I love to get a deal and everyone I know loves to get one, also. There is something special about walking away satisfied with the price that you are paying for an item.
Many times when searching for deals online you need to know where to go and what to do. This is no different when trying to find deals on flights.
I want to give you some practical ways to find deals on plane tickets that will save you time, frustration and money. Plus, you won’t need a PhD or have a degree in rocket science to do it.
1. Don’t fall for outdated myths
Over the years there have been things that may have used to be true but are not true anymore when it comes to searching for airline deals.
The way that airline algorithms work prices and deals are changing by the hour. So, the following things don’t work in getting a deal.
The first is searching in incognito mode will help you from being tracked by the airlines which can help you get the best deals. It has been proven that searching in incognito mode does not help you save on flights.
So, you don’t have to open that incognito mode anymore and just search in whatever search engine that you normally use.
The next myth goes along with the first myth and that is you need to clear your cookies on your computer to find the best deals. I admit that I used to do this and it was always a pain.
You can stop doing it if you still are because they are not tracking you and it will not help you find the best deals. I always felt that the airlines were big brother tracking my every move when it came to these first two myths.
The last myth that you may have heard is that Tuesdays are the best time to find a deal on flights. You may have fallen for this one but it simply is not true.
Airlines change prices all the time on flights and there is just no particular day that is better than others when it comes down to price. So, you can stop waiting for Tuesday to come around and look whatever day you like to try to snag that deal.
2. Be flexible on dates
Sometimes people cannot be flexible on dates because of various reasons but if you can it can save you a lot of money.
So, you want to start by searching for flights and let the price of various dates lead you to the cheapest ticket. Moving a date just a day or two can save you hundreds of dollars on a round trip ticket.
I love to use Google Flights and Google Flights allows you to see two months of flights at once with the lowest prices offered each day. It is easy to see how selecting certain dates can save you money.
The screenshot below shows you that by selecting certain dates over others can save you more than a $100.
3. Be flexible on destination
The combination of being flexible with dates and destination is the best way to get deals on flights but if you can’t be flexible on dates then being flexible on destination is the next best thing.
Google Flights makes it easy for you to search prices for different destinations. You don’t have to put in city by city to search for various places.
They have an explore feature that allows you to see cities domestically or internationally and the cost of flights. You can easily change dates, also.
Through this feature you will probably see destinations that you never even thought about going to.
The following procedure will help you to explore. First, go to the Google Flights site. You can put the airport or airports in the first box. Leave the “Where to?” box blank. You can put the dates in.
Over in the left hand column you will click the “Explore” button.
You will then be taken to the following page. It shows you different cities and the lowest fares for various cities.
You can move around the map to see different cities and you can even show flights all across the globe.
You then can decide where you want to go with the available flights.
4. Google Flights great place to start
By now you are probably saying enough with Google Flights but to me it is the best of the sites to use when searching for cheap flights.
Google flights allows you to track prices on flights. They will send you an email when prices drop on a flight that you are tracking.
If you have access to a number of different airports to fly out of, it allows you to put in more than one airport at a time. This way you don’t have to search each airport individually.
It also allows you to see the price history for the flight that you are looking at.
They also show you the legroom that you have on the airplane, wifi, power cords and streaming media to a device.
These are just a few of the features that Google Flights offers that makes it my favorite site.
5. Other travel sites
There are other sites that you can use to find a deal on a flight. These would include sites like Expedia, Orbitz, Kayak and Priceline. These are Online Travel Agency sites.
Skyscanner and Mommondo are popular sites that are OTA’s of the OTA’s. They scan all of the online travel agencies to come up with the best deals.
These sites can save you money and sometimes large amounts of money but if you happen to have any issues or have to cancel a flight you have to deal with the travel site and not the airline themselves.
You want to make sure that whatever site that you use has good customer service incase that you need to use it.
Out of the above sites Skyscanner is the one I prefer. They scan all over the internet for the best deals. They also vet the sites that they link to since they have stringent criteria of who they deal with.
No matter what site you use, Southwest Airlines does not show up on any of the travel sites. You will need to go directly to their site to see what prices that they have.
6. Set up price alerts
Sites like Google Flights, Kayak, and Skyscanner have price alert features. They will email you when the price of a ticket drops. This can save you the time and trouble of checking on flights. They do the work for you.
7. Try Budget Carriers
Budget airlines can be a way to save money when you are looking to fly. The term itself implies that the flights are cheaper. At face value this is true many times.
Budget airlines are not going to give you any frills. You are going to have less legroom, pay for snacks and drinks, higher prices for checked bags and carry ons and picking a seat.
If you are looking to save money on a particular flight then you have to do the math versus a non budget airline. Sometimes a higher price ticket but lower fees will be cheaper than a budget ticket and sometimes it won’t.
