My secret to being able to travel so much? Finding cheap flights! Often times, I don’t have a destination in mind and I travel to wherever I’m able to find a good deal. It’s like travel roulette! While finding these deals certainly takes work, every dollar you save can be a dollar you put toward your on the ground costs, or a fun experience. Over the years, I’ve learned the secrets of traveling on a budget. Here’s my guide on how to find cheap flights!
Be Flexible with Dates
If you are able to be flexible with the dates/times you fly, this could save you hundreds of dollars on your flights! Do you know you want to go to Orlando sometime this summer, but aren’t locked into specific dates? Be flexible! Using the Google Flights calendar search, you can type in your cities, and then click through the calendar to explore how RT prices vary.
For example, here’s a snapshot of the prices nonstop from New York to Orlando for a week in the summer. $440+ RT! However, by utilizing the calendar function, you would see that if you tweak the days you fly to the week prior, flights are less than $150 RT. That’s quite a difference!
Start Tracking Early
Google Flights’ alert function is one of the most valuable tools out there. I am constantly tracking flights all over the world just to monitor prices and trends. Once you select your departing and returning flight, use the toggle to turn “Track Prices” to On. Google will now monitor the price of these flights and can notify you to any changes so you can pull the trigger at the best time!
By clicking on the hamburger menu on the left and then clicking “Tracked Flight Prices”, you can scroll through all of your tracked prices and see how they’ve changed. Expanding the “Price History” feature will show you a graph of how the price has changed over time. Additionally, it will sometimes even show you the prices before you started tracking!
This tool helps me book flights over high-travel days such as Memorial Day and the Fourth of July. When the price drops, you can jump on it quickly!
Are you set on dates for your travel?
Set on dates for your travel, but not necessarily committed to a specific airline or time of day to fly? Type in your cities and dates and use the Track Prices toggle on this page (it’s on the left side of the page this time)! This will track all airlines and flights between those two cities on your dates!
Set Up Alert Emails
Once you set up tracked flights, Google gives you the option to receive email notifications when the price rises or falls. I cannot recommend this tool enough! You can select the frequency of the emails- immediately, daily, or weekly. I personally choose to receive a daily rollup. This daily email makes it so I can scroll through and see all the changes to my tracked flights.
In the emails, you will now be able to get a snapshot of the original price (when you started tracking), and what it currently is. If you see a price come through that is within your acceptable range, book ASAP. Sometimes these fares are “mistake fares” and will only last for a short time. Click directly on the fare in the email and it will take you straight to the Google Flights page. This page will contain links to do the final booking on the airline’s website. Don’t forget to log in to your frequent flier account to get the points though!
Explore Nearby Cities & Airports
Taking the time to do a little bit of research can really pay off to some serious savings! Google Flights also lets you type in a region, state, or country to compare prices to multiple airports at once. Often, it’s worth doing a little extra driving or taking public transportation between cities to save some serious dough.
Here’s an example if you wanted to take a trip to Puerto Rico for a week this summer. Vieques is a beautiful island with crystal clear water and white sand beaches. Many people who travel to Puerto Rico make their way to Vieques (and for a good reason!). If you take a look at this map, you’ll see that flights into Vieques are over $740. However, if you fly into San Juan or Ponce, you could save $300 on airfare and then take the ferry for $2.50. An obvious win!
This goes the same for your departing airport! Unfortunately Google Flights only allows you to explore nearby airports for destinations (not origins), so this piece requires a little more manual labor. If you’re flying from Florida’s Gulf coast, consider looking at flights out of Tampa, Sarasota, or Fort Myers. Sometimes a little bit of a drive is worth saving $100. If you’re looking at flights from Rome to NYC, also consider looking at Milan or Florence-NYC.
Utilize Points and Miles
This is quite the loaded topic, and a topic that requires more than just a few paragraphs, but always something to keep in mind when looking at airfare.
Are you loyal to an airline but flexible about your destination? I sometimes find myself in this boat when I’m sitting on a pile of JetBlue points and am just looking to get away for a weekend. Looking for flights on one specific airline requires a little round about maneuvering in Google Flights. However, it can help you get a clear visual on all your options!
First, type in a route into flights that you are certain your airline flies (can be any route). For JetBlue, I’ll usually type in JFK – BUF. From there, you can select JetBlue from Airlines drop down. Then, clear the destination from the search or type in “United States” (in this case, clearing “BUF”) and click enter. This enters Google Flights’ “Explore” page so you can see all your options for flying on that specific airline. You can then see where you can fly on the cheap and get maximum value for your points!
