How to get Cheaper Flights!

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We all know how expensive airfare can be. Airfare is most likely going to be the most expensive part of your entire trip. If there was a way to cut down these costs your vacation would be significantly cheaper. You may even be able to travel more often!

I’m going to teach you how to get cheaper flights. Getting cheap flight deals is actually not that difficult. You can start applying ALL of these tips and start getting cheap flights right now.

This post should help guide you on your search for cheap flights. I’m confident if you use all of my tips, you’ll be able to save hundreds of dollars on your next vacation!

I keep repeating, just because we’re on a budget DOESN’T mean we don’t travel! Read more of my afford travel content to see how you can travel on budget! Additionally, check out my Travel Budget Spreadsheet!

Incognito Mode

Before you do ANYTHING, go into incognito mode! Just like any other website, airline companies use your search history to customize your user experience.

However, they say they don’t actually change flight prices based on your recent searches. Instead, they say, flight prices can vary depending on if you are logged in or doing a regular search. BUT, I don’t really believe this…. Just like google “isn’t” listening to us through our phones!

I personally think, the best practice, to get the better flight deals is always searching for cheap flights in incognito mode.

Related: How to Save Money for Trips
Related: How to Find CHEAP Lodging

Be Flexible

To get cheaper flights you need to be flexible. You have to either be flexible with your dates or be flexible with your destination. Don’t expect to have everything picked out and then find an amazing flight deal to go along with it.

The reason we are able to get such good deals is because of our flexibility. I’m going to provide some examples using Skyscanner. (More on how to use Skyscanner for cheap flights below!)

1. How to get cheaper flights with date flexibility.

Let’s say you don’t have exact dates for when you want to travel, but you know you want to go to Thailand.

You can go to Skyscanner.com, enter your departing airport and enter Bangkok. Then, instead of selecting a date, you click “whole month”. After clicking “whole month”, an option for “cheapest month” will be presented.

This opens up the month with the cheapest flight deals. From there you are able to select your dates based on the cheapest time to travel!

2. How to get cheaper flights with destination flexibility.

Same example, except instead of wanting to go to Thailand, let’s say you really want to travel in November.

From the Skyscanner homepage, enter your departing airport. Then, instead of selecting a location, you should see an option that reads “Can’t decide where?”

how to get cheaper flights with destination flexibility

If you click on this button and then click search flights, you will be presented with a list of possible options and prices. You will see both international and domestic flight options.

As you can see, Spain seems to have some cheap options! You can click the arrow to see more information about that flight deal. From there you can see there is a non-stop option into Barcelona for only $390!

Note: All of the examples used in this post I was able to find at the time of writing. I hadn’t previously been looking for a flight deal. If I could find random amazing deals that easily, I’m positive your search for cheap flights will go just as smoothly!

When to Book a Flight

According to Cheapair.com the best time to book your flight really depends on what season you intend to be traveling.

The chart below breaks out the average, best time to buy your plane ticket. Aka when you are most likely to get a cheaper option.

When are you traveling?	Days in advance you should book your flight.
Winter	94 Days
Spring	84 Days
Summer	99 Days
Fall	69 Days

In terms of the best day to purchase a flight, there is no difference between which days of the week you are purchasing.

Are flights cheap last minute?

Buying a last minute flight is a dangerous game. If you buy two to three weeks in advance, you might be able to find a deal but your options will be limited and your stress level will be high.

Additionally, if you’re trying to buy within two weeks, your chances of getting a cheap flight deal are pretty slim and you’ll probably end up with a crappy seat.

So, are flights cheap last minute? My answer would be no. If you really want to wait it out, try buying your flight at least three weeks in advance.

Related: How to Save Money While Travelling
Related: How Much Do Trips to Hawaii Cost?

When to Travel

Avoid peak travel season!!

Peak season means the majority of travelers are visiting during that time. However, peak season does not always mean it’s the best time to go. Around the holidays and the summer tend to be the biggest peak seasons simply because kids are out of school and parents want to take a vacation with them.

