How To Find The CHEAPEST Flights EVER

As a traveler, I often get asked how I can afford to travel anywhere.

The cost of travel is probably the biggest single reason why many people never travel, or only do it on a rare occasion.

The fact is, I am not rich or anything near it. I have to pinch pennies in order to make this lifestyle work, although I do believe it is worth it.

After a lot of time and research, I have decided to reveal every single way I could think of to get the CHEAPEST FLIGHTS possible!

These strategies make affordable travel a possibility for everyone.

So scroll through, take notes, and book that dream vacation you’ve always wanted!

*Side Note: I know the featured image has nothing to do with the post, but I have no good pictures of me on an airplane lol

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Research Airline Baggage Fees

AIRLINE BAGGAGE FEES MAKE OR BREAK A GOOD DEAL! Some airlines charge nothing for the first or second bag. Some charge $50+ per bag. Some even charge for carry-ons! This is something you must look into, especially if you are buying multiple tickets and/or traveling with multiple people.

Also, not all airlines have the same baggage weight/dimension limits, so be sure to take note of that as well.

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Travel Credit Card Rewards/Miles

Most of us use credit cards, but are we using the ones that are going to benefit us the most? Is a travel credit card going to pay for your entire trip? That is highly unlikely. But can it get you free flights, accommodations, and even activities at your destination? YES!

Top rated Travel Credit Cards include:

• Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
• Barclays Arrival Plus World Elite Mastercard
• Chase Sapphire Preferred Card
• Discover It Miles Card
• Hilton Honors American Express Card

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Sign Up For Airline Emails

I have booked many flights from so-called “Flash Sales” that an airline will have periodically. A lot of these fares will not even show up on other airline search engines, so it would be wise to take advantage as soon as you see them. Southwest Airlines and Alaska Airlines are two good examples.

Use an alternate email address, or automatically organize your flight emails to go into a particular folder. This way, your inbox won’t get bogged down with dozens of daily flight alerts. I have learned the hard way, as this can quickly become overwhelming.

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Sign Up For Cheap Fare Alerts

Similar to specific airline emails, it is a good idea to sign up for search engine airline alerts. Always be mindful of any additional booking fees that may occur when using these sites though. Some great sites include Airfare Watchdog and Sky Scanner.

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Buy in January

Airlines are aware that ticket sales will be down after the Christmas season as our bank accounts are attempting to recover. In order to entice us to buy anyway, there are always some pretty sweet deals around this time.

Is this a hard rule? Not necessarily. But the closer you get to your intended departure date (in my experience) the higher the cost will be.

Do you know for certain you want to travel to Ghana in July for Republic Day, and it is now January? I would confidently research fare calendars, flight predictors, and buy my ticket as soon as possible.

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Identify All Relevant Departing Airports

This is another helpful tip that requires some careful planning. Let’s say that you live in Los Angeles. Most people would leave from LAX. But what about ONT (Ontario), or Orange County (SNA), or even Palm Springs (PSP)? Alternate airports can (sometimes) have better rates. A bonus is that the smaller airports can be less busy, which means a speedy security line!

Keep in mind your transportation to and from the airport. When I lived in Riverside, California, ONT was only 20 minutes away and LAX was over an hour away (almost 3 hours at high traffic times.) LAX often has cheaper flights, but an Uber/Lyft could be almost $100 each way.

I say this to say, sometimes it’s not always about price. The LAX ticket could be cheaper, but I am wasting hours in traffic. I also have to pay gas money or the fare for Uber/Lyft. I could end up paying the same as the ONT ticket or more, and have to deal with the headache of L.A. traffic. Whether going to the airport or coming back home, the last thing you want to deal with is unpredictable and annoying traffic.

Weigh your options, and plan accordingly.

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Buy Early

It is reported that you can get amazing deals by buying your plane ticket about 6 weeks early. You do not need to have your entire itinerary and accommodations planned out when booking your plane ticket, so take a chance and book early whenever possible!

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Fare Prediction/Forecast

There are many strategies for predicting fares, but it is easier when someone else does it for you. These fares are great for alerting you when fares are at their lowest, and advising the exact times to buy based on your specific itinerary.

