Disclosure: How to Find Cheap Flights: Top Tips for Saving on Airfare contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through one of these links, I will earn a small commission at no cost to you.
We hear it all the time… “travel is expensive.” And yes, it can be. The largest chunk of change typically comes from those hefty airfare costs. Everyone is always looking for how to find cheap flights. In fact, it’s one of the topics I’m most asked about. But the reality is this… it’s not that easy.
Flight costs change constantly. Weekly, daily, HOURLY. They can fluctuate depending on the day, airline, time, airport, and so much more. As much as we wish flights were always cheaper to book on Tuesdays, the truth is they aren’t. There’s a crazy algorithm that is far from cut and dry. In other words, there is not one perfect way to find cheap flights.
I’ve scoured thousands of articles across the web, and applied my own travel expertise to show you how to find cheap flights. Using a combination of these tips and tricks will help you save big time! And we all know… more money equals more travel!
Here are the top tips for how to find cheap flights.
Table of Contents
1. Be flexible with travel dates
If you don’t NEED to travel on specific dates, let the price dictate your travel days.
By finding the cheapest days to travel, you could save hundreds of dollars. 99% of the time, it’ll be cheapest to travel on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. Friday and Sunday are typically the most expensive.
The best way to find the cheapest days to fly is by going to Google Flights or Skyscanner. Once you type in your departure airport and destination, both websites will show you a calendar with flight costs for each day. This makes it super easy to compare costs!
Need advice on how to travel more with a full time job? Here’s how I do it.
2. Use & compare the best flight searching tooLs to find cheap flights
To find the best deals, you always have to check multiple sites. ALWAYS. I have a few favorites, but you still never know which one will show the cheapest option. Therefore, if you really want to find the cheapest flight you gotta do some digging. Also, some air websites don’t show every airline or reflect the same price, so this is super important.
Here are my go-to websites to look for the best flight:
-SKYSCANNER
-GOOGLE FLIGHTS
-MOMONDO
-BUDGET AIRLINE WEBSITES
I typically start with Skyscanner because it includes major and budget airlines. As you can see in the chart below, when searching flights from New York City to Denver in July, the price of flights is significantly different when searching Google Flights vs Skyscanner. This is because Skyscanner includes budget airlines in their searches and Google Flights does not.
3. Keep your searches secret
There is actually no real proof that clearing your browsing history/cookies, or searching incognito will change the cost of flights. But I wouldn’t be surprised if we find out soon that it does. I mean how often do we search for an item and get an ad for it the next day? Clearly our search history is tracking us, so I always clear my history and search incognito to be safe. This way a site can’t jack up a flight cost just because they know you’re looking to book!
Tip: If you don’t know how to search incognito, press command shift N on a mac. (Or go to file- New incognito window in the tool bar.) On an iPhone, go to the Safari browser press the double square button in the bottom right to open multiple tabs, then click the private button on the bottom left to open a new private tab.
4. Don’t be afraid to travel on a budGet airline
There are so many budget airlines out there. In fact, you can almost fly anywhere in the world on a budget airline these days! Sure, they aren’t as comfortable, but if you are really looking for how to find cheap flights, this is a great way to save some serious cash.
I will warn you though… added costs are how budget airlines make their money. They can charge additional fees for your seat, printing a boarding pass, and even using a credit card. With this in mind, be sure to factor these into the overall cost before booking to ensure it’s actually cheaper than one of the larger carriers. (The upfront cost of the ticket is never the end price!)
Many of the beloved flight searchers out there don’t include budget airlines, so you may have to do a little more digging than normal. I suggest going straight to the website of your departure airports to see what budget airlines fly out of there. Then, you can check the airlines individual websites to see what works best for you.
Here are some reputable budget airlines on each continent:
- UNITED STATES- Southwest, Allegiant, Spirit
- CANADA- Swoop, Porter, Flair
- SOUTH AMERICA- LATAM, Avianca, Jetmart
- ASIA- Air Asia, Jetstar, Scoot
- EUROPE- Ryanair, Easyjet, Norwegian Air
- AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND- Jetstar
5. Sign up for neWsletters or flight alerts
Before doing your own search, join mailing lists or last minute deal sites. Yeah its true, most of the time the deals may not work for your itinerary, but there’s always a slight chance it does! And when it does, it’s a game changer. These are hands down the best way to save some serious dough.
