To offset the costs of maintaining, operating, and flying planes from one location to another, airlines will employ a variety of tricks to maximize their profits on each flight. This can sometimes mean that you can pay more for the same flight.
In this article, we’ll take a look at how to find cheap flights online and save on the most expensive portion of your travel expenses.
Note. While price comparison sites are great, it’s worth noting that not all airlines are included on these sites. For example, Southwest doesn’t show up on Expedia, Orbitz, or any of the other websites we mention below, but they sometimes have a better price for US domestic flights.
Start with price comparison sites, not airlines
Many people still go straight to their favorite airline or booking site. You can save several hundred dollars simply by shopping elsewhere. Fortunately, there are many tools available on the Internet that will save you the hassle of comparing prices yourself.
Flight comparison websites will crawl the internet in seconds and find you the best deals on your chosen flights. They will offer multiple airlines on different booking sites.
Skyscanner is one of the most popular price comparison websites. This powerful website allows you to find the best airfare for a specific date or different prices for each date in a specific month.
You can visit Skyscanner, enter your departure location, arrival location and then dates. Our best advice is to specify the month you want to go. Here’s an example.
As you can see in the image above, the provided calendar provides very useful information on the best prices for each date. By planning in advance, we can get tickets cheaper by choosing the most optimal dates.
Once you have selected your departure and return dates, you can click Show Flights to view what booking websites and airlines have to offer for those dates.
Skyscanner lets you choose the fastest, cheapest flights, or anything in between.
Of course, there are many other price comparison options for finding flights. Although Skyscanner is very popular, many people have started switching to Google Flights
Like Skyscanner, Google Flights has a very powerful search tool that can search the internet for the best prices. You can quickly browse the days and months to find the most suitable dates.
While we think you can only handle Google Flights and Skyscanner, there are several other popular options including Momondo, farecompare, and CheapOair
Using a price comparison tool like the ones mentioned above can be a great way to find the cheapest flight for your chosen dates, but you can save even more by choosing your departure and return times.
For example, switching the flight date by just two days can save several hundred dollars on long-distance flights. Both Skyscanner and Google Flights will show you how prices can differ on different days.
Book now enough
While Skyscanner and Google Flights can help you find the best fares on flights, you can still use tactics to further limit the total cost. One of the most important tips we can offer is to plan as far as possible.
Very often prices go up as the departure date gets closer. This is because airlines start with a base price, but as the supply of tickets for a particular flight decreases, the price rises.
The best you can do is to book your tickets as early as possible, especially for long haul flights, which may not happen as often as short flights. The average “best” time to book is 47 days prior to departure, but you can get a good price on your flight 117 days before departure.
Another great thing about planning ahead is that you can sign up for price alerts on both Skyscanner and Google Flights If a bargain price arrives within the selected date range, you will be notified by email.
Do you fly a lot? Stay loyal
It can save you money in the short term if you just choose the cheapest airline, but if you will be flying back and forth often, try to stick with the same airline.
Many airlines will have loyalty systems that reward you for flying with them. You can still use Skyscanner and Google Flights to find the best price for that particular airline, but you can get the added benefit of free or discount flights.
Another great way to save money on flights is to use a credit card, which can be used to receive travel rewards. You must use your credit card for everyday purchases in order to accumulate points and over time you will have enough to get free flights.
A note about cookies and the incognito mode
Many people find that using cookies and incognito mode will help them save money on flights. While this may be true, if you go directly to the airline’s website, you won’t have this problem if you use Skyscanner and Google Flights
Every time Google Flights or Skyscanner performs a search, your cookies or past views will not affect the results. Prices will be adjusted periodically on both platforms, but this will be due to the complex systems that airlines use to generate the highest possible revenue.
These systems take into account such things as the current interest in flights, booked seats and the time between the current date and the date of departure.
Thus, deleting cookies or browsing in incognito mode is not required if you are using the comparison sites mentioned earlier.
Be careful when booking
When you finally find your flight, be very careful when booking. The airlines will try to convince you to purchase as many additional services as possible.
It might be worth paying a little extra to select a seat, but adding things like short haul meals or special packages will add a lot to your price tag. Avoid additional services if you don’t need them.
Some airlines also use tactics to get you to spend more. An example would be that an airline will offer packages that include baggage before sending you to a separate baggage page.
Without reading it carefully, you may end up spending more on the package when you can save money by choosing the specific features you need during your flight.
Here’s an example from Jetstar. The image below shows you the packages page before going to the baggage page. A quick glance, you might assume that you need to pay $ 15.99 for 20kg of checked baggage.
However, if you just click on the starter kit, you will see on the next page that 20kg of checked baggage can be purchased for only $ 9, and you can save even more if your baggage weighs less.
In conclusion, be sure to carefully study what you are buying before buying your ticket. Make sure you buy what you need online, because adding extras like meals or checked baggage at the airport can cost even more if you don’t buy it initially.
Summary
To summarize this article, here are the tips we can offer to help you find cheap flights online.
- Use a price comparison site like Google Flights and Skyscanner
- Book far ahead: 47-117 days is the best option.
- Use travel credit cards or the same airline if you travel frequently.
- Be careful when choosing additional services when booking your ticket
Thank you for taking the time to read our article. I hope the information provided here was helpful. Enjoy!
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