How to Find a Cheap Flight
Flights are one of the most expensive aspects of travel. Whether a two week or two year trip, we all have to fly somewhere. While deals are not as abundant as in the past, there are still a few ways to make flying affordable and avoid being the person on the plane who paid the most.
The world is in an economic crisis, and tourism is down all over the world. Airlines have slashed fees and costs in order to fill some of the empty seats. Yet flights — especially on the major airlines — are still expensive. Rising oil costs, increased personal costs, and material costs have all added to rising ticket fares. Bankruptcy has also meant that airlines, which are under pressure to make a profit, can’t reduce fares that much.
The era of dirt-cheap travel is over, and, when the flight can represent the biggest part of your trip expenses, finding that hidden cheap deal can be just as important as finding the right location, the right tour company, the right backpack, or the right place to stay. While deals are not as abundant as in the past, there are still many ways to avoid being the person on the flight who paid the most.
Here are a few tips that can help you find cheap flights and flight deals:
Be Flexible with Your Travel Dates
Airline ticket prices vary depending on the day of the week, time of year, and upcoming holiday such as Christmas, New Year’s Eve, Thanksgiving, or Fourth of July. Overseas, August is a big month for traveling around Europe as many Europeans go on vacation then so airline tickets tend to be higher.
It’s always cheaper to fly during the middle of the week than on a weekend because most people travel on the weekends and airlines hike up their prices then. If you fly after a major holiday, prices are also a bit cheaper. Early morning or late night flights are cheaper because fewer people want to travel then. Before you commit to your departure, make sure you check other dates to pick the cheapest day. If you are not flexible in the dates you want to fly, you will never be able to find a cheap flight. Even the difference of a day can mean hundreds of dollars in savings.
Be Flexible with Your Destinations
Instead of going to place with an expensive flight, go where it is the cheapest. Kayak offers the “Explore tool” which allows you to put in your airport and see what routes have the cheapest fares. If you are flexible with where you want to go (i.e. anywhere but home), this is a great way to start researching where to go. Other sites that have similar search tools: Whichbudget.com, Skyscanner.com
Fly to Secondary Airports with Budget Carriers
Most major cities have a smaller, secondary airport. This is the airport most cheap budget airlines fly into because it’s cheaper and helps keep costs down. Airports charge landing fees, and smaller airports charge smaller fees, which helps keep prices down for you. Check out which airlines fly into these smaller airports. For example, you can take JetBlue to Long Beach, an airport close to Los Angeles, instead of flying into LAX, and save some money. In Europe, the budget airline Ryanair will fly into Eindhoven, Netherlands instead of Amsterdam airport. In Kuala Lumper, Air Asia, the region’s biggest discount airline, flies into an airport far removed from the main airport.
In America, there are only a handful of budget airlines. In Europe, there are even more, and competition has kept prices there very low. In Asia, Air Asia has led to a huge drop in fares and is a great budget airline to fly. For example, you can find tickets from Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur for $30 USD. Many times, these low-cost airlines offer no-fare tickets — you pay just the taxes. Flying the budget airlines is a good alternative to flying the “majors” whenever possible. You get fewer “perks” but you can save a bundle in ticket costs. But be sure to check out how far the airports are from the city center — sometimes transportation from the airport to the city can actually make a budget airline more expensive. However, in general, these low cost budget airlines are a good deal.
Learn More: Why cheap airlines aren’t always the best
Try Alternative Routes
Not only does it help to be flexible with dates, but try being flexible with the route you take, too. Sometimes it’s cheaper to fly to London and take a budget airline to Amsterdam rather than flying direct to Amsterdam. There are so many budget carriers around the world that taking advantage of a good deal to another city and then hopping on a budget flight to your destination is sometimes the best way to go. Moreover, direct flights are always more expensive than connecting ones. Just by picking a connecting flight route, you will save money. If you do the infamous Saturday night stay, you’ll also save money. (This is where you have to stay at your destination over a Saturday night.) By working various airlines and special offers, you can save a lot. This method is not for everyone, however. It is more work, as you have to figure out lots of different routes and check different airlines. But it will shave some money off your flight, giving you more to spend at your destination.
