Have you ever been on a flight and thought, “Wow, this is way more expensive than it should be”? You’re not alone. How do you find the cheapest flight possible with so many airlines competing for your business? This guide will help you find cheap flights so your next trip can be as affordable as possible!
Use incognito mode when purchasing your tickets
One of the best ways to get a cheap flight is using Incognito Mode. You may have heard about incognito mode before, but here’s why it’s so important to find cheap flights.
While using incognito mode, you can avoid being tracked by Google and other websites that track your search history. This keeps you from seeing ads related to what you’ve been searching for in the past, which means there are fewer chances that an ad could trigger an unexpected price increase on something already affordable.
Incognito Mode is useful for more than just avoiding ads—it can help keep people from seeing what sites you’ve been visiting in general too! That way, if someone else uses your computer (or steals your laptop), they won’t be able to tell how many hours of research have gone into finding cheap tickets.
Use flights.com for comparing airfares
Use the flight search box on the home page. This is a good starting point for finding cheap flights to your desired destination, but this tool will only show you deals from one airline at a time.
Use the advanced search feature to find the cheapest flights. After entering your departure and arrival cities, select “everywhere” as your origin airport and then choose one or more destinations from their list of airports (there are over 2700 choices!). You’ll be shown all available flights within that timeframe, along with prices for each city pair; click on any price to see details about that flight—including schedules, airlines involved, and how many seats they have available—and then start shopping around! If you don’t mind taking connecting flights or changing planes somewhere along the way (and potentially having to clear customs), this is worth trying out. If not, stick with searching by airline instead.
Find the cheapest month to fly to your destination
One of the best ways to save money on flights is by choosing the cheapest month to fly. Some months are more expensive than others, and there’s a reason for this. Most airlines base their ticket prices on supply and demand. If many people want to fly from Los Angeles to New York during June, but not so many in September, it will cost more to book tickets during that time. You can save some serious cash by taking advantage of this information!
Since airfares fluctuate so much from one month to another (and even daily), it helps if you use an online flight search engine like Kayak or Google Flights instead of calling your airline directly for quotes. You’ll likely get different numbers depending on which method you use because those methods don’t factor in all variables at play throughout each month (like weather).
Search for tickets at the right times
Several factors determine a flight’s cost. The timing of your travel is one of them. For example, the best time to fly on a Tuesday or Wednesday in the off-peak season is generally more affordable than flying on a Saturday or Sunday during the peak season.
Most airlines offer discounted airfare deals at certain times during the week, so if you can avoid flying on Monday through Thursday—when most people are traveling for business—you’ll save money on your ticket price. You can also save some cash by avoiding weekends when people take advantage of long weekends and travel far distances via plane instead of car or train.
If possible, try booking flights at night (between 5 p.m.–9 p.m.), as this will be when prices tend to be lowest since fewer customers will be searching for cheap tickets during those hours.
Saturdays and Sundays tend to have higher airfares because more people are looking for flights during these days off from work; therefore, airlines charge more per seat to make up for lost profits from other days throughout the week. Flights leaving early in the morning tend to get you to your destination faster and cost less since fewer passengers purchase them than those departing later in the day.
Choose airports that are near your destination
The first step to finding the cheapest flights is choosing airports near your destination. This will allow you to save on gas money, but it also means that you’ll have a shorter drive from the airport to your final destination. A lot of people assume this is not an important consideration. Still, when you’re booking a last-minute flight and looking at all those options on Kayak or Skyscanner, it does make more sense for them if they can find one that costs $50 instead of $100 in travel costs overall.
We suggest choosing an airport with cheap fares—but only if it’s convenient for how far out of town it is! For example: if I’m flying from Boston, MA (BOS) and going somewhere else in New England (like Portland, ME), then BOS makes sense because I can save some money by driving less than 20 minutes rather than spending three hours on public transportation getting there further out west like JFK or LaGuardia would require me too. However, if I’m going somewhere like London, England (LGW), then maybe LHR isn’t a good idea since my flight time will be cut down by just 10 minutes while costing almost double what it did before. So, saving time isn’t as much of an issue here because London has better public transit systems available, which means less stress overall compared with what might happen to worry about missing connections/delays, etcetera.