If you can get around those peak seasons everything about your trip will be instantly cheaper. Peak season surge charges trickle down to everything so I would consider this one of the most important details when figuring out when to travel.

As a general rule of thumb, you should know traveling in the winter is going to be the most expensive option. The cheapest months to travel are going to be March/April and late August to early November (before Thanksgiving).

Saturday is the most expensive day to fly.

In the previous section I talked about how it doesn’t really matter what day you purchase your flight. However, what does matter is the day you choose to head out.

According to this report by Cheapair.com, it is the cheapest option to fly out on a Tuesday. Flying on a Tuesday is about 85 dollars cheaper on average. That’s a crazy difference!

Additionally, Saturday’s are the most expensive day to get on a plane. Which makes sense, Saturday is the most convenient day because most people have the day. If the majority of people are traveling on that day, airlines have the perfect incentive to increase their prices.

Try to fly out on a Tuesday instead of a Saturday, you might end up saving yourself a big chunk of cash!

Best Websites with Cheap Flights

Where can you find cheap flights? There is a plethora of websites for cheap flights. My most used websites for cheap flights are Google Flights and Skyscanner. However, you can also use Momondo, Kiwi, Kayak and so many more!

The key here is to make sure you are checking more than one website. There are so many sites with cheap flights! You want to make sure to compare at least a couple before making a final decision and purchasing.

Below are some cool tips for how to best use these websites for cheap flights.

Cheap flights on Google Flights

Calendar price view.

One very cool aspect included in Google Flights is their calendar view. When selecting a date in Google Flights, you are able to see the specific prices for those dates even before selecting. You can use this to choose what dates are going to be cheaper to travel.

Map-based search

Google also has a function where you can explore destinations. Similar to the example used in Skyscanner to show how destination flexibility can get you cheaper flights, Google Flights has the same feature.

From the Google Flights homepage, you have the option to click “explore destinations”.

This will open up a map view where you can see the best deals and dates for different destinations. You can now easily select a destination that fits your budget.

how to get cheaper flights with google flights

Track flights

Google Flights lets you save and track flights you’re interested in following. They will also email you when there are price changes!

To track prices for one of your trips select your travel destination and dates. Then you can select to track prices and follow along to see when the best time to book is!

Skyscanner for Cheap Flights

All of these websites with cheap flights will have most of the same capabilities. Skyscanner, just like Google Flights, also has options for the cheapest destination and options for the cheapest dates for a specific destination.

For further detail on Skyscanner and how to use these tools please refer to the “Be Flexible” section.

My Personal Preference

I prefer using Skyscanner for browsing my options to explore all the possibities. Their “cheapest month” feature is one of my favorites and I use it, A LOT. I’ve also found they have the best deals when it comes to traveling in Europe.

However, I use Google Flights to track flights and keep an eye on prices for me in the background.

Using a combination of both these websites can only benefit you!

Related: How to Save Money While Planning a Trip

Subscriptions that Find Flight Deals for You

Scott’s Cheap Flights

I absolutely LOVE Scott’s Cheap Flights. I’ve been on their email list for years and even pay to have a subscription with them.

What is Scott’s Cheap Flights and how does it work?

Scott’s Cheap Flights is an email subscription service that will send amazing flight deals to your email. You sign up for their email list and select your departure airport. Then, when there is an amazing deal, they send it to your inbox.

HOW EASY IS THAT.

They even give you instructions on how to book the flight. Amazing. I would highly recommend them! Best of all, it’s free!

Alternatives

I personally only use Scott’s Cheap Flights, however there are several other email subscription type services that do the same thing.

The fantastic thing about these subscriptions is that they do the work for you!

FareDrop
Dollar Flight Club
Matt’s Flights
The Flight Deal
Secret Flying

Credit Card Points for Flights

Using credit card points is the only way I know to get completely FREE flights. I’m traveling to Greece soon and got both my boyfriend and I completely free, round trip, flight tickets using my Capital One credit card.

If you are still using a debit card, stop. Right now!! There is nothing in it for you. Wouldn’t it be significantly better to know all your necessary purchases are helping you fund your next vacation?

