Traveling On A Budget?
Traveling is one thing in life you simply can't put a price tag on so don't let plane ticket prices stop you from being a globe-trotter. There are countless sneaky tricks you can utilize to get the best flight deals. Without further adieu, here are 20 of our favorite tried and true hacks for flying on the cheap.
1. Be Flexible About Your Destination
Do you just want to travel somewhere, anywhere? If you're open-minded about your destination, you can get great deals by selecting the cheapest flights available. Some search engines even let you leave your destination blank and they will find the best deals for you.
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2. Check Flight Search Engines
Flight search engines like Skyscanner or FlightHub tend to give you better deals than if you search on a particular airline's website. This is because they compare multiple airlines to get you the best deal.
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3. Book Early
If you can, try to book your trip way in advance. Gone are the days when you could book cheap last minute deals. Nowadays, it's better to book at least six weeks in advance because those deals don't last long.
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4. Use Incognito Mode
Have you ever searched for a flight only to find the prices keep climbing? This is because you're being watched: your searches are remembered by the algorithm and airlines automatically jack up the prices to pressure you to buy. Searching in incognito mode will reset your cookies every time so your browsing history won't be remembered.
5. Avoid Weekends & Holidays
It's usually drastically cheaper to fly on a random Wednesday than on a Saturday because most people work Monday to Friday. Furthermore, avoid flying around holidays as the greater demand will jack up prices.
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6. Set Price Alerts
Flight search engines often ask you if you want to set up price alerts. Price alerts will notify you when the price of a flight you're interested drops. You can sometimes find amazing deals, especially if airlines are struggling to fill a plane.
7. Consider Alternative Airports
Many airlines fly to alternative airports like Hamilton instead of Toronto Pearson because it's cheaper for them and for you too. Plus, a smaller airport means fewer people and less traffic, making your travel day stress-free.
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8. Book Connecting Flights Yourself
If you're flexible, it's often much cheaper to book your own connecting flight separately as opposed to booking one set up for you by the airline. This works best if you're able to spend a notable amount of time like a night or more in that connecting flight destination. That way, you also get to explore an additional place.
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9. Go For Open Jaw Flights
An open jaw flight is where you fly from one city to another but return from a different place. It's usually more economical than booking one-way flights and, if you're planning to visit multiple cities, it's more convenient for you too.
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10. Avoid School Breaks
You're all psyched up for your trip to Cancun in March but when you go to purchase plane tickets, prices are astronomically high. This is likely because your dates coincide with Spring break. Being aware of when school vacations are will save you a lot of money as demand goes way up during these times.
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11. Always Compare
Don't buy the first good ticket you see. Always take a quick gander at other sites before you go through with your purchase just in case there's a far better deal elsewhere.
12. Utilitze Your Points & Rewards
A lot of credit cards allow you to collect points that you can use towards plane tickets. Otherwise, if you're a frequent flyer with a particular airline, take advantage of miles and rewards. Your previous spending might end up paying off.
13. Follow Airlines on Social Media
Get on social media and follow airlines for sneak peeks into deals and new flights. Furthermore, if you have a negative experience and you post it on your social media, the bad publicity might just push them to actually do something about it.
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14. Take Advantage of Student/Senior Discounts
If you're in a certain age group (18-26 for students, over 65 for seniors) you could get up to 20 percent off your flight. Make sure to inquire about this if it's not immediately apparent.
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15. Try Searching in Different Currencies
If you're American and you're searching for a flight to Colombia, try searching in Colombian pesos. It's a much weaker currency compared to the dollar and that may trick the system into giving you a better price.
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16. Check For Flights On Tuesday Afternoons
The best time to find good flight deals is right after they're posted. Most airlines publish new deals late Monday night, meaning the best time to browse for tickets is Tuesday.
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17. Try Secret Flying
Secret Flying is the perfect website for flexible travelers. It finds random deals (usually error fares) and sends them right to your inbox so you can book flights on the fly for much less.
18. Be Flexible About Your Dates
When perusing for flights on Skyscanner, there's a "flexible date" option that shows you when is the cheapest time to fly. You can also check the "flexible dates" box and it will show prices for three days before and after your selected days.
19. Fly On Christmas Or New Year's Eve
Although flying around major holidays isn't ideal, if you fly right on the major holiday, you can score some pretty great prices. Most people don't want to be flying on Christmas day, but if you don't celebrate or don't mind, you can easily score half-price tickets thanks to the lack of demand.
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20. Be Willing To Book Right Away
We've all had that experience where we go to browse tickets and find a good deal but we're not ready to book. Then when we go back online, the same ticket is twice the price. Ticket prices rarely improve over time so when you find a good deal, just go ahead and buy it right away.
