Catching Flights with NO feelings
Many people have asked me on social media how I a) afford to travel b) find low priced flights. Well, the answer is really simple: I am open and flexible. One thing I will never forget from undergrad is learning how to be open and flexible. If you’re reading this because you think I will give you some unknown website with $12 flights to Bali, then call me Beyonce and go ahead and send me a million dollars! Sadly, there is no miraculous site that offers prices lower than the airline advertised price. Luckily there are things you can do to ensure you find the cheapest flight available. A key factor in achieving a wonderful vacation for your budget is to determine your budget! I suggest not purchasing a flight that is more than 30% of your entire budget.
Step 1: Google Flights, Momondo, Skyscanner, Hopper, Kiwi, JetRadar, Airfare Watchdog
Once you have your flight budget go to google flights and type in the closest major airport to you. After you’ve added the departing airport add in your arriving airport and travel dates. In order to find the cheapest option, you will need to look at the price graph and date grid to determine the best time period.
(MAJOR HUBS: NYC, DC, CHARLOTTE, BOSTON, LA, MIAMI, NEW ORLEANS, ATL, HOUSTON, CHICAGO)
Pay attention to the departure time as well. Think about what would make this trip easy for you like leaving after work or school; so when doing your flight search, don’t enter in a specific time. Generally, the most expensive times to fly are business travel hours (8 am to 10 am and 5 pm to 7 pm). Cheaper seats tend to depart early in the morning (5 am to 7 am) or late in the evening (after 8 pm).
After you’ve found some flights on google then you will compare their prices to the prices on Momondo.com, Skyscanner.com, and Hopper. You can cross-check other sites but from my experience, I usually find the cheapest flight on one of these sites. Momondo has the same format as Google Flights.
Step 2: Being Flexible
Not only do you want to be flexible with dates and times, but also with airports and destinations! My favorite budget-friendly tool on google flight is the “More Destinations” option. You can explore all the places you can afford to go to! Some destinations will have multiple airlines so choose the cheapest option IF it is feasible. Please calculate all costs before purchasing!
Example: If you’re flying into London and see a difference of $389 between Gatwick and Heathrow then I suggest flying into Gatwick instead. But there are a few things I want to make sure won’t cost me to the point where I end up paying the same: Will my bags costs? How far is my hotel from the airport and how will I get there? Is there in-flight food + free wine? Is the airport in a safe part of town and will I land at night?
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With flying into Gatwick I pick up additional cost by taking the train instead of the tube which would be an additional $3-$6 and I would also have to pay for my in-flight meal for an extra $35. Luckily for me, I am ok not getting a meal on this 7-hour flight. After calculating the cost to get to my hotel from the airport and my baggage + meal fees I have decided to purchase this flight.
Step 3: Layovers
Although layovers aren’t ideal when you want to get to your destination right away, they can potentially save you hundreds. However, not all routes have that much in savings so you have to see if it’s really worth it. If it’s hundreds of dollars then yes, but if it’s just a $30-$50 savings, then probably not. (Tip: avoid making connections in airports that have a track record of delayed flights)
Step 4: Hidden cities
This is against airline policy and I recommend booking these with care. Let’s say you want to go to Seattle for Christmas but flights are in the high $600’s so you find another flight to New Mexico that stops in Seattle
Step 5: One Way
For many who wonder how I travel affordably this is my golden “secret.” If you are traveling to a secondary destination like Sardinia in Italy it might be wise to break up the trip into two separate tickets. Just make sure to leave plenty of time between flights (preferably a day), because most low-fare carriers usually depart out of secondary airports. And don’t forget to pack light because they have crazy baggage fees.
Booking different airlines will allow you to mix and match tickets to get the best flight deal possible. This way you can work the best deals. You’ll be flying separate tickets but it does work. Most of the time booking websites use the same airline for your ticket.
Lastly, how will you know you got a good deal? Check out my chart below!