There are so many great travel credit cards and you should be using one of them if you’re a frequent traveler! These credit cards can give you substantial amounts of points when using them for all of your travel expenses.

Not to mention, the sign up bonus for some of these credit cards can be worth upwards of $1,000. That would mean a free $1,000 for travel!

There are way too many details to dive into when choosing a travel credit card. I would suggest checking out these posts from NerdWallet and The Points Guy to find the best travel credit card for you!

I personally have three travel credit cards: Chase Sapphire Reserve, Capital One Venture and the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless.

Budget Airlines with Cheap Flights

There are several budget airlines that can give you cheaper flights. However, budget airlines don’t come with the same amenities and services that other airlines have. Be aware you might be sacrificing a little comfort when flying with budget airlines.

Best US Budget Airline

Southwest Airlines
JetBlue Airways

North America Budget Airlines

Sprint Airlines
Frontier Airlines
Sun Country Airlines
Allegiant Air
Volaris
Interjet

Europe Budget Airlines

Norwegian Air
Ryanair
EasyJet
Pegasus
Wizz Air
Vueling
Condor

Asia Budget Airlines

AirAsia
IndiGo
Peach
PAL Express
Skymark Airlines
Nok Air
Jetstar Asia
Cebu Pacific
Scoot

South America Budget Airlines

Sky Airline
Amaszonas
JetSmart
Flybondi
GOL
Avianca

Note: I’ve taken many of these airlines while traveling. They are the very definition of budget airlines. The seats are tight, there are no refunds and you might have to pay for bags. Make sure you know exactly what you’re getting yourself into when purchasing!

Is that enough budget airlines for you guys? This is a good comprehensive list of airlines with cheap flights.

Additional Things to Lookout For

1. Book two separate flights there and back.

Sometimes it can be cheaper to book individual flights instead of one round trip flight.

2. Look at nearby airports.

If you’re going to have a layover, you might as well check to see if other airports nearby have a better flight price.

For example, let’s say you want to go to Rome. After a quick Google Flights search, we can see a flight to Rome from San Francisco (I use San Francisco for all my examples because I live in the Bay Area, just FYI) is $814.

I don’t know about you guys, but $814 is way more than I’m willing to spend, especially when all the options have layovers! So I’m going to take a look to see if any other cities have better deals.

Traveling between countries in Europe is very easy and much more affordable. The goal of the flight is to just get you to Europe. From there it will be easy for you to transfer over to your preferred destination.

As you can see, San Francisco to Paris, for the same exact dates, is only $407 with no layovers!

Now we just need to figure out how much it will cost to get from Paris to Rome. There are so many budget airlines in Europe, I think the chances of getting a good deal are high!

It is only $64 to get from Paris to Rome! If you add up the price of both flights, the total expense would be $468 which is $346 CHEAPER than the original flight.

Furthermore, the best part about this is you aren’t compromising your time. All of the flight options to Rome already included a layover. You aren’t adding unnecessary stops to get a better deal.

3. Check the airlines website before booking.

The search engines mentioned above are fantastic tools, however, make sure to check the airlines website before booking through the third party search engine. They might have a better deal.

4. Make an account when you purchase with an airline.

It might seem tedious and annoying to have to keep creating new accounts every time you fly with a different airline. However, you are doubling up on points when you do this. Points with the airline itself and points on your credit card. I was able to get a free flight to visit my parents, with Southwest this year, just by booking through my account and building up points!

Final Thoughts

If you’re reading this, thank you for making it this far!

If this doesn’t teach you how to get cheaper flights I don’t know what will! If you start implementing these strategies you can start finding cheap flights right now!

What are you going to do with all the money you’re saving with these cheaper flights? Save it or travel for longer with it?

If you really want to become a budget travel pro, you can read this post about getting cheap lodging for your travels. Then you can book cheap flights AND hotels!

Additionally, want my help booking a trip? Let me know in the comments or send me an email!

Lastly, check out my Travel Budget Spreadsheet! I use this to keep track of all my spending while planning travel and on the road!