How to Find Cheap Flight Tickets: Tips to Save Money on Flights

Updated with the best hacks and tools for 2018!

Have you ever wanted to go somewhere and ended up not going because just getting there is way too expensive?

I have.

And it's extremely frustrating.

But those days are now over.

I'm about to tell you how I make sure to book only the cheapest deals out there and never spend too much on a flight ticket ever again.

By the end of this 5000 words post including 16 proven tips (+ a bonus one), you will have no excuses for not traveling more.

Get ready for some great tips to buy cheap flight tickets!

1. Use a VPN to change your location

Do not stop reading now just because you don't know what a VPN is!

Here's something you never realized before:

Online prices vary depending on your location. If you're looking for a flight Paris-Bucharest while you're in the US, it's like that you won't get the same price as someone located in Romania.

Crazy right?

That's why your VPN will become your best friend.

What's a VPN?

The acronym stands for "Virtual Private Network". To make it extremely simple, it allows you to send and receive data as if you were connected to somewhere else than your laptop.

The best part?

You can connect to a location different than the country you are in.

How to Use a VPN to Book Cheap Flights?

Know that you can download a VPN for free or buy one. The latter usually come with more features, obviously.

What matters is that your VPN, free or not, lets you change your location. If you don't want to spend money on a VPN, check out Chrome extensions or download one online.

1. Go to the settings and select "change country" or "change location"
2. Select the country of your destination or a country where the cost of life is low
3. Click "connect"
4. Search for your flight on your favorite search engine (see tip #3)

When I look for flights within Europe, I select Romania as my location and usually get lower prices than if I didn't use a VPN. I saved 87€ on a round trip flight Berlin-Paris this way!

If you don't want to use a VPN

The next best thing you can do is checking the local website of the flight comparator or airline website that you use.

For instance, instead of looking for a ticket on airfrance.com, you might want to look directly on airfrance.it if you're looking for a flight leaving or departing from Italy.

Here's an example for a flight Rome-Sofia. I searched for it on airfrance.it and here's what I found:

I then made the exact same search, but on airfrance.fr: all prices were 3€ higher.

In this case, 3€ is nothing, but you'd be surprised to see how different prices can be sometimes.

One word of caution when you do this

Before purchasing a ticket you found by changing your location with a VPN or looking directly at the regional website, look into the Conditions of Use.

Some fares are only available to residents of the country. It is extremely rare, but if it says so, don't buy the ticket.

2. Go Incognito and Cover your Tracks

If you are using a VPN, skip to tip #3, this one will be useless.

Also, the impact of this technique has been largely debated and it's hard to prove its total efficiency. However, it doesn't hurt to apply it, so you might as well do it, just in the eventuality that it does work. That's what I do.

Cookies you can’t eat

Have you ever noticed that the more you research a flight, the more the price goes up? Well, you might not be crazy. Don’t kid yourself: marketers use tools more sophisticated than ever and they’re out to get you - with cookies.

Cookies are sets of data, which track your behavior and help airlines determine your willingness to purchase a ticket. How do they use cookies? They hike up the prices, hoping you’ll freak out and end up booking quickly out of fear that the rates will get even higher.

Navigate in private mode

Try doing this instead: make sure you’re browsing in incognito/private mode. This will open a new window, which will allow you to browse privately. Here’s how to do it depending on the browser you’re using:

• Google Chrome or Safari: hit the command/control + shift + N keys

• Mozilla Firefox or Internet Explorer: hit the command/control + shift + P keys

Pro Tip

Because cookies will reset every time you open a new incognito window, you should start over for each search that you make. Close all your windows, open a new private window and start a new flight search.

3. Make the Most of the Best Flight Search Engines

Let's put it simply: without them, your chances of finding cheap flight tickets are low.

What are flight search engines?

They are like Google for flights (actually, Google Flights is one of them). These search engines use unique algorithms and process tons of data that allow them to present you with a multitude of options for the flight you’re looking for: different airlines, departure and arrival times, itinerary, and of course, prices. They are your best friend when it comes to buying cheap flight tickets.

