15 Travel Hacks to Booking Cheap Flights
Most people think booking cheap flights nowadays is nearly impossible. Airline rates can double in price within an hour or get cut in half within 5 hours. In fact, airlines purposely change their prices throughout the day to stay competitive and fill empty seats. The whole thing is kind of like a science, and I’d like to think I’ve mastered it.
As a frequent flyer and a person that consistently compares airline rates almost daily. I’ve found some budget-friendly hacks and money-saving travel tips to help people like you find some seriously cheap flights.
Here are a few budget friendly travel tips to booking cheap flights:
1. Use your browser in incognito mode
Now the key to booking cheap flights is to always search flights in a private browsing or incognito mode. Airlines pay big bucks to follow your search patterns and up their prices to scare you into booking as soon as possible. Opening an incognito browser can help avoid unnecessary fees and increases in prices.
2. Clear your browser history and cookies
The world wide web is a pretty creepy place. It can literally track everything you do, click, and search when your online, including that flight across the pond you’ve been searching all week. Consistently clearing your browser history and cookies can help avoid price changes on flights
Your best bet is to clear your browser history and cookies while using a browser in incognito mode when booking cheap flights
3. Plan ahead
Now we’ve all heard it before and I’ll say it again, planning ahead and being patient is key to finding ridiculously cheap flights. Now I’m not saying you won’t be able to find last minute discounts, but you’ll have more options to choose from when planning ahead.
U.S. tickets: Shop between 3 months to 30 days before your departure.
International tickets: Shop between 6 months and 47 days before your departure.
Some key tips for planning ahead:
- Start your search three months in advance. Now it doesn’t hurt to search earlier, but a general guideline to finding the cheapest flight is to search at least 47 days before your trip.
- Sign up for notifications. When looking for flights sign up for email alerts or notifications when flight prices fluctuate (up or down). This will help you figure out when the cheapest flight options are available.
- Check travel websites at different times throughout the day. This includes right when you wake up, around noon, and in the evenings.
4. Shop on a Tuesday
The best time to book a flight from the U.S. is on Tuesdays around 2pm central time. Many airlines release their weekly airfare sales on Tuesday mornings and by the afternoon competing airlines will match these sale prices. This will give you multiple good deals to choose from, so be patient with your flight search!!
This does not mean the only day to shop is Tuesday. I’ve found some crazy cheap deals on other days of the week, so be open minded when you’re on the hunt!
5. Fly on the cheapest day of the week and the cheapest time
There have been studies done that show the BEST days to fly out are Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays. This is due to most business flights being on Fridays, Sundays, or Mondays.
Another key is to fly when most people don’t want to. This includes overnight flights, flights at dawn, and flights around meal times.
6. Check multiple search engines
Google flights is my go to search engine when looking for flights because its super user friendly and compares prices from multiple websites. Be sure to utilize the calendar, map, and graph features to compare prices.
It doesn’t always show the best prices, but it does a great job at comparing different prices from different websites. It also has the ability to search multi-city tickets that’ll help you see more cities for the best possible price!
Skyscanner is great for finding cheap destinations. You have the ability to search cheap price options instead of destinations, so if you’re open to spontaneity use Skyscanner!
Some other flight search engines:
7. Check the airline’s website
Even though using a third-party search engine is convenient when comparing prices, they don’t always show the cheapest price options. Your best option when booking cheap flights is to search the airline’s website for different flight options after you’ve compared prices on a third-party website.
8. Use layovers and multi-city tickets to your advantage
I’m not kidding, this is probably your best option if you’re really trying to see the world. Having a multiple day layover in a big city will give you the option to explore another city or country at no extra cost. Yeah, you heard me. NO COST.
So if you have the option to flexible traveling, look for long layovers because they’re usually your cheapest option and allow you to visit multiple destinations in one trip.
9. Travel to where the deals are
Booking cheap flights is best If you’re open to spontaneity. Look for flights based on cheap prices instead of destinations. Being flexible will lead you to places you never imagined while giving you the best bang for your buck.
10. Shop around for travel insurance
Even though travel insurance is usually offered when purchasing flight tickets, it’s usually not your best price. It’s best to shop around for travel insurance and compare prices. Now it’s not necessary to have travel insurance, but when going on a long trip to another country, its better safe than sorry.
I use World Nomads for my travel insurance and found that they give the best benefits at a great cost.
11. Don’t pay for seat selection
Some airlines have seat selection already added into their prices, but for the most part seat selection is usually an extra fee.
If you have the option, skip out on choosing seats to save a few extra bucks.
12. Get a travel credit card
If you’re a frequent traveler, then investing in a travel credit card is a must! A travel credit card is great because you receive travel rewards and points on your everyday purchases. Use it enough and you can earn yourself a free flight.
There are many benefits of having a travel credit card including special discounts throughout your travels. Talk to your bank and research which travel credit card is best for you.
13. Sign up for a frequent flyer program
Being a part of a frequent flyer program is great for getting free flights and scoring awesome upgrades.
Even if you don’t fly frequently, I still recommend signing up for the rewards program so you can take advantage of special email offers!
14. Take advantage of student discounts
If you’re a student (or under 26), there are many discounts you can apply to your flight savings. There’s a bunch of discounts out there for students and several travel agencies like STA travel to help you find them.
15. Search tickets for one person at a time
Airlines will often show the highest prices to people purchasing airfare in groups. To avoid this, search tickets as if you’re flying solo. This will help avoid unnecessary skyrocketed fees.
So there you have it, that’s my inside scoop on booking cheap flights. Best of luck and safe travels!
