In many cases, the biggest expense in our trip will be the plane tickets. Therefore, being able to cut costs in this area will give us more flexibility on the fun part of our journey. For that reason, I have come up with 10 tips to get the lowest price on your plane tickets. These are tricks that have worked for me, and I hope they work for you as well.  Let’s get some cheap flights!

1. Use search engines that are fee-free

One of the best ways to find cheap prices is using search engines that do not charge you for their services. These kind of websites search through different airlines and give you a comparison of the prices for your specific journey. My long-time favourite is Skyscanner. It is completely free and it has always worked for me, saving me a lot of time of browsing through different airlines. You can find more options for booking your flight in our trusted companies page.

2. Book at the right time

Prices vary significantly all over the year, even within minutes, so booking at the right time can save you a lot of money. Experts say that the best time to book summer trips are 47 days in advance, while winter and fall trips have their sweet spot at 62 to 69 days and spring flights around 90 days in advanced. These are of course averages, and have worked at times for me but not always. Just make sure to have a look around those dates.

Sometimes, last minute flights are cheaper, but it is a risky option: many times prices rise! Airlines know people are desperate and willing to pay more. If you are flexible with dates and destination, however, last minute may work for you. For this, check on Lastminute.com.

3. Track flight prices with fare alerts

One of the things that has worked for me most is to set up flight search alerts that will notify you when there’s a low price for your flight, or even infer if prices are going to fall or rise. Skyscanner has its own alert service, but in this case for me the winner is the app Hopper, which is dedicated exclusively to this.

4. Miles go a long way

This probably come as no surprise to many, but most airlines have a frequent flyer programme. In these programmes you can earn “miles” from your previous purchases in that airline and then cash them to purchase your future trips.

There are three major airline alliances: Oneworld, Skyteam and Star Alliance, but even smaller and low cost airlines have their own reward programme, so make sure to have an account in all of them! Also, sticking to an airline if the price difference is not so big may be a good investment in the long run.

5. Take advantage of fare errors

Airlines sometimes make mistakes. Error fares are some times extremely low, and if you book them airlines will honour these fares. There are websites such as travelpirates.com and theflightdeal.com list the best deals available, so you can take a look there. This option will also require some degree of flexibility.

6. Subscribe to airline newsletters

This way you can find out about deals that most airlines are constantly offering and that have a limited time. I don’t know of any airline that doesn’t have a newsletter, so sign up for all of them, or just for those you like or those you know have the route you want to take, and wait for the offers!

7. Fly on cheaper days

Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays are usually cheaper due to most people needing to fly on Friday or Sundays. Use these unpopular times to get a cheaper fare.

8. Fly to alternative airports

Sometimes the airport of the city we want to visit has really high fares on the dates we are looking for. As an alternative, try to see how much it will cost to fly to a nearby airport instead. If they are in less important cities or far away from the center, the price may decrease significantly.

Let’s say I want to fly to Barcelona, but the plane tickets are very expensive. An option would be to fly to Girona, a nearby airport that is only a bit over an hour on the bus to Barcelona, and usually has lower fares. Try it out next time you want to book a plane ticket!

9. Be flexible

Any option I give you here will never beat being flexible. By being flexible I mean having flexible dates for your trip or booking by the fare instead of the destination. All three of these are great ways to get cheap flights.

Many search engines let you search without entering a destination or specific dates. Then they will show you in ascending price order the cheapest options regardless of place and time. If your work allows you to have flexible holidays and you are happy to explore any destination, this is a great method for you to book your flights.

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