Over the years, we’ve developed a pretty good reputation for guiding customers to cheap airline tickets. Our mission is to help save you money when you book flights.
We’ve put together our best tips and suggestions to help you find your next cheap flight. Without further ado – let’s get to the good stuff – the best advice we’ve got!
1. Buy at the Right Time
If you take nothing else from this post, know this. If you know when to buy your flights, that may be the best tip to save money on your next trip. Our Annual Airfare Study found that for domestic flights 69 days (a little over two months) was, on average, the optimal time to buy plane tickets. But averages are just that. This number can change based on the very specific itinerary you’re planning and where you are going.
Maybe the most critical takeaway is this: you’ll probably pay a big penalty if you book too late (within 14 days of travel), or for booking too early (more than 6.5 months in advance). Somewhere between 3 weeks and 3 months in advance is what we call the “Prime Booking Window” – the time where you’re most likely to find a very good fare.
2. Check Fares Early & Often
You might feel like you’ve suffered whiplash from the many changes in airfare pricing. In the airfare game one thing is guaranteed – the prices will change. Prices can fluctuate multiple times a week. Your best strategy in this volatile environment is to get the timing right. We recommend you start checking fares as soon as you know you’ll be flying. Then continue to check – at least once a week – to get a better sense of what a good deal looks like. And when you find a fare you like, be ready to buy. And why? Because that fare may not be around for long. The airlines use algorithms to adjust fares in real-time. Buying an airline ticket can feel a lot like gambling. (Learn more about why airfares are so volatile.)
You can also reference your previous searches on CheapAir.com, by clicking on “My Searches” in the upper right hand corner of your screen. It will pull up your search history so you can easily access and track your previous searches. This feature will help you stay organized and focused when planning a trip.
3. The Day of the Week Does Matter
What day you buy your ticket gets a lot of play in internet chat rooms, but that’s just fake news. The average low fare varies only by $1 no matter what day of the week you decide to shop.
What’s more interesting is the day you choose to travel on. Tuesdays and Wednesdays are generally the least expensive days for domestic flights. Thursday and Sunday flights are the most expensive. The difference between a Tuesday flight and a Sunday flight is $82 round trip. We encourage you to get creative with your travel dates if you can. Consider a Saturday to Monday itinerary or fly Tuesday to Tuesday and save.
4. Seasonality & Holidays are an Exception to the Rule
Some destinations are seasonal, so you’ll definitely want to research low and high seasons for the places you’re interested in visiting. Remember that international destinations in the southern hemisphere are often on an “upside down” schedule – with the warmest, best weather for travel in our coldest months. The best deals for Europe are in the shoulder seasons of spring and fall – travel in the summer months and you’d better plan to spend, spend, spend (up to double the price is not unusual).
5. Mix and Match Airlines to get the Cheapest Flights
CheapAir.com features a “Mix & Match” fare search category that lets you combine two one way fares that may or may not be on the same airline, but form a round trip ticket. “Mix & Match” can be a winner when (1) the cheapest possible fare for an itinerary requires travel on one airline outbound and another airline returning; or (2) the airline with the most convenient outbound flight doesn’t have a convenient return flight or vice versa.
6. You Have More Payment Options
We’re always looking for ways to ease travel stress and provide options to our customers. With our monthly payment option for flights through our finance partner Affirm, you can “Fly now, and pay later” for your flights! For qualified shoppers, the interest rate can be as low as 10%. You don’t even need a credit card to apply. Learn more.
And we’re not leaving the cryptocurrency crowd out in the cold. Book safely and securely with Bitcoin or a selection of other top cryptocurrencies in the world.
7. Know Your Baggage Fee Situation
There’s no one-size-fits-all baggage policy for the airlines, which can make unaware shoppers feel a bit cheated sometimes. It hurts when you find out the cheap airline ticket you bought actually didn’t include hefty bag fees. A lot of airlines have gone to an a la carte business model for Economy fares, whereby you have to pay for “extras” like a carry-on. Other tickets do include a baggage “allowance” with the price of the ticket. You should always check when shopping (and you can do a comparison between ticket inclusions on CheapAir.com). Read more about airline baggage fees and what you should know before you book.
8. Always Consider Nearby Airports
A lot of times you can save money by flying into an alternative airport. The larger international airport with many flights is not always the best deal. A smaller, regional airport may be a better value and might even offer a less stressful travel experience. We always check all convenient airports to make sure we get the best airfare. CheapAir.com will automatically check many nearby airports for you, but don’t be afraid to search nearby airports yourself.
9. Book Tickets in Smaller Quantities – Even if You’re Traveling with a Group
Don’t price yourself out of a good deal just by having too many travelers. Because airlines often have a small number of tickets at one price, when you shop for a larger group the airline will automatically bump the whole group up to the more expensive fare if there are a limited number of “best fares” on offer.
If you all need to be on the same flight, here’s a hack. Do on search with the entire number of your party to make sure the seats are available, and then buy in smaller quantities to make sure you gobble up the best prices. Then, on the backend you can all share in the savings.
10. Shop Where You’re Guaranteed Price Drop Payback
We offer a handy dandy little feature to protect the fare you pay. The CheapAir Price Drop Payback guarantee is easy: if the price for the same itinerary goes down any time before your trip, we pay you back the difference up to $100 per ticket. We’ll issue a travel voucher for you to use on your next trip. It’s as easy as that! We hope this gives you a little extra confidence when booking.
We’re here to help! We get our biggest charge from saving you money. How’d we do? Let us know in the comments below.
Thankyou, For sharing such a useful information with us.
It is generally said that on Wednesdays and Tuesdays, the flight fares are generally low. Also, checking the flight fare a few months before will help you. Mix and match feature of cheap air is quite useful I think.