These websites (or apps) then redirect you to another external page from where you can book your ticket: it can be an online travel agency (OTA) or the airline’s page for instance.

What are the best flight search engines?

It depends on your criteria, but you’re most likely searching for the lowest prices. In this case, I highly recommend Skyscanner: it often gives you the cheapest flights and is more transparent on prices than a lot of other flight search engines. That means that the fare they display for a given flight is in most cases the final price you will pay. Skyscanner also has this great option that I will detail further below, which lets you look at prices for a given flights over a whole month.

On the contrary, Expedia often forgets to include additional fees that appear only once you’re actually booking your ticket.

Momondo is a good alternative - when Skyscanner doesn't have the lowest fares, Momondo usually does.

Google Flights doesn’t have my preference when it comes to prices, but it’s also a nice tool that will let you compare flights quickly.

Pro Tip

Keep in mind that none of the flight search engines above can boast to offer the best prices for every flight every time. That’s why you should combine several of them, along with a few other awesome tools I’ll tell you about below (spoiler: Hopper is a great app which is meant to help you determine when is the best time to buy).

Another great flight search engine is the Matrix Airfare Search. As wikiHow explains, this tool is just like inception for search engines: it digs into other airfare search engines, which makes it one of the best. The interface isn’t sexy but the mechanic is perfectly oiled!

4. Stay Flexible with your Flight Dates

The one thing you need when you're looking for cheap airfare is flexibility. You can use every tool out there and all the other tips on this list, but if you're not flexible, finding a good deal will get complicated.

Inaccurate myths

• “It’s cheaper to fly on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Saturday”: While the assumption can be verified to some extent, taking it for granted would be missing the point. These days are cheaper to fly because there is less demand. That means that if for your flight, there is less demand on a Friday, your airfare might still be cheaper than any other day of the week.

• “Fridays and Sundays are the most expensive days to fly”: Here again, this assumption is generally true because that’s when most people fly.

When is the best time to fly?

The more people want to travel the same date, the more expensive the ticket will be: it’s supply and demand, and I wish my economics professor was here to see me now. Тry to beat the crowd - if you’re planning on flying on a weekend or a major holiday, either book early or be flexible. Sometimes booking a flight a day later or a day earlier might save you a couple of hundred of euros. Flexibility is one of the keys to finding cheap airfares.

The best choice is often to fly by night. Take a red-eye flight: people don’t like to fly during the night so tickets for flights departing late are likely to offer reduced prices. That’s one of my 20 airport tips to make your trip easier. An alternative is to fly during lunch time since people don’t want to skip this meal. But the impact on prices isn’t as strong as for red-eye flights.

Pro Tips

There is a very simple yet powerful way to find when it is cheaper to fly. Use Skyscanner to look at prices over a whole month when searching for your flight. Here’s how to do it exactly:

Step #1: Open Skyscanner in Private Mode (see Tip 1)

Step #2: Tick “One Way” (let’s find the cheapest way to fly, so do so even if you’re flying round-trip)

Step #3: Select your departure (“from”) and arrival (“to”) cities

Step #4: Click on “Depart” and select “Whole Month” instead of a date.

Step #5: Select either the month when you want to fly, or, if you’re really flexible, “cheapest month”

I recommend that you also check out Hopper: this great app lets you track the best times to fly by following the price variations. I usually use this feature of the app to confirm that the dates suggested by Skyscanner are indeed the cheapest ones.

5. Book your Flight Early… but Not Too Early

It's hard to determine the exact date when you should book your flight. But there is a date range out of which you probably miss the best deals.

Misleading assumptions

• “Book on a Tuesday around 3 p.m Eastern Time”: FareCompare advise to book at this time because release their weekly sales on Monday evening or early on Tuesday, so competitive airlines will adjust to the lowest price by mid-afternoon. While it’s rather true for the US, the rule doesn’t apply to Europe and again, it’s more a question of when people book.

• “Last-minute tickets are always cheaper”: That is a very risky bet. You can indeed wait and pray the airline will have something interesting for you - but don’t bet your holidays on this alone. The same goes for going to the airport at the last minute hoping that the airline will have empty seats and that you’ll make a bargain. Nothing guarantees that the fares will be cheaper.

