13 Easy Tips To ALWAYS

3/3/2021 13 Easy Tips to ALWAYS Finding Cheap Flights in 2021
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THE
 ULTIMATE GUIDE TO FINDING CHEAP
FLIGHTS IN 2020
Last Updated: February 28, 2021
For most trips, airfare is the most expensive part of the trip. While prices for
transatlantic flights have gone down in recent years, they can still put a sizeable
dent in any travel budget. Whether you’re a budget solo traveler or a family
https://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-tips/how-to-ﬁnd-a-cheap-ﬂight/ 1/16
looking to vacation abroad, finding a cheap flight deal can be what makes or
breaks your trip.
After all, if your flight is too expensive, you’re likely going to keep putting the trip
off. I’ve seen it happen time and time again.

And yet every day, airlines have thousands of amazing deals — from mistakenly

published fares to special promotions to slashing prices to compete with another
airline.Cheap fares are out and they can make your dream trip a reality — if you
know where to look.

Today, I am going to help you master the art of finding a cheap flight. These are
the exact steps I’ve been following for a decade to get the cheapest airfare
possible every time I fly. If you follow them too, you’ll never be the person on a
flight who paid the most for their ticket!
Here’s how to find a cheap flight no matter where you want to go in the world:
Table of Contents
1. Ignore the Cheap Flight Myths
2. Be Flexible with Your Dates
3. Be Flexible with Your Destinations
4. Fly Budget Carriers
5. Don’t Always Fly Direct
6. Join a Cheap Flight Mailing List
7. Compare Search Engines
8. Take Advantage of Student Discounts
9. Mix and Match Airlines
10. Sign up for a Frequent Flier Program and Travel
Hack
11. Search Ticket Prices as One Person
12. Search in Other Currencies
13. Book Early (But Not Too Early)
1. Ignore the Myths

The first thing to know about finding a cheap flight is that there is no magic bullet
or onesecret ninja trick to doing so. There are a lot of myths online about how to
find cheap flights. In fact, you’ve probably come across a ton of them on your

search to find the best flight deal!

They are all lies. They will lead you astray.

Most websites hire terrible reporters who recycle common and outdated myths.
Here are the most common that are 100% not true:
It is NOT cheaper to buy airfare on a Tuesday (or any other specific day for
that matter)
There is NO evidence that searching incognito leads to cheaper deals (though
it won’t hurt to try)
There is NO exact date or specific time period in which to book your airfare
You can’t predict airline prices and websites that do are basically taking an
educated (but probably wrong) guess
Airlines used advanced computer and pricing algorithms to determine prices and
run sales based on the time of the year, passenger demand, weather, major
events/festivals, time of day, competitor prices, fuel prices, and much more. Those
so-called “tricks” don’t work anymore. The system is too smart. Throw them out.
Let them die.
And don’t listen to anyone who tells you otherwise. Anyone who is telling you
doesn’t know what they are talking about!
2. Be Flexible with Your Travel Dates and Times
Airline ticket prices vary greatly depending on the day of the week, time of year,
and upcoming holidays, such as Christmas, New Year’s Eve, Thanksgiving, or the
Fourth of July. August is a big month for traveling around Europe, and everyone
wants to go somewhere warm in the winter or travel when the kids are out of
school.

In a nutshell, if you are going to fly when everyone is flying, then you’re ticket is

going to cost more.

Try to be flexible with your dates. If you are dead-set on visiting Paris, go to Paris
in the
spring or fall when fewer people visit and airfares are cheaper.
But if you want to go in the middle of August? You’re out of luck. Hawaii over
Christmas? Good luck! Prices will be at their highest.
The solution is to fly off-season. Search alternative dates so that you can capitalize
on the best day. The more rigid your plans, the less likely it will be that you find a
deal.
Moreover, it’s almost always cheaper to fly during the middle of the week than on
a weekend because most people travel on the weekends and airlines hike their
prices then. Prices are also cheaper if you fly after a major holiday as are early-
morning or late-night flights are cheaper because fewer people want to travel then
(who wants to wake up early?!).
In short, the difference of one day can mean hundreds of dollars in savings.
Airlines are not dumb. They know when a festival, holiday, major sports event, or
school break is coming up — and they raise prices accordingly.
Be flexible with your dates and you’ll likely be able to save yourself some money.
3. Be Flexible with Your Destinations

