How to Get the Cheapest Flight Deals to Anywhere

How to Get the Cheapest Flight Deals to Anywhere

We all know just how frustrating it can be when you’re trying to find cheap flights, but every search is coming up with results that are outside of your budget. Repeated searches when you’re trying to find the cheapest possible flights to any given destination can quickly become tiresome, with endless search engines, booking websites and constantly fluctuating prices to contend with. The good news is that frugal flight booking doesn’t have to be such a pain. We’ve put together some top tips to help you save time, frustration, and most importantly, some cash when you’re booking your next flight.

#1. Go Direct:

Search engines and comparison sites can make finding your perfect flight easier, but sadly, you might not always be getting the best prices when you use these. This is because the airlines usually have to pay the comparison site a commission for any tickets that are sold through them, therefore you’ll usually find that prices are slightly higher compared to going direct. To save time, it could be worth using a comparison site to find the cheapest deals first, before going direct to see if you can get your airline ticket any cheaper booking through their website or app instead. You can find flights to Montreal and several other destinations direct from Porter Airlines for example, where the added bonuses of extra leg room and free snacks and beverages come as standard.

#2. Search in Secret:

You’re not crazy if you think that the price of a flight has suddenly gone up after searching for it a few times in your web browser. Flight prices can increase due to the cookies in your browser after a particular route has been searched a few times, as the site wants to prompt you to make the booking quickly before the prices get any higher. The good news is that you can get around this by clearing your cookies after each search, or always searching for flights in incognito or private mode. If you’re using Google Chrome or Safari, you can bring up incognito browsing mode by hitting Command, Shift, N, or if you’re using Explorer or Firefox, hit Command, Shift, P. This will open a new browser window where your information is not tracked.

#3. Choose Your Days Wisely:

It’s not a myth that some days are cheaper than others when it comes to booking flights. Days such as Friday, for example, where flights tend to be in higher demand from people wanting to go away for the weekend, will tend to have more expensive prices compared to days in the middle of the week when flights are going to be less likely to fill up quickly. There are many theories around suggesting that Tuesday is the cheapest day to fly, but there are no hard and fast rules regarding this. Whilst it is usually cheaper to fly on a weekday, it’s a good idea to bear in mind that this is not always the case. The best way to determine the best day to find airfare deals is to get a visual of prices for the entire month and see which days are cheapest for your route, which you can do using most good flight search engines and comparison sites.

#4. Explore Budget Airlines:

Budget airlines tend to offer significantly cheaper airfare tickets compared to their full-service counterparts. However, you will need to be ready to make compromises when flying with a budget airline, such as having less leg room and giving up any free food and drink that you might be used to enjoying during your flight. But that being said, if you are planning a short flight, flying budget is often one of the best ways to save some money. However, there are some key points to keep in mind before you book. It’s worth checking where the airport you’ll be flying to is, as many budget airlines fly to smaller airports further out of town. There may also be smaller restrictions when it comes to your luggage allowance, and some budget airlines will charge a fee if you are over.

#5. Follow Your Favourite Airlines:

If you want to make sure that you are the first to know about airline fare sales, flight deals and other discounts, then the best thing to do is make sure that you are following a range of airlines. Signing up to the airline’s email newsletter is usually easy to do on their website, and this will give you access to newsletter emails letting you know all the latest from the airline. Budget airlines in particular will have flash sales and similar which they will notify their subscribers of via email, so it’s definitely worth signing up so that you don’t miss out.

#6. Find the Cheapest Place to Fly From:

When it comes to finding the cheapest flights, the airport that you fly out from can make a massive difference to the total amount that you end up paying. Similarly, the country and the airport that you’re flying into can also have a huge impact on the amount you pay for your airline tickets. If you usually fly out from a major airport, it might be worth exploring the difference in price compared to flying from a smaller airport that’s a little bit out of town. Often, the cost of getting to an airport that’s a little more further afield than the major one can be offset by the amount of money that you will save when you fly from a smaller and lesser-known airport, and the same applies when you fly into your destination. There are some great search tools that you can use to find the cheapest places to fly from and into, too.

#7. Fly Off-Peak:

In addition to the days of the week, the time of year that you are flying to any given destination can also make a massive difference to the price that you pay. For example, if you are planning to fly to a hot and sunny destination during the summer, you can always expect to pay more compared with spring or autumn time when flights are in lower demand. Similarly, if you’re planning a winter break, then you can expect to pay more for snowy, festive destinations. The good news is that visiting a destination during the off-peak season doesn’t have to be boring; often it can be quite a refreshing experience as it’ll be much less crowded and you can usually expect to pay less for popular tourist attractions and activities, allowing you to save even more money.

#8. Book Last-Minute:

Lastly, booking your flights last-minute can be a great way to save some money, especially if you are flexible on the days that you want to travel and the destinations that you want to visit. Last-minute deals are often the best way to get heavily discounted prices as airlines try to fill up the flight rather than take off with empty seats.

When it comes to getting the cheapest flight prices, knowing the best strategies is the best way to save money and take advantage of the best deals. Tell us what you think of these ideas in the comments!