Cheap flights are on the right day of the week
You should also consider the day of the week you’re traveling. The best days to fly are Tuesday or Wednesday because most people don’t travel then, and prices tend to be lower on those days. Avoid traveling on Friday if you can help it, as that’s often when airlines offer the highest fares. If you must fly on a Friday, try booking at least two weeks in advance or get an airline credit card that offers rewards points based on miles flown (if your employer allows such cards).
Traveling internationally? Avoid international travel on Tuesdays and Wednesdays because these are popular with business travelers looking for cheap tickets back home over the weekend. Flights out of major hubs like New York City and San Francisco also fill up fast right before holidays like Christmas and Easter break each year—when many families take vacations together instead of working through breaks—so plan accordingly!
Be flexible with your dates and times
One of the most important things you can do when searching for cheap flights is to be flexible. Be willing to fly at odd times of day or night, on weekends and holidays, and even on short notice. This will help you find the best deals available to you.
Flexibility can be particularly helpful if you’re traveling with specific needs or interests in mind. For instance, websites like Pet Fellowship offer advice for traveling with pets, ensuring your furry companions are well-cared for during your trips. Planning around their recommendations might also open up less conventional flight options, potentially saving you money.
It’s also important to remember that there are many different booking options; some airlines offer last-minute deals (which may require a fee), while others offer discount codes that give discounts off regular fares.
Travel to an alternate airport nearby
Another way to look for a cheaper flight is to travel to an alternate airport nearby. Sometimes, airlines will offer more affordable flights from an airport that’s not the closest to your destination but is close enough that it might be worth it. If you do this, you may have to pay extra fees for changing your flight, though remember that sometimes those fees are waived. It would help if you also considered how much time it’ll take for you to get from the original airport (the one closer to home) and the alternative one (the one with cheap flights). If it takes more than 15 minutes, then maybe don’t bother with changing.
Check low-cost airlines
You may be tempted to look only at low-cost airlines, but this is not always the best option. Low-cost airlines are often quite expensive when you look at the final price because they charge extra for everything from checked baggage to food and drink on board. For example, Ryanair charges passengers $10 for each carry-on bag over 10kg (22lbs), which adds up quickly if traveling with more than one large bag.
Additionally, some low-cost carriers don’t fly to your desired destination or don’t have regular service there. Again, this can be problematic if you’re trying to get somewhere fast. If you decide to book a flight with a low-cost carrier, check their website before your departure date, as many will release seats two months ahead of time but stop booking people onto flights later.
Use the hidden city ticketing trick
Hidden city ticketing is a little-known technique that can save you a lot of money on your flight. It involves booking one leg of a flight but not the whole journey so that you fly into and out of different airports than initially planned. For example, rather than flying directly from New York City to Los Angeles, you’d book flights from New York City to San Francisco and then from San Francisco to Los Angeles.
The reason why this works has to do with “hidden city” fares being cheaper than direct flights—in this case, it means that since you’re only flying one leg instead of two, airlines have no choice but to charge less for your ticket (and maybe even give it away free). It also helps if the airline offers free cancellation policies for tickets booked on certain days in advance: if they do, then there are no penalties should your plans change and lead you elsewhere once on board!
There are several sites where hidden city tickets are listed, like Skiplagged or Nifty Flights. However, some agencies may consider these unethical as they violate Federal Aviation Administration rules regarding ticketing practices.
Conclusion
It’s important to remember that there are many ways to find cheap flights, and each method will be effective. Some methods may require more effort or time than others, but it all comes down to finding the best option that works for your situation. Hopefully, these travel tips will help you save money on your next trip!