How to Find Cheap Flights
Have you wondered before how to find cheap flights? Well, I used to think the same. But after much research I have been able to come up with some easy tips which can help you find cheaper flights for your next holiday! I have been able to find flights for less than 20euros in Europe!! So if you are interested in finding some of my best tips, keep reading.
Search Incognito
Oftentimes, when you look up flights without incognito mode on, prices will jump higher and higher the more you keep looking at them. This is because, when you are searching something, your browser will collect your history.
When you search with “incognito” mode on, you are searching in a “private mode”, this means that your browsing and search history is erased. And thus, these airline sites don’t know that you have been looking at the same flight for a week (or even longer).
Turning on incognito mode on Google Chrome:
Turning on incognito mode on Safari:
Use a VPN to search from other destinations
Incognito mode is a great, free option to search for flights without getting ripped off. But, if you really want to make sure you are getting the best deals out there, it might be worth investing in a VPN.
A VPN or “virtual private network” is great for a multitude of reasons:
It allows you to encrypt your information
It protects you from hackers
It allows you to change your virtual location to anywhere in the world (depending on the VPN you use)
The protection of your privacy is valuable on its own, but by surfing from different locations, the prices of your flights may also vary. So if you want to protect yourself, and find better deals, check out Surfshark (VPN provider)
!!There are also free options for a vpn, but they don’t always let you change locations, so be careful before you instal a free version!!
Use a Flight Search Engine
A flight search engine collects the information and flight prices from websites all over the world, in all languages, from all major and all budget airlines and helps you find the best deals.
Some of the most popular flight search engine’s are:
Skyscanner (my personal favorite)
Cheaptickets.nl (dutch site)
Skyscanner
I personally always check flights on Skyscanner. This is because it has some neat features which allows you to optimize your search depending on your personal preferences.
Search Everywhere
If you are really just looking for the cheapest flights out there, you can choose your departing city and search everywhere, this will show you the cheapest places from your destination to anywhere in the world.
Search Cheapest Month
Another cool feature on Skyscanner if you are flexible with your dates is looking at which month in the year, flights are the cheapest.
Search Whole Month
And lastly, if you want to visit during a specific month, you can still look at which days are the cheapest in that month to take a flight.
Fly on the Cheapest Days & Hours
Cheapest Days of the Week
Oftentimes, you will see that flights on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Saturday are the cheapest compared to other days. This is not always the case, but if you are flexible with your holidays this might be worth looking into.
Cheapest Hours
Just like prices vary depending on which day you fly, the same applies to your hour of departure. Early morning (5AM-7AM) or late (/overnight) flights are often a lot cheaper than flights departing in the middle of the day.
Just make sure that if you arrive in a destination really early or really late, that you have a solid plan of where you are going and how you are going to get there at that time.
Frequent Flyer Programs
Whilst I don’t know many people who have gotten countless flights for free, there are some travel hackers who manage to build up a lot of credit with frequent flyer programs which allows them to travel without breaking the bank.
So I know what you are thinking, I don’t fly often enough for those programs to be worth it… And I was in the same boat a couple of years ago. However, I believe that frequent flyer programs are still worth your time because:
Frequent flyers often get discounts on “extra options”
As a tall person, I can’t comfortably sit on a long haul flight with standard leg room, and as a frequent flyer with KLM (flying blue) I get a 10% discount for every upgraded seat that I purchase. The program is free to sign up for, so that is an additional 10% off something that I was going to purchase either way.
Frequent Flyer Flights
As a member, you often get access to certain flights which can be up to 50% cheaper than flights marketed on their website. If you are open minded to travel anywhere, these cheap flights can really help you get better deals around the world.
Plus, overtime, you will be able to build more credit and miles which can lead to free flights in the future, it doesn’t hurt to try right?