A lot of these deals are time sensitive (24 hours or so) so if you see something that works for you, be ready to jump on it as soon as possible! Most sites allow 24 hours to cancel, but always read the fine print to be sure!
Here are some websites that send out great flight deals:
6. Find the cheapest place to fly
One of my favorite flight search tools on the internet is Skyscanner’s “search everywhere” function. All you do is add your departure airport, with the destination set as everywhere.
From there, Skyscanner will show you a list of places all around the world and the flight cost to get there from your departure airport listed. You can add specific dates or search without them to find the cheapest time to go!
You can click the arrow after each destination to dive further into specific airports.
TRY SKYSCANNER’S SEARCH EVERYWHERE FUNCTION HERE!
Skyscanners everywhere function is the perfect place to start. You can easily see which places are cheapest to fly to and what sparks your interest! For example, if you are considering flying to Europe in May, but aren’t sure the cheapest way to get there, this is the perfect time to use this search. It could be hundreds of dollars less to fly into London opposed to Berlin, and now you can check easily without having to do a separate search for every city in Europe. Game changer.
7. Buy flights in bulk
Typically if you book with the same airline, buying a return ticket will be cheaper than buying two one way tickets. Also, using the milti-city booking tool on Skyscanner could save money in the long run.
As you can see below, you can search multiple cities for your full journey. If you want to go to Athens and Dubrovnik, this Skyscanner tool allows you to bundle the flights and stay in both cities for a bit. After you press search flights, Skyscanner will break down the best, cheapest and fastest options for you to make it even easier to find the best option for you!
However, this isn’t ALWAYS the case. If you have a budget airline going to a layover destination, the budget airline could be cheaper. So be sure to check those too!
8. Use credit card points or rewards
The art of travel hacking is real. If you don’t have a credit card with travel perks, be sure to sign up for one ASAP! Many of the credit cards out there give you added free perks such as upgrades, airport lounges, TSA pre-check and more. Racking up those points can really make your dream trip a reality. The best part? You don’t have to spend extra money. Just rack up points from everyday purchases such a grocery shopping or dining out!
CHASE SAPPHIRE PREFERRED
My favorite travel credit card is hands down the Chase Sapphire Preferred. You earn 80,000 points after you spend $4,000 in the first three months. That’s $1,000 when you Chase Ultimate Rewards!
SIGN UP FOR YOUR OWN CHASE SAPPHIRE PREFERRED CREDIT CARD NOW!
With this card, you’ll earn 2x points per every dollar spent on delivery, dining out, and travel. You’ll earn 1 point per every dollar for all other purchases.
When redeeming points for travel, you’ll get 25% more value on airfare, hotels car, rentals, and more through the Chase Ultimate Rewards. It does have a $95 annual fee, but I find this worth every penny for the perks it gives me.
CAPITAL ONE VENTUREONE
If you are looking for a card with NO annual fee, try the Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card.
This is still a great travel credit card, and was the first one I ever got. It gives you 1.25 x miles on every purchase. If you spend $500 on purchases within the first three months you’ll earn a 20,000 bonus (equal to $200 in travel.) The points never expire and can be transferred to 15 other loyalty programs such as JetBlue, Emirates Air, and British Airways.
SIGN UP FOR THE CAPITAL ONE VENTUREONE CREDIT CARD TODAY!
NOTE: Do not sign up for one of the above credit cards if you cannot hit the amount needed for the sign on bonus. The sign on bonus is one of the major perks of signing up to begin with!
If you aren’t sure of a travel credit card, see about reward programs with airlines. Most will have some sort of loyalty program that you can gain points to cash in for future flights, food, drinks, and upgrades!
9. Book multiple leGs of a long haul flight & extend a layover
If you are booking a long haul flight across a major ocean, always find the cheapest cost to get across the pond and THEN book your next flight. For example, if you want to fly from New York to Cairo, finding a cheap flight from New York City to London and THEN booking a budget flight from London to Cairo could save you lots of money.