When to book your flight

If you’re too early, you’re sure to pass on the best prices: the cheapest flights are never offered more than 4 months ahead of the departure. Booking anywhere between 6 and 8 weeks before a domestic flight is somewhat optimal: the closer to D-day, the more expensive the ticket will be, especially within 14 days of your flight.

If you’re traveling internationally, you might want to book even earlier than that: between 4 and 3 months in advance is usually ideal.

Pro Tip

Hopper also lets you know when to buy the cheapest ticket and make sure you score the lowest fare. Once you've found when it is supposed to be cheaper to fly, enter these dates into the app. It will tell you to wait or buy the tickets now. Thanks to historical data, Hopper gives you an estimate of future price variations. This way, if prices are expected to go down, it will tell you to book them in a few days.

In addition, you can set an alert on your favorite flight comparator: they will send you the price variations of the flight you’re interested in. Be warned though: it can get spammy.

6. Consider Alternative Paths that Include a Connection

Yes, it takes longer. Yes, it's annoying. But yes, it's cheaper.

Longer but cheaper

A friend of mine was flying to Merida, Mexico recently. She was looking for a direct flight from Paris to Cancun, but she couldn’t see the prices - the tears in her eyes because of the outrageous prices were making it difficult to see the screen. Instead of taking this easy-but-way-too-expensive option, she opted for the let’s-fly-longer-but-cheaper one: she’s going from Nantes, France to Madrid, Spain - then to Frankfurt, Germany, and Montreal, Canada before her last connection to Cancun, Mexico.

Guess how much she saved? Оver €500. That was a huge money saver.

If you’re looking for cheaper ways to fly, you might want to try an alternative option to the direct route. If you’re not in a hurry, you can even enjoy a couple of days in your connecting city! Reykjavik in Iceland is well-known for this.

Pro Tips

Use Kiwi.com for your long-haul flights: they find cheaper alternative itineraries to direct flights, including budget airlines (see my next tip). You can also create an alert for the route you’re looking into.

Make sure that you have enough time to take your connecting flight. Airports all have what is called a Minimum Connection Time (MCT): it’s the minimum amount of time that you need between two flights.

Know that if you miss your connection because your previous flight was delayed, you might be entitled to compensation - but keep in mind that it will work only if you purchase the tickets together, under the same booking number.

Have you ever had a delayed or canceled flight? Been denied boarding? You might be entitled to compensation... CLAIM NOW!

7. Fly Budget Airlines

The trade-off is simple: less comfort and privileges, cheaper prices.

What are budget airlines?

If you’re ready to sacrifice a bit of legroom, in-flight entertainment or a meal, then budget airlines will probably become your best friends. There are plenty of cheap airlines that will operate the flight for cheaper fares at the expense of some comfort and options that would normally be included in the fare of bigger airlines. Here are a few of them:

• Europe: Ryanair, easyJet, Wizz Air, Vueling, Wow Air, Norwegian Air, Aer Lingus

• US & Canada: Frontier, Allegiant Air, Spirit Airlines (although Southwest, Jetblue, Porter and Air Transat are usually cheap as well and operate more flights)

• Asia: Air Asia, Tiger Air, Jetstar, Eastar

Thriftynomads have referenced a more detailed list here but these are the ones I’d recommend following (see next tip) because they also offer interesting deals on a regular basis. Wikipedia also has its own list of low-cost airlines complete for the rest of the world, but not all of them actually sell cheap flight tickets.

Pro Tip

A word of advice before you do: don’t forget to check-in online and print your boarding pass. Some of these airlines will charge you a hefty fee if you haven’t done your homework. You should also make sure you respect the carry-on baggage allowance. Before leaving, double-check the location of the airport: some budget airlines depart from smaller, unknown airports.

You can also include nearby airports in your search: a flight from the closest and most obvious airport can be more expensive (because of higher taxes very often) than one at a nearby airport. For instance, flights to and from Paris-Beauvais are usually way less expensive than those from Orly and Charles-de-Gaulle. The trick might require you to make some extra effort to get there but you can save money in the process, guaranteed by me!

