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How to find Cheap Flights - Travel Hacks for 2022

Travel2 years ago
Airplane taxing on a run way

Finding cheap airline tickets can be a difficult prospect. Airlines are continually changing their fares, sometimes several times a day, and it can become a seemingly impossible task to avoid overpaying for flights.

But there are quite a few travels hacks you can use to increase your chances of being offered the best possible price for your next business flight or vacation trip. Read below to discover how to find cheapest flights available on the internet today.

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Visit Cheap Flights Websites

There are a few cheap flights websites you can visit to access the less expensive options for your flights, rather than heading to the airline websites directly. This can be a fantastic way to find great flight deals by comparing and contrasting what is available. Here are three cheap flights websites you can try to get started:

  • Google Flights - This is an online flight search engine that will allow you to compare the available prices on flights to your destinations being offered by third-party suppliers. (Please note that Southwest flights won't appear on this or any other flight search engine.)
  • Priceline - This long-running online travel agency specializes in offering discount rates for airline tickets and hotel stays.
  • Momondo - This is another flight search engine that also covers hotel stays and car rentals and will allow you to compare available prices.

These aggregate websites will show you a variety of different flight options for you to consider and should see you saving money that you would spend when booking with an airline directly.

 

Be Flexible with Your Destinations and Dates

Many travel hackers often approach booking their travel in the opposite direction to the expected process. Instead of picking a set destination and dates, and then trying to find the cheapest flight available to fit, travel hackers look at the prices first!

If you can be flexible about your dates and are interested in seeing a variety of locations around the globe, then you can check on a cheap flights website and search for the cheapest flights currently available. Then go through the list and pick out the destinations that appeal the most to you.

If you can't be flexible with your dates due to work or family commitments, you may still find that you can save yourself money by remaining flexible about your destination. Head to Google Flights of other search engine travel sites and input your travel dates. Then look at the cheapest flight prices and consider whether you'd enjoy traveling to that location.

 

Book Your Travel Days on the Cheapest Days to Fly

Choosing to book your flights so that you will be flying on the off-peak flight days of Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday may also allow you to make substantial savings on your flight tickets. Booking your flights on Fridays and Sundays will usually involve paying a higher price.

You should keep in mind, however, that this is just a rule of thumb, and you may come across cheap airfare offers on any day of the week when you input searches for flights.

 

Can You Leave From a Different Airport?

This is a great travel hack if you are looking to book international flights. Consider whether you would be prepared to travel to an airport a little further away if it meant saving money on your flight.

You may be able to access cheap airline tickets by being flexible with the airport you are leaving from. So, the next time you book a flight through a flight search engine, try inputting separate locations to see if it has any substantial effect on the overall price.

Remember to factor in your extra travel costs for getting to your booked airport when working out how much money you will save.

 

Be Flexible with your Destination Airport

Similarly, you may find that you save money if you are flexible about your destination airport. For example, if you want to fly from LA to Paris, you may find it is cheaper to get a flight to London and then get the Eurostar across to France after spending a day sightseeing in England!

 

Try to Avoid Booking Your Flights in Peak Travel Seasons

Airlines will charge higher prices when they know the demand for flights will be high. So, you should try to avoid booking flights around Christmas, New Year's Eve or the peak vacation months of June, July, and August.

The times of the year which will usually enable you to buy cheap flights are from January to the middle of May and September to early December.

You should also make sure to research if any national festivals are being held when you are planning to travel as this is likely to affect the prices of airline tickets. For example, booking a flight to Ireland close to St Patrick's Day is likely to involve a higher cost.

 

Picture of flight board and times

 

Book Your Flight as Early As Possible

You should try to book your flight as early as possible, ideally at least a month ahead of the departure date. This is because the closer you get to the date of the flight; the higher ticket prices are likely to be.

Airlines know that if you are booking close to your departure date, you are likely to have few other options for travel and will be desperate to secure a seat. As such, they will increase the price accordingly!

 

Set Alerts to Track Your Ideal Flight Dates

If you haven't been able to find a cheap flight on your initial searches, you can always set up an alert, so you are immediately notified when more budget-friendly flight prices become available.

You can use Google Flights or Kayak to set up an alert so that you are sent a notification when a flight to your location within your set dates falls below the price currently on offer.

 

Summary: How to find Cheap Flights - Travel Hacks for 2022

The key to discovering how to find cheap flights is to remain as flexible as you can. The wider range of dates you can search and the more open you are to traveling to various locations will allow you to search through a wider range of offers.

You can even consider traveling to an airport a little further away to save yourself some money or booking a flight to a city that is near your ultimate destination.

Start by following our tips on how to find the cheapest flights above and remain open to the money-saving travel opportunities you come across.

Girl at the airport