Want to stretch your travel budget further? With a few strategic searches and the right timing, you can save hundreds—sometimes thousands—on airfare.
If you already know when and where you want to travel, this guide will show you how to find the cheapest flights for your itinerary. If you’re just looking for a cheap flight, you might want to check out Google Flight Deals or sign up for one of the many flight deals newsletters (like Airfare Watchdog). Both of these methods will help you find unbelievable deals and I’ll share a specific post about Google Flight Deals later.
But I can’t travel spur-of-the moment generally, since my work schedule is firmly set by the college academic year. I plan months in advance for a trip, so my tips are centered on similarly suited travelers. Those who feel more comfortable getting their flights squared away long before the trip—this blog is for you. Here is my plan of attack for finding less costly flights.
When to Book Flights
Start planning in the sweet spot. For domestic flights, experts suggest looking 1-3 months ahead of time and 2-6 months ahead for international flights. One expert even drilled the booking window down to 38 days before a domestic and 100 days before international. I don’t think I could ever cut it that close in order to test that theory! You will need to plan earlier than the suggested booking windows for holidays, including Spring Break (early March for colleges, early April for K-12). For business/first class, you will want to look about 11 months out for an international trip, although you can also get a last-minute flight deal if you plan to upgrade.
Best Days to Fly
According to the CEO of Dollar Flight Club, Jesse Neugarten, the cheaper days to fly are Tuesday and Wednesday since there are generally more open seats. Most people don’t want to start or end a vacation or a business trip mid-week, so those days can provide better deals. You might also want to try Saturdays but avoid really pricey days when everyone is looking to fly like Friday, Sunday, and Monday. In short, it has been debunked that there are cheaper days of the week to book flights, but there are days where it is cheaper to fly.
Use AI & Google Flights
Learn the routes. To get the best flight deals, you need to know which carriers are going to the place you want to go and to nearby airports. This is where artificial intelligence (AI) can help. Unlike some popular social media posts claim, it won’t solve complex flight dilemmas for you (I’ve tried and it just told me to search Google Flights), but it can still help. Ask AI which carriers fly your route and if there are any low-cost carriers that might not show up on most travel sites.
Google Flights. Now that you know when you want to go, when to book, where you’re traveling, and which carriers fly that route, you’re ready to get down to the real business of finding cheap flights—Google Flights. Google Flights will ask you departure airport, arrival airport, departure date, return date, number of people, round-trip/one-way/multi-city, and fare class. You can also drill down for specific carriers and for number of stops. Here are some hints for success with Google Flights:
- Be flexible with airports. Look at your home airport and those close to you, as well as airports close to where you’re flying. Detroit is my home airport, but I check Chicago, Toronto, and Cleveland (sometimes even New York/New Jersey) to find the best deals. It can save me thousands just to drive a few more hours or take a short hopper flight.
- Be flexible with dates. Google Flights will show you approximate prices for other dates if you open the calendar, so play around.
- Search for one seat at a time, even if you need two or more. When flying, there are buckets of seats at certain prices. For example, if you look for two people, you might see two flights that equal $1000 but if you look individually, you will see one flight for $400 and one for $500. There was $400 in one bucket and $500 in another, but you asked for two so the computer gave you both out of the $500 bucket, since there was only one space left in the $400 bucket. It’s worth it to price them individually and book two tickets that you then link in the system, if you have to.
Compare Routes and Fare Types
Search premium and business/first fares. It’s worth comparing all fare classes—sometimes premium seats cost the same as economy!
Consider multi-leg routes. Google Flights can give you ideas of flights that are nonstop, one stop, or 2+ stops. Once you know that information, you can search yourself for cheaper flights by splitting the ticket and flying to the layover city on one ticket and then buying a separate ticket to your desired airport. For instance, if you want to go to Rome and Air France has a flight from Detroit to Paris and then Paris to Rome. Check what the fare would be if you flew only from Detroit to Paris and then booked a separate flight from Paris to Rome. You can also use the multi-city function on Google flights to see if it might be better to arrive in one city but depart from another.
Compare one-way versus round-trip. Usually round-trip will be cheaper, but occasionally I’ve found that two one-ways are cheaper than a round-trip. I check this manually through Google Flights, but you can query AI to see if two separate one way flights cost less than the round trip flight you’ve found.
Check out budget airlines that might not be on Google Flights. AI can help you identify these carriers by asking it “what low-cost carriers fly this route that may not show up on travel websites?”
Booking Tips & Final Thoughts
Use flight prediction apps. I’ve booked flights to Italy so many times that I generally know if I’m getting a deal. If I’m booking a new route though, I will look at Skyscanner or Hopper to get an idea if the price I’m seeing is a good deal or not. You can also ask AI if this is a good price for the flight you’ve selected.
Monitor the price. If I can’t find flights for the price I want, or if flights are predicted to drop, I’ll set a Google Flight alert so I know when the prices change.
Book on the official website. Third-party booking sites might save you a little money, but this is an instance when I recommend paying a little more if you have to. I’m an affiliate of Expedia, who will book flights for you, but I still recommend booking directly. If anything goes wrong with the flight, you want to be able to reschedule with the carrier and this won’t happen if you book through a third-party. Flights change times frequently. Most of the time it works for me but when it doesn’t—since I booked directly—I can just call the carrier and let them know and they can rebook my flight free of charge. This likely won’t happen with a third-party. Also, if you book directly, the carrier will send you travel alerts; you’re at the mercy of the third-party to let you know of travel changes if anything happens. Lastly, I’ve noticed that the “deal” isn’t often really a deal. It might not include bags, seat selection, etc that would be included if you booked with the carrier. Bottom line: unless it’s a really big savings, I wouldn’t book with anyone but the carrier.
Finding cheap flights takes time, but the savings — and comfort — are worth it. I hope these tips help you score great deals! I’d love to hear your favorite ways to save on airfare in the comments. Happy travels!
Bonus Travel Hacks
- Reprice—if you can. Although many carriers aren’t allowing this anymore, some carriers will let you rebook at a lower price and give you an e-credit for the difference. This is great but as I’ve mentioned, it might not be a reality on your carrier. Check to see first before booking a flight with the intent of hoping it goes lower.
- Use the right credit card. I make sure the credit card I use is giving me the most bang for my buck and will insure my flight.
- Use points to upgrade. Upgrading your seat from main economy to premium or premium to first can be an efficient use of points. Just make sure to not count on it. The upgraded price might not be worth it or the flight might sell out and no upgrade is possible.
- Check whether it would be better to use miles/points than cash.
Amy French, Ph.D., is the voice behind Roaming Historian. A professional historian and seasoned traveler, she shares stories that blend history and travel to give readers a deeper understanding of the places they explore.
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