8. Follow a Few Airlines

Don't miss their announcements and special offers! For that, you need to stay aware of their activity.

Social media pages and newsletters

Many airlines are posting discount deals on Facebook. Discounts on cheap flights often expire fast but if you come across one that suits your travel envies, you’ll be glad you liked that page!

I also subscribe to the newsletter of the airlines I regularly fly with. I know how spammy it can get, so here’s what I do: I organize my Gmail mailbox in a way that all emails from airlines and online travel agent will go to the same folder.

Pro Tip

Even if you’re using flight search engines (as you should), be sure to take a quick look at the airline’s website for the cheap fare you found: they sometimes have special discounts and temporary sales.

9. Find a Cheap Place to Travel To According to Your Budget

If you're dreaming about a return ticket to Southeast Asia under 200€, you might be disappointed... Be realistic and find inspiration with your flight comparator!

Don’t care about the destination

The holidays are coming and you want to find cheap tickets to match your budget, but don’t know about the destination? A few flight search engines such as Skyscanner let you set a departing city and date range but no destination: this way, you get prices for destinations you might not have thought of! It's one of my favorite features.

The results will automatically be sorted by price. Here’s how it goes:

Step #1: Open Skyscanner in Private Mode (see Tip 1)

Step #2: Tick “One Way” (let’s find the cheapest way to fly, so do so even if you’re flying round-trip)

Step #3: Select your departure (“from”) but don’t fill the arrival (“to”)

Step #4: Check the suggested destinations by country

See? I can go to Italy from Sofia, Bulgaria for 13€, in the middle of the summer, searching only 15 days before departure!

Pro Tip

Combine Skyscanner with Kiwi.com: the latter has a nice map that displays airfares over the potential destinations you could go to, combining different airlines to minimize your airfare.

That trip to Barcelona is tempting…

10. Research Local Airlines

I’m not talking about the cheap budget airlines above which are referenced in a few flight search engines, but some local ones that fly only less popular routes. If you’re flying domestically especially, it’s worth googling around for small airlines that could take you places you didn’t think of.

The folks at Thriftynomad found this great hack when they were in Argentina: heading to Patagonia, they came across LADE Air, operated by military pilots. The airfare was “crazy cheap”, as they put it.

11. Subscribe to a Frequent Flyer Program

This is an investment that pays in the long run. If you consider yourself a frequent flyer or plan on becoming one, you should give it some serious thought.

The more you travel, the more advantages you get

Most airlines have their own loyalty programs, which is a win-win for both sides: it encourages you to book your flights with them more often, and you’re rewarded for it, usually with “points”. The specifics of each loyalty program depend on the airline but they usually allow you to get advantageous fares once you’ve traveled a certain distance.

As I explained in my airport tips, the best frequent flyer program is the one of the airlines you most fly with: Delta has a great reward program, but if you’re never flying with them, it makes no sense to subscribe!

Pro Tip

If you’re a student planning your Erasmus trip or just your next holiday, you should know that there are a lot of discounts on airfares. Several websites are also dedicated to helping students in booking their cheap flights: STA travel can help you find some really sweet deals! Just make sure that it's worth it: sometimes, you can find better by yourself, even without a discount.

Ryanair also announced they were now offering a 15% discount on all flights as well as a free check-in luggage to students starting from mid-August 2017.

12. Stick to Economy… but Look at the Rest as Well

Economy is by definition cheaper than any other class.

Obviously...

Economy is cheaper, there is no denying it, except if there has been a problem with the airline’s website (see next hack). Once again, you might not have as much room for your legs as you’d like to, nor the tasty meal on board. But your wallet thanks you in advance.

Pro Tip

Yet, don’t exclude the Premiere Class right away: for sometimes a few additional bucks only, you’ll get all the privileges. It happens when the airline hasn’t sold many of their higher-class tickets, typically during periods where business travelers don’t fly like the summer or Christmas.

