Your vacation plan need not create a hole in your pocket if you plan it right. Flight charges are a major part of your vacation plan, but you can save money on your flight bookings. You just need to follow the top 15 tips to find the cheapest flights.
This article is about helping you save money on your flight bookings. There are 15 tricks that can help you save on your flight bookings. Let us explore all the ways.
Keep Your Travel Dates Flexible
Many travel portals give huge discounts on flights for a specific date or several dates. You can check the flight prices for an entire month when you browse through any flight booking platform.
Check out the dates on which you can get the maximum discount offer on flight bookings. But, this will work only if you have flexible travel dates.
Go Incognito During Booking
On repeated searches for a particular flight, the price starts rising. This is the reason that sometimes you book your flights at a much higher price point. To save yourself from this, you can go incognito and book your flight ticket.
In Incognito mode, the flight booking platform is not able to track your search history and thus it does not show you higher prices. This is one of the most important of the top 15 tips to find the cheapest flights.
Find Last Minute Flight Deals on Social Accounts
If you are a frequent flyer you will want to follow social media accounts of different flight booking platforms. This is important because often, on various social media accounts, you will find discount codes and coupon deals, which can get you great discounts on flight bookings. To make it easier, you can also subscribe to different flight booking platform channels.
Frequent Flyer Programs
If you fly frequently from a specific airline then you should enrol yourself into a frequent flying program. As per this program, you earn points on every booking you make.
After you reach a certain point limit, you become entitled to freebies like free upgrading, lounge access, and discounts on flight bookings. If you are pondering over the question of how to get cheap flight tickets at the last minute, then loyalty program points are your answer.
Subscribe to Flight Booking Oriented Mailers
You can find flight-oriented mailers that can help you grab great discounts. These mailers come up with customised discount codes for their subscribers. You can benefit from these coupon codes.
Also, not many know this trick so if you get hold of such a niche newsletter and mailer, you can definitely benefit from it.
Do Not Book Flights for the End Destination
Let me explain this to you with an example. Let us say that you want to visit Phuket. So, instead of booking your ticket directly to Phuket (which is much costlier), you can instead book tickets to Bangkok. From Bangkok, you can take a local flight which would cost you much less.
This trick, however, applies only to travellers who do not mind a bit of inconvenience and enjoy the privilege of extra time in their hands.
Book Tickets to-and-from High Traffic Cities
Every country has high-traffic cities (for example, in UAE it is Dubai). It is best to book your flights to the city with the highest flight landing frequency because you can get cheaper tickets for such destinations. This is so because different airlines operate a lot of flights to that particular city, and there is no dearth of tickets.
Look For Category Discounts
Many flight operators give discounts to different sections of society. For example, a student can grab a student discount, a military professional gets a respective discount, etc. You can see if you fall into any specific category and accordingly apply for the discount.
These discounts might not be available directly but can be accessed indirectly as well. For example, you can get a discount on baggage allowance, etc.
Compare and Then Buy
Different flight booking platforms show varied prices for the same flight tickets. Instead of relying on one particular flight booking platform, you should instead compare the prices at different platforms.
You can check out flight rate comparison websites and make your bookings from the rightly priced platform.
Get first-in and Last-in Flights
Usually, flight tickets are cheaper if you book the first flight to your destination (usually early morning at 4 AM) or the last flight (late night flights). Look for such flights and accordingly plan your day.
This trick works when there is heavy traffic between the origin city and the landing city. You can find such flights easily at Flyin portal.
Use Credit Card for Booking Flight Tickets
You can check out the offers available on different credit cards. You are bound to find a credit card that can help you get cash back on your flight bookings from portals like Trip.com. Different credit cards have partnered with various flight booking platforms.
If you use the right credit card, you will be entitled to eight huge flat discounts or good cash-back offers. In some cases (especially in travel credit cards) you can also get points which after some time can be used to get a discount on further flight ticket booking.
Do Not Pay for Perks You Do Not Need
Airline companies charge prices for a range of services they offer. You might not need all these services. Look for the services that you do not need so that you do not pay for them.
Some examples of such hidden charges are picking exit row seats, extra legroom seats, etc. If you are flexible with the seat type, then you do not have to pay additional fare.
Plan Ahead
Last-minute deals are often highly-priced. The best way to avoid high prices is to plan your trip much in advance. As soon as you know your tentative travel dates, you should start looking for the flights. Some airline companies like Etihad, Qatar, etc. offer great deals on advance bookings. There cannot be a more practical tip in the list of top 15 tips to find the cheapest flights.
Set Airline Airfare Alerts
Different airline booking website has an alert system in place. You can opt for receiving a notification when flight tickets are available at your asked price point. This will ensure that you do not miss out on the lowest airfare to your choice of destination. This is one of the most practical tips in the list of top 15 tips to book the cheapest international flights.
Beware of Hidden Charges on Budget Airlines
You will find a lot of budget airlines that offer cheaper flight tickets but have a lot of hidden charges. For example, such budget airline charge extra for check-in baggage, and seats. This would essentially mean that in the end, you could be paying much higher prices for your destination ticket. Do not fall prey to such tactics applied by budget airlines.
Our Last Words
In the end, it all comes down to the fact that, are you patient enough to find a good deal on your flight tickets! Saving money on flight tickets is an art that will take some effort. The list of top 15 tips to find the cheapest flights will definitely be of help but ultimately you will need to put in the right efforts at the right time, to book the right flight tickets.