If you can’t be flexible about when you fly, at least be flexible with where you fly.
It’s best to be both, but if you really want to save the most money and get a cheap
flight for your trip, you at least need to be flexible with one or the other.
Airline search engines have made it really easy to search the entire world to find

the cheapest ticket. You no longer have to search manually, city by city, day by
day. Websites like Skyscanner, Momondo, and Google Flights all offer explore

tools that allow you to put in your home airport and see a map of the world with
all the
flights on it. This allows you to easily compare multiple destinations without
having to brainstorm every possible option. You’ll likely even find some interesting

destinations you hadn’t even thought of either!
If you are flexible with where you want to go (i.e., anywhere but home), use this
tool to figure out where to go:
Step 1: Go to Google Flights and click on the map:
Step 2: Next, but in your departure city and the date. Now you can look at a wide
variety of options on the map.
The truth about airfare is that there’s always a deal to some destination — it might
just not be your first choice. However, if you’re flexible about where you want to
go, you’ll always get a deal and save a ton of money in the process.
When you are locked into one place at one time, you are stuck with whatever price
shows up. Nothing can change that. But when you become flexible, suddenly the
entire world opens up to you and you’ll find amazing cheap airfares!
4. Fly Budget Carriers

Years ago, if you wanted to fly between continents, you were mostly stuck with
traditional expensive airlines. That’s no longer true. Budget airlines now service
many long-haul routes, making it possible to fly around the world for very little
money.
Norwegian Airlines allows you to fly between Europe and Bangkok for as little as
$250 each way.
AirAsia offers crazy-cheap deals around Asia and Australia for under $100 USD
each way.
Indian and Middle Eastern airlines offer cheap flights throughout the subcontinent
and Africa.

These days, you can fly most of the way around the world on a budget airline.

Sure, they might not be as comfortable and you may need to pay for premium
upgrades
 like checked bags and meals, but they bring the world to your doorstep
without breaking the bank.

Here is a list of the biggest budget airlines in the world:
Canada Asia Europe

Flair Airlines Air Asia Vueling
Swoop Tiger Air Ryanair
Jetlines Jeju Air Easyjet
Air Canada Rouge JetStar Aigle Azur
Porter Hong Kong Express Eurowings
Air Transat Scoot Norwegian Air
Sunwing Peach Air Wizz Air
WestJet Spice Jet
Spring Airlines Australia
United States Nok Air JetStar
Southwest T’Way Airlines
Allegiant Air Vanilla Air New Zealand
Frontier Cebu Pacific JetStar
Spirit Airlines Lion Air
Sun Country Airlines VietJet Air
JetBlue
(Pro tip: If you aren’t sure which budget airlines fly where, visit your departure
airport’s website to get a list of airlines that fly there.)
Flying budget airlines is a good alternative to flying “the majors” whenever

possible. You get fewer perks, but you can save a bundle in price.
Just be sure to watch out for fees. That’s how they make money! Budget airlines
often charge fees for checked bags, carry-ons, printing your boarding pass, using a

credit card, and anything else they can get away with. Be sure to add up the cost
of the ticket AND the fees to make sure that the price is lower than a larger carrier.


5. Don’t Always Fly Direct

Not only does it help to be flexible with dates and destinations but being flexible
with the route you take is another way to get a cheap flight. For example,
sometimes it’s cheaper to fly to London and take a budget airline to Amsterdam
than to fly direct to Amsterdam from your departure city.
I did precisely this when I was going to Paris. The flight from the US was $900
USD, but I could fly to Dublin for $600 and get a $60 flight to Paris. It meant more
flying time, but the $240 USD I saved was worth it to me.
To use this method, find out how much it is to go directly to your destination.
Then, open Google Flights and type in that destination’s continent to look at prices
to nearby airports. If the difference is more than $150 USD, I look to see how much
it is to get from the second airport to my primary destination (either by budget
flight or train, if it’s not too far)
If you do book separate segments, be sure to have at least three hours between
connections. This will give you space in case there is a delay as your second flight
won’t wait for you (you booked with a separate airline, so they won’t care if you’re
late or not).
Leaving a three-hour buffer will also cover you for an insurance claim since most
insurance companies require you to have at least a 3-hour delay before you can
make a claim.
This method is more work since you have to figure out lots of different routes and
check different airlines. But it can lower the price of your flight, which is worth the
extra effort if you end up saving a few hundred bucks.

