It’s the first question people always ask me: how can you afford all those plane tickets? Quite honestly, friends and family have gotten near aggressive, demanding my answer. There are quite a few ways I manage to score affordable flights to the places I want to visit. Here’s how to find cheap flights anywhere in the world!
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Searching for Cheap Flights
Searching for cheap flights online can be stressful. There are a few tricks I have learned on my own and by reading other travel blogs that have made it easier to find cheap flights.
Skyscanner. Use it! This website is an absolute lifesaver, trip saver, and wallet saver. The site is especially helpful if you know where you’d like to go or know when you’d like to travel but are open to different ideas on the location. On the site, you can enter a location and select “cheapest month” for the cheapest times to fly to that area. You can also enter in “everywhere” for the location, and select the month or week that you’re able to travel, and Skyscanner will list you the best places to visit during that time, listed from cheapest to most expensive. Skyscanner also has an app that will send you alerts for discount tickets! Download the app here (iPhone) or here (Android). Kayak and Momondo are two other similar flight search engines. Cross-check the flights before purchasing!
Search for specific discount airlines. Google flights and search engines will not always include discount airlines when listing prices. Here’s a list of discount airlines by location. Search for your flights either on the airline sites or by including the name of the airline in your search. It can save you hundreds of dollars!
Search in incognito mode. I have heard both ways that this works and that it’s a myth, but it’s worth the try! Search engines and airline companies use cookies on your computer to remember your searches and can raise the prices if you don’t book right away. Search in incognito mode just to be safe!
Get Cheap Flight Alerts Sent to You
This is my biggest secret! Two companies I love are Next Vacay and Scott’s Cheap Flights. Next Vacay costs only $25 for the year and works by sending you great deals from airports near your location. I scored $350 round trip tickets from Miami to Barcelona using Next Vacay! Scott’s Cheap Flights has a free and paid option. Both work the same way: by sending you great deals and mistake fares from all over the US. Free subscribers miss out on a few deals, but the free subscription is definitely worth your time. It’s the easiest way to find cheap flights!
Sign up for newsletters and alerts with airlines you fly with often. Airlines will sometimes send out early-bird deals to email subscribers, getting you a great deal on an airline that you know and trust. As long as you don’t mind receiving loads of emails, this is completely free and can save you money!
Apps such as Skyscanner and Hopper will send you alerts on your phone when ticket costs are low or expected to go up, for a specific location. I don’t typically book directly off of Hopper, but the alerts let me know what dates to search for on discount sites and airlines.
Book Separate Legs
As long as you don’t mind having one or more layovers to get to your destination, this can work wonders. If a flight you are looking at has a layover in New York, for example, search for direct flights to New York, then book a separate flight from New York to your final destination. Flying two different airlines can make a huge difference in the price tag for your ticket!
Credit Cards and Airline Points
Credit cards that award miles are one of the best ways to get free or highly discounted flights. Search for the best travel credit cards for you: different cards award points differently and have different annual fees. Some cards have no annual fee at all! Utilize sign up bonuses as well. Some cards will award you hundreds of dollars in miles for spending a certain amount in the span of a few months.
Personally, I love the Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card. I was able to build up enough points just with my routine bills and shopping to pay for two round-trip tickets to Ecuador, as well as the 2 round-trip tickets from Ecuador, to get to the Galápagos Islands!
If you don’t have the credit or are nervous about opening a credit card, there are other ways to get airline points and miles. Most major airlines will award you points simply for flying with them and keep track of your points with a profile on their website. It’s silly not to have a free account to get free airline miles, even if you have travel cards! Points accrue much slower using only this method, but it’s better than nothing!
Be Flexible!
Be flexible with your flight times, dates, and locations. Traveling in the offseason is typically cheaper and less crowded than traveling at peak times. Do NOT fly during holidays if you can help it! Early morning or overnight flights are often cheaper than afternoon flights. Search for nearby airports as well. The cost of public transportation or an Uber to an airport farther away can be immensely cheaper than flying from your closest airport!
By being flexible on your actual destination, you can score some crazy cheap tickets, and discover interesting places you never even considered visiting! Use Skyscanner, Google Flights, and other search engines to discover not only WHEN to travel, but WHERE!
CAUTION
Be wary of discount airlines’ hidden fees. They often nickel and dime you on everything! I’m talking fees for printing your boarding pass at the airport, insanely high fees for checked bags, and charging you for snacks and water on your flight. Discount airlines are a wonderful way to find cheap flights, but do your research to know what to avoid and how to prepare for the flight. Check out my tips on how to travel in only a carry-on!
Don’t forget about travel insurance! World Nomads will protect you against flight cancellations, as well as lost baggage and other flight-related issues. Protect your hard work and your flight by getting travel insurance. Finding cheap flights takes time and effort, but if spending a few hours searching online saves you a few hundred bucks, it’s well worth it!
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Great tips! I have considered Nextvacay, and I am glad that you like it! I’ll have to check it out! I laughed at not flying around holidays. It is so true! If I must fly around the holidays I fly on the holiday at the break of dawn because it is usually cheaper, and then just plan to take twice as long to get anywhere in the airport. It’s really terrible and I prefer to drive if possible.
You should definitely try Nextvacay, totally worth it! And I’ve always been shocked how many people pay to travel around the Holidays