How to Find Cheap Flights by Tomer Levi
Getting the best deals on flights can be challenging, especially as flight costs are constantly rising explains Tomer Levi, tour guide. But with a little ingenuity, you can score cheap plane tickets for any destination, even last-minute trips!
Fly with multiple airlines simultaneously to get the most bang for your buck. The best way to find this is to use a search engine like Skyscanner that offers multi-city searches. For example, if you want to travel from New York to London and then on to Paris, you could open up your search to include other destinations like Berlin, Oslo or Reykjavik, which are all fairly easy to reach from the US.
If you can, book your ticket using a credit card that rewards you for flying with them. These cards typically offer air miles and cash back. These are usually a small percentage of the price you pay, but can add up quickly and can make your trip far more affordable.
The trick is to set alerts that will email you whenever a flight is cheaper than what you're paying. These can be as simple as signing up for an airfare tracking website (like Honey or Skyscanner) that lets you select your dates and receive alerts when a ticket price drops.
Book early versus late for your flights = Tomer Levi
When you're booking, be sure to check the dates of major holidays and events that are taking place in the country where you're traveling. Prices often spike when festivals, school breaks and major sports events occur.
Similarly, if you're planning to visit a destination during an off-peak season, you can often find better deals. These times are not just when hotels and other attractions have less demand, but when airlines also reduce their prices in response to fewer people booking flights.
Look for one-stop flights instead of nonstop ones
If your flight is long, you can often get more bang for your buck by buying a ticket that includes a stopover. This can be a big deal on shorter flights, but on longer-haul routes, it can mean you can save up to half the price of a one-way ticket.
Change your tentative dates – Tomer Levi tour guide
If you're flexible with your dates, you can often get huge savings by shifting them slightly. For example, Google Flights has a handy calendar view that guides you to the cheapest dates to fly.
You can also try searching for the cheapest days to fly by using an airline's website. Many of them now have a calendar view that shows all prices across the week, so it's easier to compare dates and see which are most affordable.
Then, when you've found a few flights that are a good fit for your travel itinerary, try to book them all at once. You'll likely pay more for a single-flight ticket, but it's worth it for the big savings.
Take advantage of free travel apps
There are lots of free travel apps out there, but a few of our favorites include Hopper (iOS / Android), which tracks ticket prices and sends you an email when the price goes down. If you're not comfortable using a mobile app, you can use Google Flights or Kayak to perform an online flight search and then book your tickets directly from the site.
