How to find the best flight deals in 2024 – the ultimate guide with all the tips you need to save on flights for your trips this year!
The key word is: FLEXIBILITY. Having flexible dates, time or destination always makes it easier to find cheap flights. But of course, there is not always such availability, but there are always some tips that can be applied.
1. Do your research on websites like google flights or Skyscanner
These sites allow you not only to find the cheapest flights to the destination and dates you want, but also to find the cheapest destinations or seasons to travel. Below are some examples of how you can use these websites.
Google Flights
In Google Flights select “Explore” and you will find this menu.
You can start by indicating the place from where you want to depart. If you want to find the cheapest destination, leave this field blank. Next you can select specific dates, if you have that restriction. If you have date flexibility, you can choose to search for all weekend, one-week or 2-week travel options in the next 6 months.
The limitation of this tool is that if you have flexible dates, you can only search for trips within the next 6 months. Furthermore, you cannot select 2/3-day trips that are not weekends, or in general trips that are of a duration other than 1 or 2 weeks.
After selecting the flexible dates you have access to the map and a list of possible destinations and dates. This list is sorted from cheapest to most expensive.
The process is the same if you have already defined your destination: you can select specific dates or flexible dates and thus find the cheapest flights.
Furthermore, if you have only decided on the country you are traveling to, Google Flights will show you the prices for the different airports you can fly to.
Next you can see the details of the available flights: airline, stopovers and schedule.
Skyscanner
In Skyscanner you also have the option “Explore everywhere” for when you have flexibility in your destination and want to see prices for different destinations.
You can select specific dates or whole months to see which months have the cheapest flights.
Using the full month option, without having set a specific destination, you will get the results of the different countries you can travel to, sorted from cheapest to most expensive.
Selecting one of these countries, you will have access to the different destinations/cities you can travel to within that country, again presented in increasing order of price.
Selecting each of the destinations, Skyscanner displays a calendar with the lowest prices for each day, both for the outbound and the return flight.
You can then select the days of your trip according to the prices shown. When you select your travel dates, a list of all the flights that exist on those dates, with different times, will be displayed. You can sort the list by most recommended flights, cheapest flights, fastest flights, etc.
Note: Remember that the cheapest flight found on these sites may be at a time that is not the most favorable for you or may be a flight with stopovers.
For example, if you are only able to travel on the weekend because you work during the week, you will only be able to choose flights that leave on Friday night. Often this means you won’t be able to choose the cheapest flight that day. Therefore don’t just compare calendar prices, dig deeper and look at the prices available for different Fridays at a time that is compatible with you to figure out which flight is the cheapest.
2. Pay attention to the website where you buy your flights
Once you find the flight you are interested in, you will be forwarded to this page where you have access to the different platforms where you can buy the flight.
In this case, the flight bought through the airline is the cheapest, but sometimes it can be cheaper bought through another website. Many of these sites add high fees to the final price or promote certain unnecessary insurance and extras that will increase the final price of your flight.
3. Take into consideration the costs associated with the flight
Aside from the cost of the flight itself, there are others to take into consideration. If you are going to travel with more than one backpack, remember that this luggage is paid separately with low cost airlines, while it may be included in the price of the flight with national airlines. Always compare values!
You may also consider traveling to an airport a little further away if you find a cheaper flight, but make sure it’s worth it considering the cost of all other transportation you will have to take to your final destination. That is, of course, if you have some time flexibility.
4. Use a VPN service
A VPN (virtual private network) allows you to change your location online to anywhere in the world! By searching for the same flight from different locations you can find very significant price differences, and choose the flight with the lowest cost.
Below is an example of a flight from Lisbon to Cancun. I searched for this flight using the VPN with location in Mexico and got the price of 903€. Then I searched for the exact same flight but changed my location to Germany and got a price of 885€.
This is a paid service, which in my opinion is very worthwhile, considering how much you can save when booking flights.
I use Surfshark’s VPN service, and with my code CAATARINAVIEIRA you can get a 2-year subscription with 83% discount + 3 additional free months, thus enjoying 27 months of this service for 57.90€ + taxes.
If you travel once a year, buy airline tickets for two people, saving 18€ per ticket (as in this example) with this service, it would already be worth the investment, right? But if you are here you probably travel more than once a year, so take advantage of this tip to save some money!
I hope this guide on “How to find the best flight deals in 2023” is helpful for your trip planning this year! Don’t forget that it all comes down to good research and having flexibility whenever possible.
Leave your opinion in the comments and follow me on social networks so you don’t miss my next trips and tips. Use #travelplannerholic to get noticed.
With Love,
Catarina Vieira
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