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Things You Can Do to Find Cheap Flights for Your Next Trip
- 3 days ago
- 6 min read
This is a guest post from Andrew of the True Adventure Seeker blog. Andrew hails from the Caribbean island of Trinidad and has loved the outdoors since he was a kid. Together with his girlfriend Chloe, he shares his passion for adventure through his blog, whether it’s fishing, kayaking, hiking, snorkeling, or traveling.
I am not a wealthy person by any means and whenever I fly, I try my best to find cheap flights. In my travel plans, there are a couple of very simple steps that I always take to reduce the price of my plane ticket as much as possible. These are:
This process doesn’t require any special memberships, skills, or secret websites - it can all be done right from your computer.
Be Flexible
One of the biggest factors affecting the price of a flight is the destination. Sometimes you have no choice but to travel to a specific country. But if you’re going on vacation or traveling as a tourist, it’s worth keeping an open mind about different destinations and travel dates.
Choosing your destination is obviously one of the most important parts of any trip or vacation. Many people spend months dreaming about visiting a specific country, which is perfectly fine - as long as you’re willing to accept the cost of flights to that destination.
However, if you think about the type of trip you want rather than a specific country, you could save a lot of money on plane tickets.
For example, instead of focusing on a specific country, you might picture an easygoing, tropical luxury vacation somewhere in the Caribbean. Once you think about it that way, you’ll realize there are many islands that fit that description. This gives you a wide range of options, allowing you to choose the destination with the cheapest flights that still meets your expectations. Thinking this way has also helped me discover and appreciate many lesser-known travel destinations.
Keeping your departure dates flexible is another simple way to find cheaper flights. Try to widen your travel window by being open to flying on any date within about two weeks. You should also try to avoid booking flights on weekends and aim for Tuesday or Wednesday instead, as these tend to be the cheapest days to fly.
If you check for yourself, you’ll notice that flight prices can vary strangely from day to day. A flight might cost $900 on Monday but drop to $620 by Wednesday. The next section I’ll cover ties into this same idea.
Travel in the Off Season
Traveling in the off season is one of my favorite things to do and I encourage everyone to try it. When we say 'off season' we mean traveling to a destination when everyone else is not. If a country gets all of its tourists from March to May, you book your ticket anytime outside of that. This will ensure you have the cheapest flight, accommodations, tour prices and food.
Another major advantage of traveling in the off-season is the lack of crowds. There are no long lines, no crowded hotels, and no packed beaches. It often feels like you have everything to yourself. I once traveled to Costa Rica during the off-season and ended up having an entire jungle lodge to myself. From that moment on, I was hooked on traveling in the off-season whenever possible.
If you go to Google Flights, select where you're leaving from and your destination, but leave the dates blank and click on departure. You can now see and scroll through every month and see the prices for each day.
You’ll notice a big difference in flight prices from month to month. This is often a good indicator of when the off-season is for a particular destination. Most of the time, when prices are at their highest, it means it’s peak travel season. When prices drop, it’s usually a good sign that it’s the off-season and a great time to travel.
Sometimes you have no choice but to travel during these expensive peak seasons. In that case, consider looking at a different destination. Every part of the world - and even every country - has different peak and off-seasons.
For example, in my country, Trinidad and Tobago, the biggest surge in tourism happens during the Carnival festival in February. Even though Carnival only lasts for two days, it brings more tourists than any other time of the year. In other countries, however, the tourist season can last for three months or more.
Use Incognito Mode and Clear Browser Cookies
While my buddy and I were booking our flights for our Euro trip, we noticed something strange. His flights were about $150 more expensive than mine. We were sharing our screens, looking at the exact same flights on the same website, yet the prices were different.
We even live in the same country, so that wasn’t the issue. Eventually, we realized the difference: I was browsing in incognito mode and he wasn’t. As soon as he switched to incognito mode, the price of his flights dropped and matched mine. Since then, I always search for flights in incognito mode.
Another useful step is clearing your browser cookies. But what exactly are cookies? Cookies are small files that websites store on your computer temporarily. They help the site remember information about you in order to improve your browsing experience. This information can include things like your country, IP address, the time you visit the site, the browser you use, and other browsing details.
The less information travel websites have about you, the less opportunity they have to adjust or influence the prices you see. After all, companies want you to spend as much money as possible, while you’re trying to spend as little as possible.
Clearing your cookies is simple. If you're using chrome just go to History > Delete Browsing Data > Check off Cookies > Click Delete Data
Look for Different Flight Paths
There are many different flight paths you can take to reach your destination. Don't think that you need to just fly from your country directly to your destination. I hear about people spending $2000 USD on tickets to Europe, Central America or the Caribbean and I am blown away. A flight from Costa Rica to Tromso Norway directly would be pretty expensive. But, a flight from Costa Rica > Miami > Amsterdam > Oslo > Tromso would be cheaper.
Google Flights already helps you find some of the cheapest flights, even if they involve multiple stops. Sometimes this means you might have to sleep in an airport for a few hours or endure a long layover - like a 20-hour stop in Miami - before your next flight. These are the kinds of strategies you can use to score cheaper tickets.
Wherever you live in the world, there is a place that acts as the international hub for flights. For example, London and Amsterdam are the hubs for Europe. If I want to fly from Jamaica to Athens Greece, there are many different ways to get there. Do some research, mix and match flights and see which path is the cheapest. Try: Jamaica > Miami > Athens, Jamaica > London > Athens, Jamaica > JFK > London > Athens, Jamaica > Amsterdam > Athens.
This was extremely evident when I was planning my Europe winter trip this year and I took 14 flights over 20 days. I spent days planning and looking at different flight paths and it ultimately made the trip a whole lot cheaper. So, do not be afraid of flying into another country as a layover before going to your real destination.
If you want to know how to pick which destination is the best to travel for you, a good place to start is my article on how to decide where to travel. If you’re looking for cheap islands in the Caribbean to visit check it out as well.
Find Cheap Flights Summary
In summary, Andrew’s tips show that with a little flexibility and planning, you can save a lot on flights, discover off-season destinations, and enjoy more of the world without the crowds. We hope you found his insights helpful and inspiring.
If you’re interested in contributing a guest post like Andrew, we’d love to hear from you! Feel free to contact us to share your stories and tips with our readers.
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