Planning trips is sometimes stressful, especially because of unpredictable airfare prices. But, did you know there are several ways to get the cheapest flights before and after booking?
This article will teach you everything you need to know about how to save on flights. The travel hacks you’re about to learn will help you lower ticket costs whether going on a solo trip, a family getaway, traveling for business, or enjoying a vacation.
It’s common to feel frustrated when searching for flights but the prices are high. But, several factors, called airfare trends, influence high prices. Things like oil price, supply and demand, and holidays greatly influence fluctuating prices.
TRUTH: Prices fluctuate throughout the day.
TRUTH: Going incognito doesn’t make a difference because it only hides your search history. Airlines don’t use cookies to determine prices, rather they use dynamic pricing.
TRUTH: While historical airfare trends indicate that Tuesday is the best day to book cheap flights, this is outdated. The truth is, booking midweek, from Tuesday to Thursday, offers affordable prices.
TRUTH: There’s a Golden Time to book flights, which you’ll know more about below.
TRUTH: Don’t rely on last-minute deals because this is extremely rare. You have better chances to save money by using flight price trackers.
Autopilot is a post-booking service that monitors real-time flight prices 24/7. It’s one of the best flight hacks to save money because flight prices often go down, even after booking your ticket.
Normally, you’d have to manually search online for fare drops, using websites like Google Flights. But, you can streamline this process to save time and effort by inputting your booking into Autopilot.
It’ll monitor live price drops on your exact itinerary and recover the savings for you by claiming credits or filing a refund claim with the airline.
How to avoid high flight prices? Book during the Golden Time. This means book tickets midweek on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
It also means booking flights within a specific time frame. 1 to 2 months before your target departure date for domestic or short haul travel and 3 to 6 months for international or long haul travel.
Having flexible travel dates is one of the best budget travel tips. This means willing to book fights in the off seasons and less popular travel dates. It also means being willing to change your travel dates to adjacent days and flying midweek.
Choosing less convenient timeframes is another way to be flexible. For example, late-night or early-morning flights.
In some cases, booking two one-way flights is cheaper, although uncommon. This is more likely for domestic flights than international flights because long-haul or out-of-the-country travel generally has pricier one-way prices.
There’s also a chance that booking two one way flights costs the same as a round trip flight. In these cases, booking one-way flights can offer you more flexibility, especially if you’re unsure about your return date.
Wondering why flight prices go up and down? Understanding airfare trends explains why. Several factors affect constantly fluctuating ticket prices, like airline competition, supply and demand, peak or off seasons, promotional periods, and more.
You can better predict when there are fare drops by gaining more knowledge on airfare trends because you’ll see signs you’d normally ignore.
Some signs predicting possible upcoming fare drops include:
Booking higher fare classes, like Business or First, may be intimidating because of the higher base fares but they offer less hidden fees and better benefits.
Some hidden fees Basic Economy class usually charge for include checked or extra baggage, priority boarding, inflight meals, and seat selection. Business and First Class eliminate these fees and offer more comfort.
Higher fare classes offer higher mileage points and rewards benefits which you can use for future travels.
Other benefits of high fare classes are more legroom, priority customer service support, and no or low cancellation fees.
Another tip for cheap flights is to consider choosing other airports near your destination, particularly for domestic travel. For example, flying to Fort Lauderdale instead of Miami.
But why does choosing airports impact airfare price? Airports charge airlines differently. Larger airports charge higher fees from airlines compared to smaller secondary airports. Higher costs for airlines often result in more expensive flights.
You can learn how to find cheap airfare by subscribing to airline newsletters and paying attention to notifications. You’ll receive alerts on flash sales, limited-time fare drops, and promo codes.
Subscribing to airline newsletters will also tell you the best time to book flights because you’ll stay updated on exact dates of promotions or upcoming seat sales.
Consider using a credit card as your mode of payment when looking for cheap flight booking hacks.
Credit cards, specifically travel cards, have numerous benefits for frequent flyers. Some of which are:
It’s important to note that these benefits vary greatly depending on the type of credit card used and airline.
It’s common to sometimes overlook your mileage points because not everyone fully understands what their benefits are. Mileage points are a form of loyalty currency granted after each flight.
You can earn mileage points, also called air or frequent flyer miles, by traveling, using travel credit cards, and purchasing from airline partners. The more miles you accumulate, the better rewards you can claim.
You can use your points to add additional baggage allowance, redeem free flights, purchase flight add-ons, and upgrade to a higher class.
Every airline has different policies regarding earning and redeeming mileage points so make sure to check their terms and conditions carefully.
Excess baggage fees is usually one of the main causes for higher total fare cost because it’s easy to overpack. Consider packing only what you’ll need when traveling.
You should also make a habit of weighing your luggage before checking-in or dropping your baggage.
Flying direct is convenient and hassle-free, but it’s not always the cheapest choice. Before making a final decision, compare prices on different flights.
Setting up flight alerts will make sure you never have to overpay on flights. It’ll notify you when there are fare drops and limited-time airfare deals. It will also help you better compare booking prices from different airlines.
The cheapest time to book flights is midweek. Specifically Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, as stated by studies conducted by Google and confirmed by Autopilot.
Input your flight itinerary into Autopilot to take advantage of their Lowest Fare Guarantee (LFG) service. You can also use flight price trackers to monitor changes in airfare.
You should book midweek within 3 to 6 months of your desired departure date. Also, consider booking during off-peak seasons when looking for cheap flights for international travel.
No. Airlines practice dynamic pricing which means prices fluctuate throughout the day. Use flight price tracking applications or sites to best monitor fare drops.
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