How to find cheap flights?

Searching and browsing the web to find cheap flights is usually the first step when going travelling. With too many search engines and continually fluctuating prices, the research for cheap flights may be tiring and overwhelming.

I get tons of messages from people asking how I can travel so much and where I find the most convenient flights. Here are some crucial advices to help you save time and money when booking your next flight. I wrote down a long and detailed list of tips on how to find cheap flights anywhere in the world:

Be flexible on dates and destinations

This is the number 1 rule to find cheap flights. You need to have flexibility for when you are leaving and where you are going. The cheapest flights I booked, I wasn’t planning to go to that specific location. Think about it: we’ve got the whole world to explore, does it really matter if you are going to Seychelles or Mauritius? Guatemala or Nicaragua? Brazil or Ecuador?

If one place is far cheaper than the other and you have never been there, why to spend the extra $$$?

Use Secret Flying, the best website for cheap flights

This is it. The best flight deal website in the world. In the entire Universe I can say. I scored endless of cheap flights with Secret Flying and you should start using it too. Check the website, download the app and even follow them on Facebook and Instagram. I included it in the 10 must-have travel apps.

You can find all sort of flight deals, from error fares to special offers. It is updated every minute and you can activate notifications to keep you informed of the latest deals. They also recently added hotel deals.

And once you find that super cheap flight from your departing destination, book it ASAP. It won’t last long!

The best search engines: Skyscanner and Momondo

There are hundreds of different search engines and price comparators out there. You shouldn’t waste too much time and energy to check many of them. I found Skyscanner to be the best one. It is well organized, you can put a flexible departure date and location, and have an open search: From Amsterdam to anywhere in the world, anytime in the year. That’s how you score the cheapest flights.

Also, have a look at Momondo because a few times I found cheaper deals there. Momondo works with certain resellers that Skyscanner doesn’t have and it can happen that they have better deals on some specific destination. It is worth giving a look.

Use the incognito mode

You probably experienced that you searched for a flight and you found a certain price. An hour later you searched again and the price increased. Why?

Because the web remembers and saves your searches and sometimes puts higher prices on that route as it knows you are interested in it. I’m not an IT expert and have no clue how this works, but it is a fact that this happens.

The solution? Use the Incognito mode and search through different browsers (Mozilla, Chrome, Explorer..) so the web won’t collect your search history and prices won’t increase.

Search for cheaper flights at nearby airports

You can score a cheaper flight putting the departure or arrival at in another location, nearby where you are going. For example, when I lived in Copenhagen I scored some great deals flying from Malmo, in Sweden, just an hour away with Flixbus. I paid 5 € for the bus and got some 50€ discount on the ticket. Not bad eh?

Now that I live in Amsterdam I always check flights from Eindhoven, just 1h45m away by bus, where most of the low costs airlines fly.

Skyscanner allows you to have the option of searching from nearby airports. It is useful and you should try it. Anyways bear in mind that it doesn’t always include all the possibilities, so if you know the airports near you with cheap airlines, put them in the destination manually.

Search directly on the airline website

This is mostly for low cost airlines and smallest companies not found on Skyscanner.

I find it easier and more precise to search flights directly on the app of Ryanair, Easy Jet, Wizz Air, Norwegian, Vueling etc…When you know the low cost operates that route, it is more precise to search the flight there than on Skyscanner.

In addition, for some of the smallest and most unknown airlines, you should do some research and go directly on their website.

When I travelled around the Pacific Islands I couldn’t find certain flights on any search engine, but I had to research the airline operating that route and contact it directly. I flew with Air Kiribati from Tarawa to Tuvalu, and that’s a route you won’t find anywhere but the Air Kiribati website.

Book with the cheapest reseller

You all know Skyscanner and Momondo compare prices from heaps of different resellers. Sometimes I find new ones I never heard of, at a lower cost. My suggestion? Always go with the cheapest, they won’t screw you over (usually). Unless you want a cancellation option, you are totally fine with the cheapest reseller.

If you want that extra safety for cancellation or when there is a short layover time, book it directly with the airline. But don’t bother spending more just to book with a reseller that you heard of and you think it’s more reliable.

It’s either the airline website with more guarantees or the cheapest possible reseller.

Book 2 one ways instead of a roundtrip ticket

This is not a rule but sometimes it can save you some money. In general, it doesn’t work for long distance flights (when flying from Europe to America it is usually cheaper to buy a roundtrip) but it is interesting for short distance routes, operated by several airlines. For example, when I was flying from Rome to Copenhagen. it was sometimes cheaper to book one way with Ryanair and the return with Vueling, or Norwegian. Or viceversa.

Book connecting flights yourself

Instead of letting search engines organizing what they find it’s the best option for you, with layovers and connecting flights, do that yourself. It is usually cheaper.

You can decide to wait a few hours in the airport and get a later connecting flights, much cheaper than the one search engines selected for you.

For example, I had to fly from Beijing to Port Moresby, in Papua New Guinea. Instead of booking through Skyscanner and having a 2 hour layover in Manila, I arranged it myself. I booked one way Beijing-Manila, then 12 hours in Manila airport, and another one way Manila-Port Moresby. I ended up saving almost 150€.

Check for discounts and loyalty programs with certain airlines

Some airlines offer interesting loyalty and discount programs you should check out. For example, Wizz Air has an interesting one that I always used when I was living in Copenhagen:

Wizz Air loyalty program: You pay 30€ a year and get 10 € discount for you and a friend on every flight you book with them.

Norwegian sometimes comes up with some discount codes. For example I flew from Oslo to Svalbard using the UNDER26 code which saved me about 30%.

Secret flying usually posts about all these deals too, so follow them and you’ll have the best flight deals.

How to find cheap flights: Book Now, don’t wait!

You searched how to find cheap flights. You browsed the web and actually found a pretty good deal. Then book it! Do not wait otherwise you will lose it. Cheap flight deals usually don’t last long, so once you find it, you better take it now and don’t regret it later!

Avoid checked bag fees

I travelled with a 90liter backpack which weighted 16kg, and I never paid extra to take my backpack on the plane. How?

Backpacks, differently from suitcases, can be shaped and made smaller. Check out this article on how to avoid checked bag fees every time you fly.

How to avoid checked bag fees?

Hope you guys will find my advices on how to find cheap flights useful! Share it with your friends and get your next flight asap! There is the whole world to discover, so why wasting time!

If you have any other interesting advice on how to score cheap flights, write it in the comments below!