Are you ready to take off without emptying your wallet? Booking a comfortable flight on your desired date can be daunting, but following a couple right strategies and unique tips, you can fly high without breaking the bank. This article is all about scoring cheap flights with insider tips, tricks and ultimate guides, from secret booking hacks to flexible travel plans. Get ready and buckle up for flying high on a budget!
HOW I BOOK FLIGHTS
Let’s talk about my techniques and how I actually book flights whenever I plan to visit somewhere. I always focus on spending less money on my bookings and get the most comfortable flight on my planned date. But sometimes I need to modify my plans to get a good price on tickets. Let’s dive into the steps of booking the flights now.
PLANNING THE TRAVEL WITH HOPPER:
HOPPER is a travel planner app that helps customers booking the best flights according to their needs. You can get the price prediction and price alert for any specific destination. They have color coded travel planning calendars that you can use to plan your travel with a less price. You can freeze the price with a small fee and select a full refund on your cancellation or change of flight. That was the intro for HOPPER. Let’s talk about savings pennies now! And for this I have to walk you through the process I use.
DATE SELECTIONS:
As of writing this article the date is April 7th 2024. Let’s say I want to visit New York to Michigan and I am planning a roundtrip in May. Open Hopper and put your destination in the search box.
Now I have the destination and roundtrip selected. You can select one way if you want. Now we need to go for the dates and make our plans.
Now look at the chart and make the plan on green coded dates as it has the cheapest tickets on different airlines. Usually, flights are expensive on weekends as everyone wants to travel on the same day. So, the wise decision is to travel on weekdays. Now, we need to check which airline is cheapest for these selected days.
AIRLINE SELECTIONS:
So , I have selected days from May 1st, 2024 to May 13th, 2024 and got these results below with different airlines and the times. The cheapest flight is from Spirit and the Cheap as well as standard flights from DELTA AIRLINES. There are also other airlines pricing below.
Now, what should I do? I will go with the cheapest one because this trip is going to be a very short trip of one and half hours. If you are going on a long flight then I suggest going with Standard Cheap.
Let’s go to select the final airline that we are flying with in May.
FLIGHT CONFIRMATION:
So far, we know when we are going and which airlines are providing the cheapest price. Now we are in the process of finalizing our flight selection and confirming our ticket. And I will not use Hopper anymore. Because, remember I want to save money as much as I can.
Lets go to Airlines websites directly and browse for more good prices.
Check these images one by one. First I entered the same itinerary in the search box that I got from Hopper. Then I got the search results for the flights on the selected days. I selected the cheapest Departure flight with my preferred time with $28 and then I selected the Return flight with the same pricing on May 13th, 2024. The subtotal of my purchase on the final page is amazing and it’s only $54. Booking directly from the website saved me $50 from Hoppers.
Let's check out Another Airline now!
On the same day of departure and return, United Airlines has a round trip for only $148.19. You can also select dates and times according to your need. You can also check for other airlines like Delta, American Airlines and Jetblue.
For international flights, the process is the same. You just need to find out the dates when you are traveling and then just go to airlines websites and browse for better pricing and availability. For international flight tickets I also prefer Expedia, Booking and OJOO. You can check them out too.
Tips to save money on booking flights:
Whatever I talked about above is the way I follow to book my flights but there are some booking hacks you can follow to get the best flight with a reasonable price and now I am going to mention them.
1. Flexible Travel Date:
Being flexible with travel dates is the first strategy of saving money on flight booking. Always avoid peak seasons like Spring Break or Summer when everyone wants to travel. Plan for off-peak times like middle of the week instead of weekends. Use a fare calendar to find out the cheap fare days.
2. Use Comparison Tools:
Different airlines provide different price ranges. Comparing flights and finding out the best deal is another important trick of saving money on booking. You can use comparison tools like Google flights, Skyscaner, Kayak and Hoppers for searching and comparing prices across hundreds of airlines. Filtering with pricing, flight duration and layovers makes the booking more smooth, comfortable and money saving.
3. Alternative Airport Consideration:
Flight to a busier and famous airport may cost you extra fare while the smaller airports save money. Consider alternate airports and calculate the distance of your destination. For instance, if you want to visit New York , it has 2 Airports inside the city and 1 in New Jersey. If you book tickets to JFK, it will cost you more money while if you consider LGA it will save you money. They both are in the same city. Wisely select your airport and take public transport or car rental for a ride to your destination.
4. Advance Booking:
Flight’s fare gets higher as the day approaches closer. To get the cheapest fare you have to book the fare in advance. For domestic flights you can book 1-3 months in advance and for international flights you should book the flight at least 5-6 months before. I still remember once I had to pay $534 for a one way flight that was originally $34 only. From that day, I always book my flights at least 2 months ago.
5. Consider Layovers for Longer Flights:
Non-stop flights are always expensive. For a longer flight if you consider a layover it will save your huge money. It gets boring to fly for 14 hours or more, so if you take a layover you can have some refreshment and save money at the same time.
6. Budget Airlines:
Low cost carriers are the best option for short flights. Browse for these careers for getting the cheaper flight. But, you also should be aware of extra fees like checked bags and carry ons, sit selections and foods.
7. Use Mileage:
Earn mileage for your flights and use them for the future to save money. If you don’t have mileage you can sign up for rewards programs or airlines credit cards. It will help you to earn and save mileages to save your money.
Following these strategies can help you on saving your money on your next trip. Enjoy exploring the world without breaking your bank. Happy Travels !