You can also opt to add a long layover and see another city! Sometimes 18 hour+ layovers can give you a chance to explore a whole different place while also saving money. Although only 18 hours in London may be tough and tiring, saving money and seeing a new city seems like a win win to me!
Quick stop in London? Check out the 10 Must See Highlights in the British Museum. Perfect for those on a time crunch!
10. Set faRe alerts for cheap flights
If you know when and where you want to travel, but don’t need to book right away, use Google Flights or the Hopper app to set a fare alert. They will automatically contact you when the flight price drops below the current price.
These price changes can happen randomly, and only last for a short time, so if you get an alert of a price drop, be ready to book ASAP!
11. Avoid peak travel days and seasons
Traveling in the off season is by far the best way to find cheap flights. Less demand = less money.
Traveling to North America and Europe, the cheapest time of year to fly is January-May and September-December. The most expensive days to travel are during peak summer months, Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
It can also be expensive to fly to specific cities during major festivals. For example, Dublin for St. Patrick’s Day, Germany for Oktoberfest, or China for the Chinese new year. Unfortunately this is inevitable. My best suggestion is to book your tickets pretty far in advance (at least 5 months or more) to ensure you get a decent price.
12. Know When to book
Knowing when to book your tickets isn’t cut and dry. If you book too early the prices could drop, or if you book too late the prices could skyrocket. It’s hard to find that perfect sweet spot.
Once you know your travel dates and destination, track prices with the Hopper app for a bit. Hopper will keep an eye on these flight costs and let you know if you should wait, or book right away. Although in my experience they can sometimes be wrong, it’ll give you an idea if many other people are looking to book the same flight or what average prices are for that time and place.
Experts in the travel industry typically say to follow these rules:
- Book tickets 1-3 months before for domestic travel.
- Book 2-8 months for international travel.
- If you are traveling during peak seasons or holidays, book 5+ months before.
Below is a quick guide to show what I would consider a cheap roundtrip flight from the US to other continents. If you see these prices, it’s safe to say you’re getting a pretty good deal. I’d book it!
Africa- $800 and under
Asia- $500 and under
Australia- $800 and under
Caribbean- $300 and under
Central America- $300 and under
Europe- $500 and under
Hawaii- $400 and under
South America- $600 and under
***
As you can see, there is a LOT that goes into finding the cheapest flight. Unfortunately, there is not one way to ensure you are getting the best price, and honestly that can be really stressful (and time consuming!) But with a little bit of research and monitoring with these tips in mind, you will be sure to save some major cash on your next flight. Happy travels!
Don’t forget to comment and let me know which of these tips you use most often! If you have any others that may help, I’d love to hear those too.
BEST TRAVEL RESOURCES:
1. BOOK FLIGHTS WITH SKYSCANNER
3. BOOK ACCOMMODATIONS WITH BOOKING.COM or HOTELS.COM
3. BOOK ACTIVITIES AND TOURS WITH GET YOUR GUIDE
4. DO NOT FORGET TRAVEL INSURANCE FOR YOUR TRIPS!
Need help planning future trips? Go to my travel resources page for my favorite travel companies to save you money, time, and headaches!
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Are the costs to other continents you listed one way or round trip? Love the blog. So much info!
Great question! Those costs would be a great deal for round trip! I’m going to make a change that notes that now. Thanks so much!
This is the most extensive travel blog I’ve ever seen. So much info, I love it! Thank you for sharing!!
Awh that is so kind of you, thank you! I am so glad you found it useful. Hope it helps you save lots of $$$ in the future!
Very, very good and useful post! I have used almost all the methods you mentioned here and I have always been satisfied with my found flight prices! From Germany, Berlin to Milan for 30 EUR, Budapest for 25 EUR, Riga for 10 EUR… when actually the same tickets may cost 150 and 250 EUR. Researching and planning are the keywords!
Great post!
Thank you so much! I’m so glad these resources have helped you save some money on airfare. I 100% agree on “research” and “planning” being the keywords here. If you want cheap flights, you gotta do a little work for them!
Well worth it in my opinion.