Tips to Always Find Cheap Flights

I am aware that you already know this. For most trips, airfare is the most big-budget part of the journey. I can only imagine it when you are traveling on a budget. After traveling several times and with a deep-down searching, here are the useful tips to help bring down the costs of your trip by searching for cheaper airfares. Here are some key tips that will save you from frustration, spending so much time, and mainly money when booking your next flight for your next destinations. So, today let us talk about the tips to always find cheap flights.

Whether you’re a budget group traveler, a family, or, a solo traveler looking for a vacation, finding an inexpensive flight deal will be what makes your expedition on the go.

Ultimate Guide to Finding Cheap Flights

Sometimes, if not most of the time, if your flight is too expensive, you are likely going to cancel your trip. I have been there. Not once, but several times. That is how I came up with the tips to always find cheap flights or airfares.

Look, I am not being paid by any company to write this, These are full honest tips for you to get cheap flights. I am not saying that after this, you will find the cheapest airfare. If that is what you think, then you are definitely wrong. Always remember that no one is smarter than the internet nowadays.

So, today, I am going to enlighten you on finding a cheap flight for your next trip. I have been practicing these trips and tips and so far, they are very effective. If you follow these guides too, you’ll never be the person on a plane who paid the most for their travel tickets! Okay, let the search begin!

1. Trust yourself

You read it right. I am not here to motivate you about life. So, wait let me explain. Okay, there are plenty of rumors and myths out there. Don’t just believe them. Think and be smart. A lot of people would advise you on several tricks and you might be conveyed as they are famous and they work in a reputed company. But wait, have you verified those pieces of information? You have probably come across already a lot of them on your search to find the best air flight deals!

Verify every information! Most airline companies hire irresponsible bloggers or vloggers who reuse obsolete and outdated information and myths. Of course, they will write misleading information and feature the airline and search engine as they are being paid. To reveal, here are some of the lies on the internet when finding cheap flights:

• It is not true that searching incognito guides to cheaper flight deals.
• It is not true that it is cheaper to buy air tickets on Tuesdays or any other specific day for that matter.
• There is no exact date or a specific period in which to buy a plane ticket.

Airlines use advanced technology. Like many other search engines, airline booking websites use pricing algorithms to determine the prices. They run their sales based on the passengers’ demand, time of the year, major events and festivals, weather, time of day, fuel prices, competitor prices, and many more. It is not always Halloween, so, those so-called “tricks” are not working anymore. Do trust me, I know what I am doing and talking about here. I am a hotelier and that should say everything.

This tip is just the very basic to always find a cheap flight that every traveler must know and do. Don’t just believe what other people are saying. we are in the world of modern technology. Your tricks will not work. Anyone who is telling you differently doesn’t always know what he is talking about!

2. Be Flexible with Your Trip Schedule

Airfare prices change greatly depending on the time of the year, day of the week, and upcoming holidays seasons. For example, Christmas, New Year’s Eve, Valentine’s, Thanksgiving, and some other red calendared major holidays. If you are traveling to Europe, August is an expensive month. Why? Simply because It is the month where warm and school holiday meets together. Most schools do not operate during August in Europe. People take advantage of this month to travel.

It is common sense, if you are heading to fly when everyone is flying, then your ticket is going to cost more than usual. As I have said earlier, airline search engines know the number of people reserving and flying.

Be flexible with your dates if you want to save more on your trip. If you are planning to visit Geneva, go to Geneva during autumn or spring when fewer people going and airfares are a lot cheaper.

So, if you already know where to go and you are flexible with your dates and times, here is how to get the best airfare deal:

Step 1. Go to skyscanner.com using your web browser or you can download the Skyscanner application using your smartphone.

Step 2. Put your departure and landing destinations.

Step 3. Just select one way or two ways (no big difference).

Step 4. Click on the “depart” box and do not enter the specific date, then select “Whole month”, and then “Cheapest month”. After that, click on “Search Flights”. Through this, you will be able to see easily the cheapest date for the time being.