I believe that Hopper is the best app for this. Type in your desired itinerary, and it will use millions of data points based on past flights, historical trends and current activity.

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Fly Early

No one likes to get up at 3am for a flight (which means you probably didn’t sleep in the first place) but it can be necessary when trying to get the best deal. The first flights of the day tend to be lower than most AND less likely to be delayed.

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Fly Overnight

Following the same logic, fly overnight! Red eye flights can be a pain in the butt, as it can be harder to adjust upon arrival, but you will save a lot of money by making that small sacrifice.

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Get Familiar With The Best Flight Search Sites

But which ones are truly the best? They all can be pretty similar at times, but some are definitely better than others. I have complied a list of my go-to sites as follows:

• The Flight Deal
• SkyScanner
• Momondo
• Google Flights
• Jet Radar
• Hipmunk
• Kiwi
• Cheapoair

Always use a combination, rather than choosing just ONE search site. There is not one clear winner among this bunch in my opinion, although I personally have had the best luck with The Flight Deal lately.

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Have Flexible Destinations

It is often better to travel with an open mind. The most popular destinations in the world often come with a hefty price tag. We all have our dream destinations in mind, but why not open yourself up to alternative possibilities? Not only will you save money, but you are likely to avoid those annoying crowds!

Instead of Dubai, try Marrakesh.

In place of Barcelona, why not Valencia?

Rather than Bangkok, consider Chiang Rai.

Think of the main thing you want to get out of your vacation.

For example, maybe you just want to lay on the beach and relax. There are thousands of destinations worldwide to choose from. And it is probably better to choose a less popular location, so you can truly get the relaxation you have been looking for.

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Private VPN

One way to get low fares is to have a private VPN.

VPN stands for Virtual Private Network.

Did you know that you may be charged more just for paying with your home currency? It is true that some websites charge Western countries (particularly the United States) more for their fare. This is not always the case, but look into installing a Private VPN. Using the destination county, you can pay in their currency which could lead to a much lower price point!

My number one choice for top a top notch private VPN is NordNPN.

I like NordVPN because it is so highly rated by experts and recommended by all sorts of tech giants such as PCMag, Forbes, Wired, Buzzfeed, The Huffington Post, and a lot more.

The company is based in Panama, and has no data retention laws or restrictions. So, you legally get access to fares at the lowest price points possible!

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Book All Legs Separately

If you buy all legs of your flight at the same time, you could end up paying more! Flight companies must think that we believe we pay a bundle price by buying our whole trip at the same time, but there can be a noticeable up-charge when doing this! If you plan it out very carefully, you can in fact save money by purchasing each leg separately.

Here’s an example.

Let’s say a round trip flight from London, with a layover in Abu Dhabi each way, to Sydney was $950.

It’s not the worst price in the world, but maybe you want to try and get it down as much as possible.

Try searching for that same flight, but book each leg as a separate one way ticket. So, calculate the price for London to Abu Dhabi + Abu Dhabi to Sydney + Sydney to Abu Dhabi + Abu Dhabi to London.

Instead of $950, maybe the price ends up being $800. Awesome, you just saved $150!

Be careful doing this! Imagine if one leg gets cancelled or delayed. Your whole trip could be off!

This strategy is better when you have a whole day worth of a layover to spare, which gives you a safe buffer.

I did this when I went to Thailand. From Los Angeles (LAX) to Bangkok (DMK) (with a layover in Guangzhou), it was about $850. I decided to instead book the legs separately myself. On the way back to LAX, I allowed for an 8 hour layover in Guangzhou. This was pretty awesome for me because I got to explore a new city without needing a Visa, and I saved about $250 by booking the legs separately instead of altogether on one round trip ticket transaction.

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Check Social Media

In this day and age, flight companies are diversifying how they advertise to the public. Nowadays, you can find special pricing just by checking a company’s Facebook or Twitter! Follow relevant companies during your flight deal search to make sure you don’t miss out on exclusive pricing.

