flights. I recommend getting on some of their email lists so you are in the know when a great deal comes out. Make sure to read all of the details before you book, especially the baggage restrictions, as you can end up spending a lot more than that great price you found. Here is a list of some of the larger low-cost international airlines:
Southwest Airlines, Wow Air, Norwegian Air, Air Asia, Euro Wings, Condor and Level
To save money on checking a bag (*check the allowed size), see my Carry On Travel Packlist
Best way to find cheap flights
4) Search for seats for one person
Don’t search for your whole family. When it comes time to book you can increase by one at a time to see if the price increases, then book on separate reservations. I have booked tickets on two different computers simultaneously, just to ensure I would get the lowest rate for all 5 seats!
Best way to find cheap flights
5) Search for one-way tickets and fly into one city and out of another, also called an “open jaw”
Booking one-way tickets can save you lots of money and give you the flexibility to not have to go back to a city that you have already visited. You can use any of the tips above, as well as fly on points one-way. For example, we have summer plans to fly to Europe for 25k points through Flying Blue. For the flight home, WOW has a deal for only $170 from a few European cities into San Francisco! Norweigan Air has some nonstop flights in the 300’s. I will be looking at low-cost airlines to fly into each of those cities, then compare the cost vs. using points, as well as the time it will take, for our return trip home.
*You may find that it costs less to book a ticket with a layover all the way through to another city, and the layover city is the one you actually want to go to. Or you may find a flight with a connection that costs a lot less, but you don’t want to take the connection. For example, I recently booked Lihue, Kauai to San Francisco with a connection to San Diego for $340 per person (Thanks, Scott! See #8!) x 5 passengers. The same exact United flight from Lihue to San Francisco, (if booked with San Francisco as the final destination) was $1280. I booked all the way to San Diego, but San Francisco will be our stopping point (with our carry on bags) and we won’t take the connecting flight to San Diego. That is a $940 per passenger savings, for a total of $4700 in savings! Wow! If you do this, know that the airlines don’t like it and it may come with risks. If you have another flight on the same reservation, it may be canceled if you miss a leg of your flight. So, it works best for missing the last leg of your reservation or on a one-way reservation. Make sure to take a CARRY ON BAG only (read the airline’s size limits and restrictions carefully!)
*Update: I received an email from United Airlines, 2 months prior to the flight departure, stating that our routing had been changed to go from Lihue to LAX, then to San Diego. I immediately called and told them that I had to be on the first flight segment (Lihue to SFO) that I paid for. I was changed back to that flight, but they added 2 more flights for the final destination to be San Diego (via Houston.) I offered to take the 1st segment only, but they said I would have to pay the fare difference ($940 each!) I was then informed that, and get this, I can call United after landing in San Francisco, tell them that we will not be leaving SFO, and THEY WILL GIVE ME FLIGHT CREDITS FOR THOSE 2 SEGMENTS! That’s right, we will now be receiving United Airlines credits (free travel money), for 2 flights, that we didn’t want to begin with! I can’t wait to see what the value is!
*Update: Total flight credit given was $1465.! Which would mean that I only spent $235 for 5 tickets to fly home from Kauai to San Francisco, except, one of the two bathrooms was broken on the airplane, and I filled out the UA Customer Survey. They gave us $500 in United credits, which means that I made money on this flight!!!
Best way to find cheap flights
6) Fly on Points
I love points! My favorite credit card for travel is the Chase Sapphire Card (either the Preferred or Reserve.) For every dollar spent, you get 1, 2, or 3 points in an Ultimate Rewards account which can be transferred to various airlines (or hotels) for almost free travel (you pay the tax.) You can book flights on any of the airlines or their partner airlines. You can also book travel on any flight, anytime, directly through Chase Ultimate Rewards. Sometimes it works out best to book a one-way ticket on points (your departure or return) and pay for a one-way ticket.
Best way to find cheap flights
7) Check the airfares every day
This is so you are familiar with the prices and know when a good deal comes up. The best prices can be found any day of the week and anywhere from 6 months out to only 6 weeks out from your departure. When you see a great price, buy your tickets!
*Some airlines will allow you to do a FREE hold on a reservation for 24 hours or more. Just choose “Other” payments options and select pay cash at an airline ticket office or at the airport. This will allow you to hold a reservation (they will email you a confirmation number) while you continue looking for a lower fare. To ticket your reservation, you may need to call the reservation phone number.
Best way to find cheap flights
8) Sign up for Scott’s Cheap Flights
Scott is brilliant! He and his team search for cheap flights, (including airline mistake fares), all day, every day. When they find great deals, you get an email informing you how to search and book for these flights. You will see extremely low fares! I recommend the paid subscription so you get all the deals first. I also recommend signing up for emails, because I regularly find crazy low airfares that I would love to share! Sign up here
Other important things to know:
*U.S. federal regulation requires that airlines allow you to change or cancel your itinerary within 24 hours of booking without any penalty (for tickets booked from within the United States.) Read more here
*If your flight times change, there may be an opportunity for you to make FREE changes to your reservation. For tickets booked on miles, the airline CAN open up seats for you on another flight that doesn’t show any saver miles seats available.
*You can hold International miles seats for 3 days on some airlines. Confirm the time zone that the end time is in.
Top Travel Tip!
*Some airlines allow you to choose the payment option of “cash” at the airport or airline ticket office. If you choose this option, some will confirm your reservation and give you up to 3 days to ticket (while you watch the fares to see if they drop.) You can then go back into your reservation and pay with a credit card!
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