13. Be on the Lookout for Airline Error Fares

A word of warning though: booking what is obviously an error fare may be risky. Airlines don't always honor these fares. In this case, they will let you know in the few days following your booking. If so, you risk being denied boarding if you still present yourself for the flight.

Enjoy mistakes

Airlines are pretty big and sometimes they make mistakes when publishing their airfares, which is a golden opportunity for you, and before you ask - yes, it is perfectly legal and it is binding. It happens when there is a system bug, a glitch in the currency conversion or simply a human error. All that matters is that you can benefit from it.

Pro Tip

You can use websites such as AirFare Watchdog or Secret Flying, that reference all these pricing errors in the same place. It’s not impossible to find an 80% discount on flight tickets using this simple trick. Don't wait, go for it!

14. Ask for a Refund if Prices Go Down After You’ve Bought Your Ticket

Try your luck, even if the odds are not in your favor.

Keep track of prices even after the purchase

“Oh man, I bought my ticket 120€ and now it’s only 90€…”. Sounds familiar? You can ask the airline for a refund - each has its own policy on the matter, but you might get the difference back or you can cancel your ticket within 24h and get a full refund. In any case, it doesn't hurt to ask for a compensation when you see that the price has gone down.

However, it’s not worth spending too much time tracking prices fluctuations and being stuck in buyer’s remorse. And when you see a hot fare, jump on it! It’s unlikely that the fare will go lower in the future if there is a discount now.

Pro Tip

Yapta can even track the flights you purchased a ticket for and send you an alert when prices drop. Keep in mind that there’s no guarantee you can get your money back though.

15. Buy a Package

If you also need to book accommodation and a car, you could save some money easily.

Go all-in-one

Most flight search engines now allow you to book a hotel, a car, and additional services along with your cheap plane ticket. Obviously, don’t rent a car if you don’t need one for your trip, or a hotel if you’d rather go with Airbnb and Couchsurfing to be closer to the locals. But if you need those services, it’s often cheaper to book them with your flight ticket** as discounts are provided in the package.

Pro Tip

Consider contacting a travel agent. They won’t always have the best ticket prices but they have access to special fares. Especially if you have a long layover, it’s worth doing your research and ask them if they can beat the price you found. They can find ways to better spend your time than staying at the airport.

16. Risky Hacks

It could be considered cheating. But if that's the price to buy cheap flight tickets, does it really matter? Be careful though, you might run into some trouble.

Pay in another currency

Exchange rates vary greatly from one currency to another. You can sometimes choose the one you want to pay with and select a cheaper rate.

But it’s critical that your card won’t add transaction fees. If these get into the balance, you might end up with a more expensive ticket in the end!

Book a hidden city flight

This tip consists of booking a flight connecting in the city you want to go to and not take the connection. Why would you want to do that? Because it is sometimes cheaper than flying directly there.

The problems you might run into however might turn you away from the dark path: you should do this only with a carry-on luggage, not a checked-in one, because the latter may go all the way to the final destination. It’s also possible that you won’t be let off the plane.

Pro Tip

Warning: doing so is wrong, but if you do opt for a hidden-city flight and the airline notices that you didn’t take your connecting flight, say that you fell asleep at the airport during the connection.

Again, be aware of the risks and keep in mind that it might be problematic for the airline since they might have to delay the flight.

BONUS TIP

Should you experience delay, cancellation or denied boarding with your flight, you might be entitled to up to 600€ in compensation. Don’t hesitate to try our Compensation Calculator and find out if you’re eligible!

Do you have your own proprietary technique of finding ultra-cheap flight tickets? Share it with us in the comments - we like to take our team on vacation too!

Feel free to spread the word and to follow us on Facebook!

See you around, traveler!

Need a summary of the best tips to buy cheap flight tickets? I got you covered

You might also be interested in:

• Cancelled Flight Compensation: How to Claim Money from The Airline
• 50 Ways to Make Money Traveling (Tips from Experts)
• How to Use Skyscanner's Best Features to Save Money on Flights
  
• How Early Should I Be At The Airport: Domestic and International Flights