6. Keep an Eye for Special Deals

Before you start looking for specific lights, make sure you’ve signed up for some
newsletters.
 Joining the mailing list for airlines and last-minute deal websites will
give you access to the absolute best deals out there. Sure, 99% of the might not fit

your itinerary but keeping your eye on the deals will ensure you don’t miss an
amazing deal.
More often than not, cheap flights are only available for a limited window (usually
24 hours). If you aren’t always scouring the web for sales, you’ll likely miss out the
best deals.
I would have missed out on a round-trip ticket to Japan for $700 USD (normally
$1,500) as well as a $500 flight to South Africa if I wasn’t signed up to flight deal
websites.
Additionally, airline newsletters often offer frequent flier bonuses. If you’re a travel
hacker, those points and miles can add up to free flights and awesome upgrades.
Aside from joining airline newsletters, the best websites for finding travel deals
are:
Airfarewatchdog – Great for searching US flight deals.

The Flight Deal – Great for global flight deals.
Holiday Pirates – The best for European flight deals.
Scott’s Cheap Flights – The BEST for US flight deals.
Secret Flying – A great site for flight deals from around the world.
7. Remember Not All Search Engines are Equal

In order to find the best deal, you need to search multiple websites. Many major
search sites don’t list budget carriers or obscure foreign carriers because those
airlines don’t want to pay a booking commission. Others don’t list booking sites
 in English. And others still only display prices retrieved directly from
that aren’t
airlines.

In short,
 not all flight search websites are created equal and all have their pros and
cons.

Since there is no perfect airline search engine, you’ll want t search a few to
compare. Even the best have their faults. That said I have a few favorites I always
start with as they tend to consistently show the best results. To me, the best
websites to find a cheap flight are the following:
Momondo – This is my favorite website. They search the most airlines and
websites in the world and come back with cheaper flights 92% of the time.
Google Flights – Great search engine that lets you see prices for multiple
destinations.
Skyscanner – The second best booking site out there that searches just as
many palces as Momondo. They have a great user interface (and a great app
for mobile)
Typically, I start all my searches with Skyscanner because it searches all major
AND budget airlines, non-English websites, English websites, and everything in
between. I’ve been using them since 2008 and they vet all the sites they link to as
they have strict criteria on who the operate with. It’s one of the most
comprehensive booking sites out there, they have the lowest price 99% of the
time, and it’s the search engine all the other travel experts I know use too.
So while the others are good and should not be ignored, Momondo should be your
starting point.
8. Take Advantage of Student Discounts

If you are a student (or under 26), there are many, many discounts available to you.
You can usually find prices 20-30% off the standard fare. Travel agencies like Flight
Centre can help find you a cheap ticket. Don’t overlook them!

Additionally, keep in mind that most student discounts transfer over to airline

partners. For example, Delta offers a student discount which means you can use
that discount
 on partner airlines such as KLM and Air France. This will allow you to
go much further afield while still saving a ton of money.

If you’re not sure which airlines offer discounts, visit their website or call them.
Doing a little digging to save 20% (or more) will be worth it!
9. Mix and Match Airlines

When you book directly with an airline, you’ll only be able to fly that airline and
any partner airlines it has. That means your options will be limited when it comes
to finding the perfect itinerary or saving the most money.
Usually, that will suffice. However, if you’re chasing greater savings, try booking
your tickets on separate airlines. For example, if you’re flying from New York to
Paris, you might have a stop in London. Booking both legs as one ticket will be
simple, but it likely won’t save you money.
Instead, book your New York to London flight as one ticket and then your London
to Paris ticket with another airline. That will allow you to shop around for the best
bargain. it’s more work, but the savings (and flexibility) can be worth it.
This is what most third-party booking websites like Kiwi.com do. They piece
together trips using whatever flights they can find to ensure you get the cheapest
price.
If you’re hunting for the lowest possible price and aren’t happy with what you’re
finding on the airline’s website, try booking separate segments. You might just
stubble onto a great deal!

10. Use Points and Miles

As soon as you know you want to travel somewhere you should sign up for a travel
rewards
 card. Airline rewards programs are the #1 way avid travelrs like me earn
free flights, travel perks, and free hotel stays. They offer flight upgrades, huge
 bonuses, credit toward rideshares like Uber or Lyft, access to free events,
welcome
access to airport lounges, and much more.
No matter how often you fly, you should be signed up for a reward program. You
don’t need to do any extra spending either. I earn over a million miles a year —
without flying or spending extra money. That translates into dozens of free flights
(often in business class) for myself and my family.
If you are smart with your money and collect points and miles (the art of “travel
hacking”), you can travel around the world for very little (and often free). Here are
some articles on travel hacking that can help you get started:
How I Earn 1 Million Frequent Flier Miles Every Year

Is Travel Hacking Really a Scam?
The Ultimate Guide to Travel Hacking
The Ultimate Guide to Picking the Best Travel Credit Card
The Best Travel Credit Cards in 2020
11. Search Ticket Prices for Individual Travelers

If you’re traveling with friends or family, don’t search for or buy multiple tickets in a
single purchase. Airlines always show the highest ticket price in a group of tickets
which means you’ll end up paying more money.
For example, if you are a family of four and you’re searching for four seats, the
airline will find four seats together and show your fare based on the highest ticket
price. So if seat A is $200, seats B and C are $300, and seat D is $400, it will price

those tickets as $400 each instead of adding up the individual ticket prices. If the
price difference is large, that translates into a sizeable extra expense.