If you are flexible with your destination, then you may set freely your date and time. Most people travel on the weekends and airlines know when to raise their rates. Avoid the days when business travelers fly, Mondays and Fridays are expensive. Also, prices are cheaper if you fly after a major event or holiday because there are fewer people who want to travel then. And of course, fly in early-morning or late-night. Why? Who wants to wake up early so early?!

Airline search engines are being controlled by humans. They are not stupid. They are aware of holidays, events, major happenings, sports events, and school seasons. The solution to your problem is traveling during the off-season.

To add up, it is almost cheaper to fly during the middle of the week than the weekend. Be flexible with your travel dates and time and you will be shocked how much money you will save.

3. Be Flexible with Your Landing Destinations

Sometimes we have to give up the when for where and vice versa. It’s best to have both. However, if you are really on a budget trip and want to save money and get a cheap flight for your holiday, you at least need to adjust and be flexible and give up on one or the other.

Just like being flexible with your travel dates and time, being flexible with your destination is another option to save money. If you are planning to visit Rome and your budget is for domestic only, then don’t be so arrogant to travel to Rome without any concrete plan. You don’t want to end up starving in the middle of the trip. So, choose your destination very carefully. Let the flight search engine suggest your landing destination according to your budget and the best available dates and times.

To get the right destination for you, you may want to use google flights engine. Here is how:

Step 1: Visit the Google Flights and click any part on the map:

Step 2: Next, type in your date preferred and your departure city. You will see different options on the map with their corresponding basic prices. If ever you haven’t decided on any specific destination or dates yet, you may want to try searching through the “Flexible dates” feature. Just click on the box where the red arrow is pointing as shown below.

If you prefer using other search engines that have the same feature, you may do so. The point here is, you are being flexible with your destination.

Always remember that there is always a good deal on some destinations. If you are flexible about where do you want to land and visit, you will always get a good bargain and save a lot of money in the making.

Sometimes, if not, most of the time, if we are out of budget we find some other alternative routes. If you are really decided to go to a certain place, then earn it. Otherwise, if you are flexible with your destination, you will save up a ton of money for finding amazing cheap airfares!

4. Cut your Flight and Don’t Always Fly Direct

Another way to get a cheap flight is by cutting your trip. Being flexible with the route you take is another way to get cheap airfare and save money. For example, sometimes it’s cheaper to fly to Dubai and cut the trip and take another airline to go to Dubai. Flying directly to Dubai from your departure city may cost you a fortune. For an example, see the images generated below.

If you are willing to sacrifice a little bit of your time, it is better to cut your flight sometimes. Most especially if you are not rushing. To do this, find out how much is the direct flight from your departure city to your landing destination. After that, go to a flight search engine (google flights for an example) and look for the prices to nearby airports.

You can also do this when you are leaving your landing destination. It can be cheaper to fly out from a nearby airport. If you happen to book several segments, make sure to give two hours between connections. Make sure to have space in case of delays. Always remember that your second flight won’t wait for you.

This way of saving money requires you more work since you have to figure out lots of different routes, airlines, and destinations. Make some extra effort and guaranteed that you will save hundreds of euros. I know it is time-consuming, but always remember that patience is a virtue. Cut your flight and look for the best airfare deal.

5. Mix and Match Airlines

Booking directly means limiting your options. You will be flying only with that airline or any other airline it has. Therefore, you limit your options, good itinerary, and/or saving the most money.

There are perks and benefits of booking directly to a single airline. However, we are talking about saving and looking for a better and cheaper airfare deal here. So, forget about booking only on one airline for now. If you are looking for big savings, try booking your tickets on separate airlines. Let me give you an example. If you are flying from Geneva to Dubai, you may want to stop in Istanbul. It is very easy to book one leg in just one ticket, but it will not save you money.

