Buzz
As the cost of airfare continues to rise, travelers are increasingly searching for ways to find budget-friendly flights. To ensure you don’t overpay, begin your ticket search at least two months ahead and subscribe to email alerts to stay informed when prices drop. Low-cost carriers often provide the most affordable options, especially for red-eye flights. If you’re ready to invest a little extra time, you could save significantly on your flight costs.
Steps
Optimizing Your Ticket Search and Travel Dates
Start looking for domestic flights at least 6 weeks before your trip. For domestic travel, it’s recommended to begin your ticket search roughly a month and a half in advance. Continue monitoring prices weekly to catch any drops until you book. For international flights, begin your search around 20-24 weeks before departure.
- Searching for tickets more than 6 weeks ahead (domestic) or 24 weeks ahead (international) may not be useful, as prices can fluctuate widely before booking.
- As a rule, it’s best to book your tickets as early as possible.
- Although 24 weeks may seem like a lot of time to book international flights, airlines often raise their prices for international routes well in advance of domestic routes.
- Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many airlines have waived reissuance fees for changing your flight dates. This gives you more flexibility without the fear of penalties if you need to alter your plans.
- Looking for tips on finding affordable flights? Explore our How and where can I find cheaper flights? forum on Mytour.
Book your tickets at least 2 weeks in advance. The ideal time frame for purchasing tickets is between 2 and 4 weeks before your flight. Airlines tend to increase their prices when fewer than 14 days remain before departure. This becomes particularly significant during peak travel periods, such as spring break or the days leading up to Thanksgiving, when ticket prices may skyrocket.
- If you're flying internationally, you'll need to plan further ahead, as international tickets are typically more expensive. Aim to purchase tickets at least 3 months before your flight.
- Waiting until the week before your flight means you'll face significantly higher prices, even with budget airlines.
- If you missed the 2-3 week window, your best alternative is to wait until less than 24 hours before departure. Airlines often slash prices dramatically to fill remaining seats. However, last-minute booking carries the risk of flights being sold out, or only expensive tickets being available.
Explore alternative travel dates to uncover cheaper flights. If your travel dates are flexible, shifting them could help you find better deals. Use an aggregator or airline website to compare prices over a 3-4 day period. If you can adjust your schedule, you may discover significant savings by selecting the days with the lowest ticket prices.
- For example, if your original plan is to fly on May 1 and return on May 20 for $400, you might find that leaving on May 3 and returning on May 21 could cost only $325.
Save money by opting for early morning or late-night flights. Many travelers prefer flights at more convenient times, making popular flight windows more expensive. Airlines typically charge more for tickets on flights departing during peak times, such as 10:00 a.m. Conversely, red-eye flights (those departing between 9:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m.) are often much cheaper to compensate for the inconvenience of traveling at odd hours.
- Most flight comparison sites let you filter by preferred departure times.
Choose to fly midweek or on Saturday. Airlines often release discounts on Monday night, hoping that travel agents will catch the early sales. By Tuesday morning, competitors usually offer similar deals, which leads airlines to lower their prices further. The best chances for snagging cheap fares are on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, or Saturdays. Avoid booking flights on Fridays and Sundays, as they tend to be the priciest days for domestic travel.
- For international flights, weekdays are almost always cheaper than weekends.
- This strategy isn't foolproof, though. Be sure to check multiple days (including weekends) for specific routes to ensure you're not missing a potential deal.
Try to stay at your destination over a Saturday night. Airlines typically price tickets higher for business travelers, who usually don't stay over Saturday nights at their destinations.
Choosing the Right Airline and Booking Platform
Use your browser’s incognito mode to find cheaper airline tickets. Incognito mode prevents websites from storing cookies on your device. When a site detects repeated searches for the same flight, it may raise ticket prices. To open incognito mode, press Control + Shift + N in Chrome or Safari, or Control + Shift + P in Firefox or Internet Explorer.
- Incognito mode is especially useful if you're searching on different days, as it ensures the latest prices appear rather than cached ones, helping you avoid missing out on the best deal.
- If you prefer not to use incognito mode, you can clear your cookies after each visit to a travel site.