For that
 reason, always search for tickets as a single person. Afterward, in the
checkout process, you can pick your seats so you and your family are sitting
 And even if you end up not beside one another, that’s a fair trade for
together.
saving a few hundred dollars.
12. Look for Tickets in Other Currencies

If your country’s currency is currently strong compared to others around the
world, search airfare in a country where the currency is weaker.
For example, when the US dollar was strong and the New Zealand currency weak, I
found a one-way flight from Australia to NYC for $1,000 USD. However, when I
searched on the New Zealand version of the airline, I found the same ticket for
$600 USD.
It was the same airline, same flight, and same booking class — it was just booked in
a different currency. This tip does not always work, but it works often enough that
it’s something worth trying if your currency is currently doing well.
(Tip: Always use a no-foreign-transaction-fee card to avoid paying a surcharge.)
13. Book Early…But Not Too Early

Airline fares will keep rising the closer you get to departure, but there is a sweet
spot when the airlines begin to either lower or increase fares based on demand.
Don’t wait until the last second but don’t book far, far in advance either. The best
time to book your flight is around 6–8 weeks before your departure, or around
three months before if you are going to your destination during their peak season.
This isn’t a hard and fast rule, though, so use it as a guide. At the end of the day,

saving a few bucks isn’t worth the hours and hours spent hunting for a deal. When
you find a decent price, just book it. It may not be the rock-bottom fair you hoped,

but it’s better than paying more when the price inevitably rises!

***

Finding a cheap flight is all about being flexible and getting creative. It may take
some effort, but the deals are out there if you’re willing to look. Follow the tips
above to get started, but don’t waste hours and hours hunting for a cheap flight. If
you’re spending more than an hour booking a flight, you’re spending too much
time.
Use the tips above on how to get a cheap flight to get the ball rolling. Do that, and
you’ll always get a great deal!
Find Your Cheap Flights Today

I start all my searches with Skyscanner because they search all major AND budget
airlines, non-English websites, English websites, and everything in between. Even if
you aren’t sure your plans, it’s best to start searching for flights today. People who
wait to book are people who end up spending the most.
Use this widget to plan your next trip!
Roundtrip One-way Multi-city

From To
Depart Return
(One-way)
Adults 16+ years Cabin class
1 Economy
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Children 0-15 years
0
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READ NEXT —-> How to Put This Into Practice: 5 Step-by-Step Instructions for
Booking a Flight
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additional cost to you, I earn a commission if you make a purchase. If you have any
questions about the companies or my status as an affiliate, please don’t hesitate to
e-mail me.
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3/3/2021 13 Easy Tips to ALWAYS Finding Cheap Flights in 2021

    Search this site

1. Ignore the Myths

2. Be Flexible with Your Travel Dates and Times

3. Be Flexible with Your Destinations

Step 1: Go to Google Flights and click on the map:

4. Fly Budget Carriers

Canada Asia Europe

Flying budget airlines is a good alternative to flying “the majors” whenever

Airfarewatchdog – Great for searching US flight deals.

7. Remember Not All Search Engines are Equal

8. Take Advantage of Student Discounts

9. Mix and Match Airlines

How I Earn 1 Million Frequent Flier Miles Every Year

11. Search Ticket Prices for Individual Travelers

which means you’ll end up paying more money.

12. Look for Tickets in Other Currencies

(Tip: Always use a no-foreign-transaction-fee card to avoid paying a surcharge.)

13. Book Early…But Not Too Early

Find Your Cheap Flights Today

Use this widget to plan your next trip!

Roundtrip One-way Multi-city

Adults 16+ years Cabin class

FACEBOOK TWITTER PINTEREST EMAIL

GET MY BEST STUFF SENT First Name

ABOUT US TRAVEL TIPS COMMUNITY BOOK YOUR TRIP

Copyright Travel Blog Book Club Cheap Flights

 FOLLOW ME ON THE WEB

Copyright © 2021 · Nomadic Matt’s Travel Site

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