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Arrive In Alternate Airports

It’s not required to use the same airports the whole trip ya’ know! Using the previous Southern California example, you can depart from LAX, but maybe it’s easier to come back home through nearby Long Beach Airport (LGB.)

In terms of your destination which you are likely unfamiliar with, this requires a lot more research. When traveling to London, maybe it is cheaper to fly to Iceland, and then book a separate connecting flight to London. You must be very careful when coordinating, though. Give yourself plenty of time in between flights just in case of a delay, which very well can happen! If one flight is delayed, and you have 4 separate flight legs to get through that day, it could end up being a disaster.

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Fly Different Airlines

You are not necessarily going to save money because you booked your whole trip using one airline. In fact, you could end up paying more! Experiment with different airline combinations but make sure, as stated above, that you allow yourself plenty of time in between flights just in case.

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Be A Frequent Flier

Flight loyalty can definitely pay off. No matter who you end up flying with, be sure to sign up for their frequent flier program. If you travel often, you can gain great perks/upgrades, and even free flights. It does not hurt to keep track.

Anytime I fly somewhere, I always make sure I enter my frequent flier number, or sign up if it’s my first time with them. I keep track of my miles by downloading all of the airline’s apps and keeping them in a separate folder in my phone.

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Check Airline’s Actual Website

I have found great deals by going on an airline’s main website. It may seem like you have to go elsewhere to find the very best super secret deals, but sometimes the best fares are straight from the source. Always cross reference the airline’s website just to be sure!

For example, you may be find a great fare on Kayak with a flight on Hawaiian Airlines. But maybe Hawaiian Airlines is having a flash sale on their website that has not shown up in the general search engines. I only say this because something like this has happened to me, which leads me to believe that search engines are not always 100% fool-proof.

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Shoulder Season

What is a shoulder season?

A shoulder season is the time of the year in between the peak and the off-peak seasons.

I’ll give you an example.

Seattle is a very rainy and overcast city, so tourists tend to want to visit when it’s weather is likely to be as sunny as possible.

Seattle’s peak season would be considered the summer, roughly June-August. With blue skies, lush green vegetation, and little to no pollution, there aren’t many cities more beautiful on earth during this time.

This is also when flights and room rates tend to be higher, because the demand is higher.

Seattle’s shoulder season is the period right after, which would be roughly September-October, or late summer to early fall.

The temperatures have not quite dropped all the way, but most of the crowds will be gone as people go back to school and work.

Think of your dream destination, but don’t go when EVERYone is there. On the other hand, if no one is there (off-season), there will be a reason for that as well. I would not recommend Seattle in the off-season unless you are someone who enjoys rain, wind, and cloudy days.

The off-season is when prices are cheaper, but you get what you pay for!

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Incognito Mode (?)

In order to find the cheapest flights available, CONSIDER putting your browser in incognito or private browsing mode. Have you ever searched for flights and found that the prices kept rising as you continued your search?

I will not pretend to know the “science” behind that. I am assuming it pressures the customer into buying because there is a perception that the prices are rising fast.

This does not always happen anymore. The jury is out whether this is a true rule that everyone must follow. I had to address this because this “rule” is one of the top strategies that people seem to swear by.

Whatever the reason, it’s a good idea to do, just to hide your privacy and browsing history at the very least.

Using Mozilla Firefox or Internet Explorer? Ctrl/Command+Shift+P

Using Safari or Google Chrome? Ctrl/Command+Shift+N

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Fly On Tuesday (?)

So this is not a definitive rule, but many sources will say that Tuesday is statistically the cheapest day to fly. Is this always the case? No. Most websites will have a fare calendar, so always check there before you book.

It IS safe to say that the cheapest days to fly out will be a weekday and a non-holiday.

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And there you have it! This is an exhaustive list of the BEST strategies to find the CHEAPEST flights available.

I really hope that upon reading this you feel more confident to finally book that trip you’ve been planning in your head for ages.

You have all the tools…now it’s time to get out there and travel! 😃

Did you learn something new today? Did you spot a strategy that works for you all the time? Let me know in the comments below!

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