With some clever tricks and hacks and a little planning, you can save money on your next flight. Here are 15 ways to save.
1. There is more than the Ticket Price
It may seem cheapest to buy the flight with the lowest price, but in actuality, it’s not. Most economy airlines do not always include or state baggage fees or food in the ticket price and when you add up all these, you might feel like it’s cheaper to fly with a regular airline instead of an economy airline.
2. Always Check the Holidays at Your Destination
You also need to take into account the holidays and festivals at your destination, while flight prices are expensive for tourists in your home country, they could be in other countries as well. For example, you will usually find more expensive flights for New Year, Christmas, Diwali & Eid Festivals.
3. Track Flight Prices
Check out travel search engines such as Skyscanner. Their special tools allow you to track ticket prices over a month or even a longer period. This will help you to know when it’s cheaper to fly.
4. Sign Up for Airfare Alerts
You can also find many websites such as ITA Matrix or Airfare Watchdog that will send you airfare alerts when flight fares drop below a certain price. If you sign up for these, you’ll be among the first people to know when cheap tickets are available for you. Also, sign up for newsletters from Emirates, Qatar Airways, Etihad, and other top airlines to get alerts of price drops.
5. Follow Airlines on Social Media
Many airlines use social media to advertise airfare deals. To know them you need to follow your favorite airlines on social media such as Twitter and Facebook and you’ll get to know about those last-minute special fares but remember to act quickly, as these flights sell out quickly.
6. Location Booking
Booking from a specific location also makes a difference in the cost of flights. When you are searching for airfares or getting ready to book your flight, change your country setting and see if you get a cheaper ticket such as if you pretend you’re from, let’s just say, Canada.
7. Check Flight Timings throughout the Time
Flight prices also vary wildly between different days or even between different times of the day.
8. Be Flexible About Airports
Airports also can make a big difference in the ticket price; you’re flying to or from. Try changing the airports in your search settings like you can try airports in nearby cities or neighbouring countries closer to your destination.
9. Clear Your Cookies
Your browser history also can affect the results of your search, when you search for flights. Clear the cookies from your browser and try again. By browsing in a private browser session, you might be able to find a lower price because the website cannot use its tracking cookies to determine any previous browsing history you might have had.
10. Cultural Connections are Advantageous for Booking
Countries that have cultural, historical or linguistic connections provide flights that are often cheaper. Such as, you might get good deals if you fly to France from Canada.
11. Buy One-way Tickets separately
Don’t automatically go for round-trip tickets when you compare flight prices. It can cost you cheaper to buy one-way tickets separately, towards your destination and back, especially if you check flights from different airports.
12. Try Different Airlines
Breaking down your trip into different short flights can be cheaper. Check the offerings from different airlines for each leg of the route. This can cost you cheaper than flying with only one airline.
13. Buy Separate Tickets for Groups
If you’re flying in a group and you want to take advantage of the cheap deals of the airline you should buy each ticket separately. Most airlines have a limitation on the number of tickets a person can buy at a specific price.
14. Book a Vacation Package
A flight and hotel package can save you cash if you still need to book the whole kit Airlines and third-party booking sites all offer travel packages. Some of the best options are Costco Travel or through your airline or hotel program i.e. Marriott Flights and Nights, so you can book a cheap flight and get some bonus points simultaneously.
15. Fly out early
The first flight of the morning is usually the cheapest. “Yes, that means you have to get up at 4 a.m.,” says Rick Seaney, chief executive of FareCompare.com. “There’s a general rule of thumb, which is ‘fly hungry,'” Seaney says. The next-cheapest times of flight are during or after lunch or at the dinner hour That’s because flyers do not want to travel at inconvenient times, he says.