Airfare represents one of the biggest aspects of a trip’s cost and you certainly don’t need to win a lottery to travel the world. Nowadays, finding that hidden cheap flight deal can be just as important as finding the right destination.
Finding a cheap flight is about being flexible and smart in where you go, when you go, and how you get there. While planning ahead in time and signing up for price alerts are some of the more common ways to go about booking cheaper flights, here are a few more secret ways to master the art:
Be Flexible with Travel Dates
The price of flights can vary considerably depending on the month, day and even time you travel. Traveling during off-peak months can help you save some money. Then, within a week, Tuesday is almost always the cheapest priced day due to the low demand for flights on this day. If you’re willing and able to travel out and/or back on a Tuesday, this can also save you some moolah. Lastly, taking an early morning flight is usually cheaper than taking it later in the day. So, do your research and be prepared to be flexible.
Be Flexible with your Destinations
Don’t get us wrong, we are not asking you to go to Tokyo when you intend to fly to Amsterdam. What we really mean is that you can always fly to Dubai instead of Abu Dhabi or to Toronto instead of Ottawa. Basically, whenever possible, it’s always advisable to fly in/out of a popular aviation hub of the country. Owing to the economies of scale, flights between these busy hubs are significantly cheaper than flights between other cities. Therefore, it’s always better to see if there is a better deal at a nearby airport. So, for instance, for your next Euro trip, you can plan in a way that you are entering and leaving Europe from busy hubs such as Paris or Zurich instead of other cities such as Budapest or Venice.
Discover Layover Destinations
As we observed in the previous point, almost all the Airlines, if not all, operate on a hub-and-spoke model which means they will offer discounts just for stopping for a layover in their country. For instance, if you stopover in Turkey or Russia, that Paris to Delhi flight becomes significantly cheaper, plus you get a free mini trip within a trip. You can always ask the airlines to extend your layover to a day or two by postponing your connecting flight, so that you get enough time to spend in your layover destinations.
Go Incognito (Ctrl+Shift+N)
When booking your flights online, be sure to use an incognito window. Websites use cookies to track your previous searches and they’ll be able to see what deal they already offered you. If you go incognito, you’ll be able to find the freshest deals. Considering the flight prices keep changing at regular intervals, this smart move can really turn out to be a critical factor in sealing your cheapest flight deal.
If you follow these tips to get a cheap flight, you’ll always get a great deal, save yourself time, stress, and avoid being that person who paid the most for their ticket!