Know What You Want to Pay for a Flight
People always try to get the lowest price online, wait too long, and then pay too much. We all know airline prices always bounce up and down, yet in our quest to hold out just a little longer, most of us miss the lowest price. Therefore, it’s important to know what you want to pay, not what you hope to pay. What’s the lowest price for YOU? Is $200 from NY to Miami what you want? Don’t want to pay more than $900 to go from LA to Tokyo? Then don’t. Don’t wait for the perfect price — wait for YOUR price. Wait until prices get close to, at, or lower than your desired price, and then buy. Then you will never have buyer’s remorse. Prices always fluctuate, so you’ll never know if you could have done better or worse. No two people on a flight pay the same price, so all you can do is hope you get the price you are comfortable paying. Sites like Farecast can help you predict when to buy.
Remember Not All Search Engines are Equal
Whenever most Americans do a Web search for airline tickets, they search Expedia or Orbitz. As this article shows,you are making a big mistake if you do just that. These sites either work with or are owned by the airline companiesand don’t offer unbiased fares. You need to search as many flight search websites as you can in order to ensure you are leaving no stone unturned. Moreover, many sites don’t list budget carriers because those airlines don’t want to pay a booking commission. The best search engines are the ones that have no affiliation with any airline and make their money via advertising, not bookings.
It’s important to check a few sites before you book as you’ll often see variations in prices and don’t want to miss a deal. All of these websites have their weaknesses and do not include every airline. You aren’t going to find Air Asia, Ryan Air, or most other budget airlines on large sites like Kayak, Expedia, or Orbitz. U.S. booking sites tend to not have the obscure foreign airlines that you see on international sites like Skyscanner or Momondo. Booking sites have blind spots since they don’t cover every region of the world and every airline equally.
Remember – there is no perfect airline search engine. Even the best have their faults.
Take Advantage of Student Discounts
If you are a student, there are many, many discounts available to you. Check out STA Travel and their search engine. You can find flexible student tickets on their website and at agency stores. I used them for a $400 ticket from Athens to Bangkok. That wasn’t even the cheapest flight, either, just the cheapest direct flight. There are many student codes out there, and many of the tourist agencies in backpacker areas can help find you a cheap ticket.
Sign Up for a Frequent Flier Program
Airline rewards programs are a great way to get free flights, free upgrades, and free companion tickets. No matter how often you fly, you should be signed up for the airline’s reward program. I stick to US based airlines since they are involved in all the major alliances and you can earn miles on their partner flights. For example, if I fly Singapore Airlines, I can earn United Airlines miles because they are partners. I similarly do the same if I fly Air France and use my Delta rewards account. This way I am always earning miles when I fly. However, if you aren’t from the states, simply use an airline from your home country that is involved in one of these alliances.
There are a lot of other ways to earn miles if you aren’t jetsetting around the world all the time:
- Shop at member stores – All airlines have special offers for large consumer companies such as Amazon, Apple, Best Buy, Target. Shopping at those preferred stores will earn you 2 to 4 miles per dollar spent. Sometimes even up to 10 miles per dollar spent. If you spend 1,000 dollars a month, you can earn up to 3,000 miles just by going through their websites. The products don’t cost extra and it’s the same company so you only win, you don’t lose. I do all my shopping through the airline partners simply for the extra miles.
- Watch for special offers – I sign up for newsletters because they often have featured offers not found on an airline’s website. This could be triple miles on a selected route or as simple as Starwood’s recent promotion. I signed up for their newsletter and got 250 SPG points. American Airlines once gave away 1,000 points for installing a shopping tool bar into your web browser. These bonuses don’t go into the high tens of thousands but you can get a little over a long period of time by doing virtually nothing. They add up.
- Be a Crazy Flyer – On forums like Flyertalk, where people hunt out the latest chances for miles, you often find people doing mileage runs. This means that an airline will offer triple miles or double elite qualifying miles (these miles, unlike normal miles, count towards your elite flyer status and can only be earned by flying) if you fly a certain route. When airlines get into price wars or offer new routes, they often launch ridiculous double or triple mile offers. Many people then fly these routes just for the miles. They will fly from California to New York and back again if they find a dirt cheap fare in order to gain miles. Mileage runs are very common and while not free, can be a useful method to gain a lot of miles on a cheap fare.
- Put everything on the card – I pay nothing in cash. I put everything on my travel credit card – from Starbucks to phone bills. My total monthly spending, including my business expenses, is about $3,000 per month. That’s 36,000 miles just for doing nothing special. That’s a free one way flight to Europe right there.
In the movie “Up in the Air,” George Clooney’s character said “I don’t do anything if it doesn’t benefit my miles account.” Think like that. By following the tips above and using the websites listed in the credit card section for finding bonus offers, you’ll be able to accumulate a lot of flight miles.
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