When it’s going to be expensive, no matter what…
Sometimes you’re flying somewhere that is going to put a dent in your wallet no matter what you do. In these situations, consider utilizing points or miles for a segment of your journey.
For example, when I was planning a trip to Hawaii, no matter how much I tried to find cheap airfare, there was no luck. I knew it was going to cost me a pretty penny no matter how I tried to hack the system. To help alleviate costs, I used a combination of points/cash for each segment. I redeemed JetBlue points to get from JFK-LAX, paid for LAX-HNL, paid for HNL-LAS, and then redeemed JetBlue points for LAS-JFK.
Tip: When doing this, be mindful that you are booking completely separate itineraries. For example, if your HNL-LAS flight is delayed and you end up missing your LAS-JFK flight, the airline is not required to rebook you, since they were booked as two separate segments with two separate airlines. If you choose to do this, always allow a generous layover to cushion in the event of delays. It’s a bit of a risk, but can save some serious money if done correctly!
Account For All Additional Fees
“If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” Budget airlines can be a great option if you are looking to get from Point A to Point B with very few frills. However, if you are looking for anything additional, it’ll cost you.
Let’s take a look at this flight from the NYC Area to Miami. Google Flights shows $124 round trip, which isn’t false. However, because it’s on Spirit Airlines, you need to be aware that the “all-in” price you pay will likely be significantly higher. You can see from the icon next to the price that a carry on bag is not included. If you have anything more than a backpack, you will have to pay to bring it on board and use the overhead bin space. If you want to see the price of flights including a carry on, you can use the feature on the top to see how prices change to include carry-on or checked luggage.
Using this feature, we can see that the $124 flight turned into significantly more and is no longer the cheapest option! JetBlue is now the cheapest option when you factor in a carry on. It’s a helpful tool to help you analyze you’re all in costs.
Additional costs
Another trend to keep an eye out for is the cost to choose your seat on the plane. By booking the most “basic” economy fare, you typically are not given this option. On average, this will range from $10-50 per segment. This is something that you need to decide its worth for yourself. Personally, for short flights (anything under 4 hours or so), I won’t make the splurge. However, on longer flights or red-eyes, it’s worth it to me to pay the little bit extra to make sure I get a window seat to rest my head on. Also be sure to bring your own snacks and waters on board, because those will also cost you!
If Possible, Be Flexible with the Destination
Looking to get away, but not sure where you want to go? Being this flexible can save you a TON of money. It can also allow you to explore somewhere new that you may not of thought about! This is my favorite way to search for airfare, because I find myself having so much fun researching new possible destinations!
You can use Google Flights to be as general or as specific as you’d like to be. Want to go to Europe for a week in September? Easy! Instead of typing in a destination city or airport, just type “Europe”. A map will appear showing all the cities in Europe you can fly into, and the cost associated with it.
You can use the features to narrow down your search a little bit more. Say you want to only fly non-stop and don’t want to spend more than $550 RT. Easy! Just use the toggles on the top and left to narrow down your search even more.
Just like that, you’re shown cities that meet your search requirements. London, Barcelona, Budapest and Copenhagen are all options!
Tip: with Europe especially, it sometimes pays to do a little extra research. Getting around Europe is generally very cheap (between trains and low-cost airlines). For example, if you’re looking to go to Paris, flying in and out of London and taking the train to Paris may end up being cheaper than flying to Paris directly. Plus- you’ll get a chance to explore another city!
To make things even easier, there are several companies that do the hard work for you. They will send you an email notification when flights to anywhere in the world drop below their typical range. Scotts Cheap Flights is my personal favorite. They’re constantly scouring the internet and searching for “mistake fares”- when airlines incorrectly price their flights. You often have to act very fast on these (typically day of, or within a few hours), but can be an amazing money saver!
When you subscribe to these services (which are very cheap, usually ~$30 a year), you plug in the city you live in, and they will notify you of low costs in your area. If the deal is good enough, they’ll even notify you if airports in nearby cities have a deal, as it’s often worth a drive or quick flight to save hundreds of dollars!
These services have helped me book a $350 RT ticket to Paris, a $120 RT ticket to Palm Springs, and $170 one way ticket to Oslo!
Traveling soon? Check out my Travel Tips page to help you score good deals on flights, packing tips, tools to help you plan, and more!
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