Have you always wondered how we manage to fly around as much as we do without breaking the bank? How we are able to always book the cheapest flights?
Well it’s fairly simple actually. Read on.
If you search well you can always find interesting tickets online. But with endless search engines and constantly fluctuating prices, finding a good flight can be tiresome. That’s why we made a little list of tips and tricks to help you find the best possible flight!
TIP 1: BE FLEXIBLE WITH YOUR TRAVEL DATES
If you want to fly when everyone’s flying, during school holidays for example, then expect to pay more! Same thing for flying somewhere just before Christmas, you’re not the only one! Some dates can be noticeably cheaper than others. Our flight on January 1 from Cambodia to The Philippines was one of the cheapest flights we’ve ever been on. Or that one flight we took from Washington DC to Brussels on 09/11 which was more than half the price of similar flights a day earlier or later. Flying off-season can save a lot of money.
TIP 2: BE FLEXIBLE WITH YOUR TRAVEL TIMES
Nobody wants to wake up really early or land really late at night, which means those flights will usually be cheaper.
TIP 3: LOOK FOR AN INDIRECT FLIGHT
Probably the most frustrating part of flying is that direct flights are more expensive than indirect ones. Say you want to go from London to Washington D.C.. You search for flights on google flights and find the following flights for just under €1000. Quite expensive for 8 hours both ways in economy, don’t you think?
Well, if you would re-position yourself and fly from for example Brussels or Stockholm, you can be on exactly the same flight for half or even a third of the price!! While the repositioning itself can cost you a few bucks too, it will still stay much cheaper than the direct flight.
Same flights as the ones above, but this time from Stockholm:
TIP 4: BE FLEXIBLE WITH YOUR DESTINATIONS
If it’s not possible to be flexible with your travel dates or your departure airport, try and be flexible with your destination. Google Flights has a great tool to find the best deals if you’re flexible with your destinations. It will definitely make you able to book the cheapest flights! Just go to the site, fill in your dates and your home airport, click on the map or ‘explore destinations’ like on the screenshot hereunder and you’ll see the prices to all destinations. It’s a great tool for finding cheap flights if you’re flexible with your destination. When we don’t know where we want to go for our next trip, we just do this and take one of the cheaper destinations.
TIP 5: FOUND A DEAL? BOOK IT!
Don’t wait too long with booking your flight. Unlike hotels, flights rarely get cheaper with time, especially if you’re less than 2 months away from your trip. They can get (much) more expensive though, so don’t hesitate and just book it! Once booked, make sure to have a look at our blogpost about how to survive a long-haul flight.
TIP 6: SIGN UP TO NEWSLETTERS OF SOME OF YOUR FAVOURITE AIRLINES
Sometimes airlines will come up with great sales which only last for a couple of days and if you’re not searching for deals every day of the week, there’s a big chance you’ll miss it. That’s why we would suggest to sign up to a couple newsletters to make sure you’ll be the first to know if a sale is happening! Sometimes learning how to book the cheapest flights is easy like that!
With all the flying we’ve done, we found Qatar Airways to come up on top for probably 75% of our long-haul flights! While they’re often the cheapest, the fact they’re one of the world’s best airlines with the best business class doesn’t hurt either! Just click here to find the best Qatar Airways deals!
EXTRA TIP: GET LOUNGE ACCESS
Enjoy your flights even more with lounge access in over 1200 lounges worldwide with Priority Pass! You can even get 10% off by going through this link!
