Finding cheap flights can sometimes be a tedious process, but if you use the right tools and techniques, you can speed up your search considerably. Not only will you save a lot of time, you can often save a lot of money too.
Here are a few tips for finding cheap flights that are sure to make you a flight search expert!
How to find hidden prices
Before searching for flights on a search engine, it's useful to know about websites and services that specialize in finding unusually cheap airfares. These are usually "mistake fares", where the airline has mispriced a particular flight. It is very difficult to find these fares, but some sites employ entire search teams to find them!
Sometimes these ultra-low-cost flights make an extra stop or go through obscure routes, but these deals can be crazy.
I once flew from London to Panama for just over $300 round trip. I've also seen round-trip fares from Amsterdam to Guatemala for €228 and many other crazy fares. The only problem is that these deals don't last very long, sometimes just a few days.
Sustainable Tourism
Traveling by road is always greener! Use Omio to find buses, trains, ferries and long-distance ridesharing. You can also find low-emission flights with Google Flights. Check out my sustainable travel tips.
Traveling overland is always better for the environment! Use Omio to find buses, trains, ferries, and long-distance rideshares. Using Google Flights, you can also find lower-emission flights. See my sustainable travel tips.
Use a good flight search engine
If you already have a destination in mind and just want to find the cheapest option, it's best to use a meta-flight search engine (a search engine that searches all airlines and agents).
These are good flight search engines:
Google Flights - It's a bit rudimentary, but it's a great research tool
Skyscanner - One of the earliest flight search engines, very practical
Kiwi — One of our favorite engines, available in Chinese and Taiwan dollars!
I really like using Kiwi because it has a lot of advanced search tools.Kiwi It also provides search results that other search engines don't, as it can combine different one-way tickets into one fare, which may be cheaper than a round-trip ticket on the same airline.
Google Flights, Skyscanner often link to third party websites where you can actually book your tickets, and Kiwi themselves are an agent, so you can book your tickets on their own website, making the booking process even easier.
Tip: Don't worry too much about using incognito mode or clearing cookies. it's a misconception that this will affect prices. Usually, prices change quickly based on demand.
Find Cheap Flights
Do you want to fly somewhere cheap, but aren't sure where?
You can get a general idea of the price.
Simply type "anywhere" into the search box on Kiwi (this also works for Skyscanner or Momondo). Click the search button and you'll see a nice map with estimated prices.
You will see a map like the one below.
Find Cheaper Airports
As you probably already know, flexibility is key when it comes to finding cheap flights. The less demanding you are about specific dates, airlines or airports, the cheaper your ticket will be.
If you already know your origin and destination, you can increase your chances of finding a deal by including nearby airports.
This used to be a tedious manual process. But withKiwiIt's all so simple now.
There are two ways:
- Click on a set destination
Right-click and select Extend to Radius. - Circle on the map
Right-click anywhere and select "Fly Here".
In both cases, you are now provided with a coverage area that you have the flexibility to expand or contract as you wish.
Why look for other airports?
The cheapest airport is not always the most obvious one.
For example, if you are flying to Malaysia, it may be much cheaper to fly to neighboring Singapore rather than Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. If you're going to Albania, it's better to fly to Kouf in northern Greece than to Tirana, which has a very small airport. If you are going to the Netherlands, it may be cheaper to fly to Eindhoven (a small airport in the south) and then take a train.
Find the cheapest flight day
If you already have a rough idea of when you'll be traveling, shifting your departure and return times by just a few days can save you big bucks.
Again, finding this information used to be a manual process. You had to try many dates and open countless browser tabs. But now it's much easier.
There are two ways:
- View Prices in Calendar
Click on the date field to see the lowest price per day when the origin and destination airports are set.
- Flexible Search
After selecting the origin and destination airports, click on the date range and/or length of stay.
Now Kiwi will search for the cheapest flights within a specified range at any time.
Planning the best multi-stop route
Are you planning a trip around the world?