My daughter and I flew to Florida for a week on a budget airline and we shared a suitcase to save money on our luggage. We just took fewer clothes and washed them at the hotel. So, we saved $80 on the trip.
Below are some of the budget airlines that you can find domestically and around the world.
Budget Airlines in the US
Spirit
Frontier
Allegiant
Southwest
Budget Airlines in Europe
Ryan Air
Vueling Airlines
Easyjet
Wizz Air
airBaltic
Budget Airlines Asia
Air Asia
Scoot
Spice Jet
IndiGo
Peach
8. Use Flight Deal Sites
There are sites on the internet that will do the work for you when looking for a deal on a flight. They scour the internet for flash deals and mistakes that airlines make. They send you an email or alerts on your phone.
It may or may not fit your travel plans but if you have the flexibility of location and dates then it can be a huge win for you.
Some of the sites that do this include:
Scott’s Cheap Flights– Excellent for US flights
Airfarewatchdog– Good for US flights
The Flight Deal– Deals on global flights
TravelPirates– Good for European flights
Secret Flying– Deals around the world
Some of these sites have a free version and a paid version.
9. Use travel reward points
A great way to save on flights is by using travel rewards credit cards. These cards can be an overall travel card or specific airline card.
No matter which card you are using, I would suggest getting both kinds. They offer bonus points after you spend so much in a given amount of time, such as points, credits to be used on travel, rental car insurance, and more.
A great card that I use often is the Chase Sapphire Preferred card. Right now it is offering a 60,000 sign up bonus after you spend $4,000 in the first 3 months. These points can be used in their travel portal which can save you 25% which gives the points a value of $750.
Southwest, United, Delta, and American Airlines all have credit cards. Each airline has various different cards with different features and annual fees.
Using credit cards for budgeted items can help you rack up points on whatever card that you use. If you are not paying off the balance each month, then you are defeating the whole purpose of these cards. If that is the case do plastic surgery and cut up the cards.
10. Book great deal right away
If you come across a great deal or a mistake deal, you will want to act on it right away. There is no guarantee that the deal will be there later on. The better the deal the less likely it will live long.
One thing that you have going for you on purchasing a deal right away is that you have 24 hours to cancel the flight. It does not matter if you are flying with a US airline or a foreign airline. As long as you are leaving from the United States the rule is in effect.
Some special exceptions to this rule include the following:
- The law in the US requires airlines to honor a 24 hour refund policy or to lock or hold the price at the current price.
- Online Travel Agency sites like Expedia, Kayak and others honor the 24 hour rule but some of the smaller lesser known ones won’t necessarily will.
- Airlines are by law only required to honor the 24 hour rule applied to tickets bought 7 days before departure. So, an airline may or may not honor it if it was under that 7 day window.
11. Don’t travel during peak times and holidays
I was a teacher and my wife is a teacher so we did not have the flexibility that some people have when it comes to booking in off seasons versus prime season. If you have the flexibility it can and will save you money.
The off-season for flying in North America and Europe is January through mid-May and September through early December.
The peak time to fly in North America and Europe is mid-June through mid-August, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve.
12. Book at the right time
Hopefully by now you have figured out that flight deals change all of the time but there are some general rules to follow when trying to land a good deal on a flight.
The general rule for the best time to purchase tickets on a domestic flight is one to three months from the travel date. Cheapoair.com said that the average time for people is 64 days in a survey that they did.
Traveling internationally is a little different. The general rule in booking international flights is from 3 to 9 months from the travel date.
13. Pick the right day to travel
The cheapest days to travel are generally on Tuesday, Wednesdays and Saturdays. Again, this is a general rule. Friday and Sundays are generally the most expensive days to fly.
14. Book one ticket at a time with a group
Traveling with a group can be fun but when you book your flights you want to book your tickets one ticket at a time.
Airlines have various pricing points with the seats that they are offering. For example, if you have 5 people in your party and you book the tickets together the airline will take the highest priced ticket in that bundle and make them all that price.
This can be a significant amount if the lowest ticket was $125 and the most expensive ticket was $275.
This does not always happen but if you are traveling with a group of people it is something that you want to check out before jumping in and ordering all the tickets at the same time.
Calling the airline after doing this and asking them to link the itineraries is worth your time. If for some reason there are changes to the flight then you will all be able to stay together.
15. Buy Airline Gift Cards at a Discount
There are times that you can buy airline gift cards at a discount versus the value of the card.
For example, at the time of this writing you can buy a $500 gift card for Alaska Airlines at Costco for $449.99 online and for $399.99 in store.
Final Words
There are ways that you can save money on flights. As with anything, you are not going to be able to do all of the points that I have mentioned but you will probably be able to do at least a couple of them booking your next flight.
Some of them will save you a little and many of them will help you save quite a bit of money along the way.