Use aggregator websites to compare ticket prices from different airlines. Aggregator sites are excellent for comparing flight options across various airlines. Just enter your departure and arrival cities along with your travel dates, and browse through different flight combinations to find the lowest price. Many of these sites also feature fare calendars to help you find the cheapest days to fly within a month.
- If you're willing to put in a bit more effort, visit the airline’s website directly after checking prices on an aggregator. Some airlines offer exclusive discounts if you book directly through their site.
- Popular aggregator websites include Priceline, Travelocity, and Expedia.
Consider flying with a budget airline if you can do without in-flight perks. Budget airlines typically offer lower ticket prices because they don't provide amenities like Wi-Fi, free snacks, or reclining seats. Flying with these carriers can sometimes save you more than 50% compared to flying with traditional airlines.
- If you're flying within the U.S., to Hawaii, or the Caribbean, check out airlines such as Frontier, JetBlue, Southwest, and Spirit.
- For flights within Europe, consider booking with Norwegian Air.
Discover More Ways to Save on Your Travels
Sign up for email notifications to catch low-fare offers. Almost all major travel booking platforms offer the option to sign up for fare alerts. Simply enter your departure and destination airports along with your travel dates, and the site will send you notifications when the prices drop. It's recommended to subscribe to fare alerts at least 3-4 months before flying domestically, giving you ample time to track price trends and book at the best time.
- If you don't have a specific destination, sign up for alerts for cheap flights departing from your nearest airport (or others nearby).
- If you do have a destination, check out AirfareWatchdog, which offers great deals from city-to-city. This will help you craft an affordable travel plan.
Consider booking separate one-way flights to save on round-trip fares. A useful tip for savvy travelers: sometimes booking two one-way tickets can cost less than a round-trip ticket. Instead of searching for round-trip fares, search for separate one-way tickets and purchase them individually. You might even fly on different airlines, depending on which offers the lowest one-way fares.
- For instance, you may find that a round-trip ticket from Seattle to Denver costs $300, but two one-way tickets from Seattle to Denver and back only cost $75 each.
Use a travel rewards credit card to rack up frequent-flyer miles. Many travel rewards credit cards give you miles for every dollar you spend. If you use a credit card for everyday purchases, you can quickly accumulate miles. Once you've accumulated enough, you can redeem these miles for a free round-trip flight.
- Make sure to compare different travel credit cards to find the one that suits you best. Some cards may only work with certain airlines, while others may come with higher annual fees.
- Additionally, many airlines offer their own branded credit cards, which provide immediate bonus miles upon activation and continue to accumulate miles with each purchase.
Redeem your frequent-flyer miles for free flights. Almost all airlines have a frequent-flyer program. If you often fly with one airline, sign up for their miles program online. It may take a few flights to accumulate enough miles, but once you have 20,000–40,000 miles, you'll be able to redeem them for a free round-trip flight within the U.S.
- To join a frequent-flyer program, simply sign up online, providing your details such as name, credit card information, and address. Afterward, you'll receive a frequent-flyer number that lets you track and redeem your miles.
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Airlines rarely offer upgrades for the cheapest tickets. If you're hoping for the possibility of upgrades, it's a good idea to inquire about upgradeable fares through the airline or a travel agent.
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For international flights, you might find better deals by shopping as if you're a resident of the country you're flying from. For example, if you're an American flying from Bangkok to Vancouver, search for flights on Thai booking websites rather than American ones for better prices.
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If you're flying during a major holiday, keep in mind that tickets are usually cheaper on the actual holiday itself. Many people prefer to relax at home during holidays rather than travel, so airlines may reduce prices on days like Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Labor Day.
The tips shared in this section come from the firsthand experiences of Mytour readers just like you. If you have any useful advice you'd like to contribute to Mytour, feel free to submit it in the field provided below.
- Sign up for alerts from your local airport and your preferred airlines as they may share information on discounted flights or exclusive offers.
- For international trips, departing from or arriving at a major international airport is usually more affordable than flying to or from smaller airports.
- Flying on a Tuesday tends to be the most economical option of the week, so consider scheduling your travel around this day.
