The summer travel season is fast approaching. Many people will be flying to their destination. If you are one of those people, I do know that you want to try to find the best deal that you can on your flight.
Prices of flights change all of the time. It can be hard to find the best deals on a flight that you would like to take. Below are some tips that you can use to try to find the best deals for summer travel.
Ways to Save on Flights for Summer Travel
1. Flexibility with Dates
The more flexible you are with your dates the better chance you will have in finding a good deal. Just by changing the day of the week that you fly can save you a lot of money. Typically the cheapest days to fly are going to be Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays.
2. Use Flight Comparison Tools
My go to when it comes to searching for flights is Google Flights. I have a whole post about different features of Google Flights. I like the fact that you can quickly and easily see the different flights that go into a particular location.
If you’re into miles and points, consider adding the Google Chrome extension Points Path. This tool shows how many points a flight costs and whether it’s better to book with cash or points. You can read more about Points Path in my blog post here.
Some other popular flight tools that you may want to checkout include Skyscanner, Kayak and Momondo.
3. Let the Destination Pick You
When it comes to summer travel, most people decide where they want to go and then try to find a cheap flight to get there. Another approach is letting the destination pick you instead. Let me explain.
Google Flights has a feature called ‘Explore’ that helps you find great travel deals. Simply enter your departure airport and choose ‘Anywhere’ as your destination. You can select specific travel dates or, if you have flexibility, browse prices for an entire month to find the best deals.
It will populate a map with the cheapest flights to destinations all around the world. You can then select a destination based on the price that fits your budget. Other sites like Momondo have a similar feature.
4. Set Price Alerts
Most flight search engines allow you to set alerts on flights that you want to track. They will send you an email when the price of the flight changes.
This is really helpful since who has the time or energy to check on flights every day or every few days. You just need to remember to check your email to see if the price has changed on the flight that you are watching.
5. Search at the Right Time
When flying domestically, you generally want to search 1-3 months out from when you want to travel. For international flights, you want to search 2-8 months out. If you are booking peak travel, you will want to add a couple of months to each one of these time frames.
6. Cancel for Free within 24 Hours
You may come across a great flight deal but you don’t know if it’s going to work for you. You don’t have to sweat it since you have a 24 hour grace period to cancel the flight.
According to the Department of Transportation, if you book directly with an airline at least seven days before departure and the flight departs from or arrives in the U.S., you can cancel within 24 hours of booking without any penalty.
So, if you see a great deal, go ahead and book it then take the time to decide if it works for you. If it doesn’t, you can always cancel within 24 hours without any penalty.
7. Consider Positioning Flights
Your closest airport may not always offer the best fares. Using positioning flights, short flights to a larger hub with cheaper options, can help you save significantly on travel costs. This is going to work best for when you are flying internationally. It isn’t always going to be beneficial but it’s always worth a look.
8. Sign Up for Email Alerts
I know your inbox is already full of junk emails, but signing up for airline newsletters and fare alerts can help you catch sales and exclusive deals before they’re gone.
All of the major airlines have newsletters and fare alerts. The great thing is you can pick and choose what airlines you get alerts from and it truly helps you save money.
9. Double Check Prices when Booking More than One Person
When booking more than one person for a flight, always see what the price is for just one person versus for everyone in the party. You may find when booking a flight for one person the flight is $250 but when you book the flight for two people the price jumps up to $350 per ticket. So, if you book separate tickets, you can save $100 in the process.
This is also the case when booking flights with points. For example, I was booking 5 tickets on Southwest. The points price jumped up by 1,000 points per ticket when trying to book all 5 tickets at once.
I checked to see if the price jumped up when trying to book four people and it didn’t. So, I booked four of the tickets at the lower price and booked the fifth ticket at the higher price. It saved us 4,000 points in the process.
This happens because airlines use price buckets. If just one of your tickets falls into a higher price bucket, the airline will price all the tickets in your booking at that higher rate.
10. Factor in the Good and Bad with Budget Airlines
I have flown just about all of the budget airlines. There are many horror stories about the budget airlines but personally, I haven’t had a bad experience on any of them.
When flying a budget airline like Spirit, Frontier, Allegiant, or Breeze, it’s important to factor in all the extra costs beyond the ticket price. Those $20 and $40 fees can add up quickly, turning what seemed like a cheap flight into a pricey one.
11. Use Airline Miles or Credit Card Points
I’m a huge fan of airlines and credit card points to save on flights. Over the years, we have saved thousands of dollars using miles and points versus paying cash for flights.
You don’t have to become someone who opens up a bunch of cards every year to use credit card points and miles to save on travel. I have a post that can show you how to use credit card points and miles to help you save on travel.
Final Thoughts
Finding the best deals on summer travel takes a little planning, but the savings can be well worth the effort. By being flexible with your dates, using flight comparison tools, setting price alerts, and considering alternative strategies like positioning flights or using miles and points, you can significantly cut travel costs.
Keep in mind that budget airlines may seem like the cheapest option upfront, but always factor in extra fees. With the right approach, you can make your summer travel more affordable and stress-free, leaving you with more money to spend on experiences once you arrive at your destination.
You can also go to my blog Travelwidstom to see different ways to save on travel, travel itineraries, how to earn and maximize credit card points and miles, and more.
