Isn’t finding cheap airline tickets one of the most exhausting experiences? To be on the move often, one requires money to book air tickets, which eats up quite a good amount of your travel budget. After all, if a flight were too expensive, you wouldn’t want to travel anywhere.

In this blog, I have listed few steps and ways of booking cheap air tickets. I have personally experimented with most of these tricks and have read lots on this subject. Follow them and I am sure you will not be the person on a flight who paid most for the ticket 🙂

Booking Cheap Air Tickets

First things first, there are no secret ninja traits for booking cheap tickets. What is required is to understand the ‘ways/tactics’ to find cheap fares, which are out there in the market.

1. Be Flexible in booking your tickets

 I have somehow always believed that the earlier you book less you will pay. But how far in advance do you plan? If you are keen to go to a specific destination then I suggest the sweet spot is 2 to 3 months in advance.

If you can’t buy much in advance, try selecting mid-week flights. Flying during middle of the week is always cheaper than flying on weekends. Moreover, prices are cheaper if you fly after major holidays.  

Sometimes, an airline may fail to fill an aircraft. So, grab this opportunity if you are up for a backpack trip or are flexible with the destination, and then book yourself the last minute deals.

Be flexible when you fly and you are bound to save some money.

2. Flight Comparison Engines and Airline websites

Leave no stone unturned and search as many websites you can to make sure that you are getting the best deal.

To start with, check Skyscanner and Momondo to compare prices. Both the search sites will try to provide you cheaper tickets. I am always stalking Skyscanner for cheap flights and to be honest, it has paid off well. If you are flexible about where to go, like me, then go on Skyscanner and type “everywhere” as your destination. You can also add “nearby airports”. You will be amazed by the prices that will be shown.

After shortlisting the location, you may check Kayak  or Google flights  or Make My Trip and compare prices for a particular location. Simultaneously, I also strongly recommend to check airline’s website. Quite often, you will find exclusive deals on airline websites, which may not be shared with these travel search engines.

You should be aware that there is no perfect search engine. Most popular websites may not even have all the regions covered or all budget carriers for that matter. Nonetheless, to pick few, my favorite search engines are Momondo, Google Flights, Kayak  and Travelocity.

Compare search engines and check airline’s website for deals.

3. Don’t be opposed to connecting Flights and don’t always fly direct

 It may be time consuming but you may be able to reach your destination at a lesser cost. A direct flight is usually more expensive than taking a budget flight with stopovers. For example, sometimes, it may be cheaper to fly to Paris and take a budget airline to Berlin rather than flying directly to Berlin.

Flying budget carrier or with layover is a good alternative.

4. You may not necessarily book return ticket on the same flight

Long gone are the days when it was cheaper to buy return tickets on the same airline. Mix it up, whether it is flying-in and out with different airline; or flying-in or out from different airports.

Be open to fly-in & out via different Airlines.

5. Use incognito mode

Have you ever observed that you see a raise in ticket cost almost every time you visit a flight booking website? These portals are smart. These portals automatically record your cookies and server details and so the moment you visit this site again, it is bound to show you raised amounts.

The best way is to view sites is in private mode or incognito mode in Chrome browsers before you book your tickets. Check here to know how.

If you want a clean slate, make sure you clear your cookies in website settings or simply use different browser or computer.

6. Track Airline’s new route

When an airline starts flying a new route or celebrate their anniversaries, they usually offer low prices to promote it. To cite an example, Thai Airways had come up with promotional offers for its 58thAnniversary for flights to Auckland.

The fact remains that there’s always a deal to some destination and if you are flexible on destinations, you will be able to find such deals. Sometimes, Airlines releases exclusive fares, promotional offers to their loyal fans via social media sites or through emails.

There is also no harm in signing up for mailing lists of airlines.

7. Keep an eye on blogs that post airline deals

There are bunch of kindhearted people who spend hours and hours on Internet for getting the best deals available and thereafter share them with people. A few of my favorite blogs and websites are The Points Guy, Skiplagged and Secret Flying.

Keep track on Blogs people write about the deals.

8. Sign up for frequent flier program

No matter how often you travel, you should sign up for airline’s reward program. These rewards are great way to get upgrades, companion tickets and discounts.

Signing up for Frequent Flier always helps.

Finding a cheap airfare is all about being flexible and smart in choosing the destinations. Do not waste your time forever finding a cheap flight. You will have to at some point, decide how much your time is worth spending on this; else, you will go crazy. I set a one-hour time limit and book a flight for a price I am “good” to pay and then go back and continue to watch Sacred Games on Netflix! 🙂  

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