So, book your Geneva to Istanbul flight as one ticket and then from Istanbul to Dubai as one ticket with another airline. I know it is more work on your end but trust me, the savings can be worth it.

Some of the websites like kiwi.com practice this. To ensure they get the cheapest rate, they price together the trips using the flights they can find around.

But to tell you, booking a whole itinerary with an individual airline’s website would be a little risky. For example, you are flying with Airfrance for your first flight and it was delayed. Your next airline, let’s say, Philippine Airlines won’t wait for you. If you miss your connecting flight, that’s it! Because those two airlines are not affiliated with each other.

6. Keep an Eye for Special Deals

Before anything else, make sure you are aware of what is going on. How? Just make sure you signed up for the airlines’ newsletters. No one wants to receive plenty of unnecessary emails. However, you can not just ignore an email that is informing you about a promotion. Joining the airlines’ newsletters will give you absolute access to the best deals they have. I know, they might send you the best itinerary that doesn’t fit your requirement, but keeping an eye is definitely a good way to ensure that you are being kept informed about great deals!

In addition, cheap flights usually are available for a limited time only. Hence, you can’t just sleep and not be informed. There are plenty of travel agencies out there who are waiting for these cheap flights promotions to come. So, you can’t afford to miss them. Join the airlines’ newsletters today and get the best airfare deal for your next trip.

7. Use Points and Miles

We love free! Who doesn’t like free? Well, if you want to travel now, sign up for a travel rewards card. The primary way avid travelers like me earn travel perks, free flights, and free hotel stays is through the Airline rewards programs. Get a chance to be upgraded for free. They also offer credits toward rideshares like Uber, access to beautiful airport lounges, access to free events, and many more.

If you forgot to sign up for the rewards program, there is nothing to worry about as some airlines give you the chance to retrieve those flight points.

Signing up for a rewards program is very easy. Moreover, it is free! You don’t need to spend extra money, just your time filling out the sign-up form. I, myself, have been upgraded and traveled for free because of the free points earned from my miles.

The more and farther you fly, the more miles you earn. But, of course, don’t fly just to earn miles and points. We are just finding a way to get cheaper airfare and for you to save more money.

Use Different Search Engines

All flight search engines are using a special algorithm to give you their best available flight and airfare. However, just be careful as search engines give you different flight options. To book a flight, I would recommend you to check on different search engines. You may use the following:

Skyscanner – the top choice
Momondo – a broad search engine that allows you to browse cheap flights
Kayak – a good tool to see flights and cars
Google flights – a nice tool to compare the prices of flights
Kiwi – it merges all airlines to generate routes that are cheaper than booking a ticket with just a single airline.
Booking.com – once you book your flights with them, you may have a 10% discount on any genius properties
HotelsCombined – a multi-search engine that provides good results too.
Trip.com – a good source of hotels and airfare deals.
Agoda – an online resource for hotels and flights everywhere.

Using different flight search engines gives you a higher chance to get a better airfare deal. I know it is confusing sometimes to check on the best deal by using different search engines, but this helps. Whenever I fly, I always make sure not just to rely on the airline booking website. I use different resources. I visit and check on the different flight search engines. And, I am encouraging you to do the same.

Conclusion

Be creative and flexible, those are the keys to getting cheaper flights. It may take some effort, but the great deals are out there waiting for you, only if you’re willing to look. To get started, just follow the above-mentioned essential tips. However, don’t waste your full-day hunting for cheaper airfare. Booking a flight should be simple. You should not be spending more than an hour just to book your next flight.

It is very essential to use the tips above if you want to always find and get cheap flights. You may not be using all of them. Use the best tips that suit your needs. Do that, and you’ll absolutely get great airfare!

Ready to fly again? Have you planned your next trip? Be sure to use these tips!

Read Next: Tips for Traveling with Pets, Things Forbidden in Airport. If you are looking for cheap hotels for your next trip, try the suggestions of HotelsCombined.

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