Cheap Flights

If you are looking for cheap flights, please read my tips here.  I have done my best brainstorming to come up with a plan to help you find the most affordable flights possible.

To begin I believe that there are certain attributes that every person needs to find a cheap flight.

1. A person needs to be flexible.  Flexibility it the key to finding a cheap flight.  This means not only in times, but  also in dates, airports, and yes even airline amenities.
2. Start early.  Last minute flight options sound neat when you are searching the web, but in my experience they really do not pan out.  Assuming that you have the time, it is best to start a few months early for larger flights.  If you do not have the time than you can still find flights for reasonable prices within a few weeks before.  I would not personally wait until a few days before unless it was your only option.
3. Know where to look.  Knowing where to look is half of the battle.  Personally, I recommend Kayak.  I have used it in my travels and have never had any issues with it.  It yields comprehensive searches of multiple airlines and shows you the cheapest first.  Be aware though, that most budget airlines do not pay to have their flights shown on Kayak.  Therefore, when applicable it may also benefit you to search regional budget airlines.  For example, when looking for budget flights within Europe check Ryanair, Wizzair, Easyjet, and others independently.   In the Americas, it would be beneficial to check Spirit or Jet Blue.
4. Know how to look.  If knowing where to look is half of the battle, I guess the other half could be how to look.  Most people would type in regular A to B routes, but you can do more.  Let us say that you live in New York and you would like to get to Europe.  Well the cheapest flight could probably be from New York to the UK, but you never know.  Also, you just want to get to Europe and you really do not care where. Do a complex search.  How?  It requires two steps.  Get a piece of paper and write down the airport codes for all the major international airports within the region on both ends.  For example,  write down Boston’s, Washington DC’s, Philadelphia’s, New York, etc.  On the other side, write down the airports codes for London, Berlin, Amsterdam, Dublin, Madrid, Rome, and other major European airports.  Then, type these codes on their respective sides of the Kayak search options (From: NYC, BOS, WAS To: LON, DUB, BER) and press search.  The search engine will search these combinations and give you more options, which can lead to cheaper flights that you might have missed before.  It will also save you loads of time from searching each airport independently.  To continue, let us say that your search yielded a flight from Boston to Dublin that you chose, but you live in New York.  Make sure that you add the cost of getting from New York to Boston does not exceed the amount that you are saving.
5. Which days are best? This is possibly one of the oldest “tricks” in the budget flight world.  People boast that certain days are cheaper than others.  I have found some truth to this.  I have found that if you look on a Monday or a Tuesday you will probably find the better deals.  Weekends are typically when business people and families fly so naturally the prices are higher.
6. Round Trip vs. One way. This is another interesting discussion in the cheap flights realm.  I would say that the winner to this match really depends on your goals in backpacking and traveling.  Are you traveling extensively with no plan? Or maybe you only have two months before you need to return?  You need to do some planning on your own and decide what best suits you.  If you have no plans, than it is probably best to get a one way ticket.  However, even if you do not have plans, round trip flights could be cheaper in the long run.  Perhaps, you can set a return date in the far distant future.  Whatever you decide, just keep in mind that round trips can be cheaper as a whole package, but one way leaves you with no obligation to return at a specific time.
7. Open ended tickets. You might be thinking after the last point that an open-ended ticket might be a good idea.  Well, in theory, it is.  The only catch is that the prices that you will pay for an open-ended ticket are not the cheapest.  You are going to pay higher prices for that ticket, and you will only be able to take your return flight on the days specified by the airline provider.  If you are not on a budget, open-ended tickets are a great option, but if you are reading this I assume that you would rather save a few dollars to spend traveling.
8. Round the World Ticket.  Surely, you have considered a Round the World Ticket (RTW Ticket) if you have heard of it.  If you have not, this is a ticket package that one can buy that takes you completely around the world traveling in one direction only.  For this article, I do not wish to discuss a RTW Ticket because it is targeting a specific type of traveler and does not relate to everyone’s flight search. Please check with my other travel articles for RTW ticket feedback.

All in all, looking for budget flights is not an impossible feat.  If you follow this plan, I strongly believe that you can meet your budget goals. I will include a few things about budget flights though just for your consideration and knowledge.  Budget airlines typically have the fewest amenities and poorest service.  In effect, you get what you pay for.  So, if you do decide to take a cheap flight, just keep that in mind.  In reality, the way that I look at it, all I really want is a ride from A to B.  If I can get to B, they have fulfilled my needs.  Check below for a list of links for flights.

Cheap Flight Links:

General Search Engines

Kayak – The one that I use

Skyscanner.com

Regional Budget Airlines by country

Low-Cost Airlines list

Check out my article that explains budget airliners. Click here.