If you love travel – which we’re sure you do seeing as you are reading this blog – you know that finding cheap flights is not always the easiest task.
Flying used to be reserved for the elite back in the day, but prices have dropped significantly over the years and flying is often the cheapest mode of transportation possible nowadays.
Learning how to find the cheapest flights from anywhere will help you travel more often while saving more money. What more could you ask for?
Here are some simple tips that we’ve gathered from travel enthusiasts around the world.
1. Start searching before everyone else
Most airlines release tickets around 11 months in advance. Once you are sure where you’d like to go, start searching and keep checking once per week until you find a price that suits you. Flight prices change a lot depending on supply and demand, so try not to search several times per day or they will rise. Alternatively, you can be flexible with the location and search for the best prices in all locations.
2. Time your purchase
3. Be flexible
4. Which day to fly?
5. Timing is everything
Look at multiple times in the day to fly, not just one. This especially applies if your travel dates are locked and you are not flexible as mentioned in point 3. It might be worth getting up really early to catch that flight everyone else is avoiding to save some cash.
6. Payment methods
Keep fees in mind when choosing your payment method. Some airlines charge hefty extra fees when paying with a credit card, so make sure to check this out before you pay.
7. Alternate airports
Make sure to check all accessible airports in your departure and arrival locations as well as the combinations between them. The more options you have in terms of airports and travel dates, the more likely you are to strike a travel deal. Also consider multi city flights as an option if you can.
When choosing an alternate airport it is important to note that it should always still be accessible to you, so check the location in Google Maps prior to booking. You might be saving money on the flight, but a £100 taxi ride could not be worth the extra time and effort.
8. Multiple location search
Booking a flight can be tricky with the price fluctuations due to supply and demand. But did you know that the location in which your IP address is while you are searching can make a difference in price? Ask your friends or family who live in different countries to check the prices for you and you might save some serious cash!
9. Fly where the deals are
Check for travel deals rather than for a fixed location, and you might even discover a beautiful new destination that you would have never even thought of. Just make sure that you can afford the accommodation and food in the destination prior to booking to avoid going over your budget.
10. Use different airlines
Sometimes round trip tickets are cheaper, but sometimes they are really not. Consider trying both options out and if all else fails, try using different airlines and book the return flight through whichever airline is cheaper.
Just watch out for booking fees as you may have to pay those twice if you choose using two different companies.
11. Join a frequent flyer program
These are usually free to join and you can just leave them running in the background until your travels pay off in miles. You’ll also get added benefits such as premium seats and comfortable waiting areas. Consider your most frequent flying locations, especially long haul flights when deciding which company to sign up with.
12. Look out for discounts
Sign up for price alert emails and look for student, work or age related deals regularly, they may come in handy when you catch the travel bug!
13. Say no to cookies
And we don’t mean the chocolate chip kind, never say no to those! But do delete your cookies and website data from your browser regularly, because they can increase the price if you are searching a lot. Alternatively you can use incognito mode in your browser or use your phone data to search. This is because as we’ve mentioned before, airline pricing changes with supply and demand.
How do you score your best travel deals? Let us know in the Facebook comments!
Make sure to check out the Leeeta app for all of your group travelling needs!
[…] If you are having to sit through a long flight to get there, check out these tips first; or if you need to find cheap flights to anywhere in the world, check out this post. […]