Or planning to circumnavigate a continent over a longer period of time?
Or are you a backpacker who spends a month here and there depending on the price?
Then you'll love it. Kiwi Nomadic search function on.
This is a more powerful search function than the normal multi-site search function. It's like making a wish list of destinations and letting the search engine do the math.
With Nomad Search, just type in where you want to go, choose the approximate time you want to spend there and leave the rest to Kiwi. It will work out the ideal time, sequence and routing to provide you with the cheapest full service.
Increase your length of stay and enjoy cheaper travel
stopoverIt refers to a short stopover in a transit city on the way to the final destination.
Adding an option to your flight search can often yield different and much cheaper results.
Aside from the potential for cheaper fares for you, I think it's fun to add stopovers to your trip. You can add variety to your trip by experiencing different destinations on your way to other places. For example, I had a long stopover in Beijing on my way to Thailand and a long stopover in Istanbul on my way to Georgia.
PlanningThere are some special techniques for stopoversHowever, when you are searching for flights and realize that a city is a stopover city anyway, you can try to explicitly add that stopover city to your search. You can also try adding a multi-stop itinerary for that city. This will usually show additional fares, some of which may include long (24+ hour) stopovers in the stopover.
Combine two one-way tickets
Using two one-way tickets on different airlines can sometimes be cheaper than a regular round-trip ticket on one airline. That's why I like to use Kiwi, because the search engine can find such great deals on airfare combinations.
One thing to note: Kiwi uses something called "virtual connections". This means it sometimes shows multi-stop flights from multiple airlines (that don't yet work together through codeshare). This can be a lot cheaper, but the only downside is that if Flight A is canceled or delayed, you may not be able to get a refund or reschedule an unrelated Flight B, since they're different companies.
Fortunately, for these situations, Kiwi Provide your own guaranteeYou can save money if you know how Kiwi guarantees certain flights. It can save you a lot of money if you understand how Kiwi guarantees certain flights.
To be frank, if you see this
Then the flight is a normal general transaction. (It says "Transfers are protected by the carrier").
But if you see this
So that means kiwi got creative and put two one-way tickets together that wouldn't normally be sold together. (It says "Transfer protected by Kiwi.com warranty").
For Kiwi protected connections, I recommend that you allow plenty of time at the airport to prevent delays. If you don't like the idea of getting a cheaper ticket this way, simply choose an airline-protected connection.
Booking directly with the airline
Despite Momondo,Skyscanner and Kiwi Search engines are popular, but I recommend that you book directly with the airline once you have found the best option.
One of the reasons for this is that search engines sometimes link to low cost agencies that are known for poor customer service. I often hear people complain about sites like Mytrip, Bravofly or Gotogate. I've had some problems with eDreams myself. These sites are usually fine ...... until you need to change, cancel or get a refund.
Dealing with airlines is often easier than dealing with agents. For example, I once had to cancel a flight booked through a flight search engine. The airline itself offered free cancellation, but the ticket I booked through an intermediary didn't offer free cancellation, and I was only refunded a pitiful $5 fare.
Another time, I booked a flight through an agent and they charged me three times the baggage allowance of the airline itself!
Therefore, I think it would be best to check whether the same offer is available on the airline's own website first. If so, it may be better to book directly with the airline.
However, third-party sites are often cheaper, or they may offer other benefits, such as guaranteed connections on your multi-stop flights.
Best Time to Book
According to Skyscanner The best time to buy tickets is 5 to 6 weeks before departure, according to a study released by Momondo.
But that's just a rule of thumb. My personal rule is that the best time to book is when you find an amazing deal.
I don't think it's a good idea to wait until 1.5 months before departure. The key to getting a good deal on an airplane ticket is not to wait until the last minute. I often beat myself up for not booking what I thought was a great deal, only to find out a week or two later that the price has gone up.
The worst time to book is up to 14 days before departure, so don't book too late!