Flights & Airlines

How to Book Cheap Flights and Airline Tickets

Study your airline and flight details carefully before booking. Are bags included? It often is complimentary on international flights, however, some airlines charge for it. Is waking up at 4am really worth it to save $50? Pick the best flight for the best experience for the best rate.

Oftentimes the cheapest flights closer to the last minute are either at the less desirable hours, contain significant layover time, or multiple connections. Keep in mind public transportation hours of operation if counting on a bus or train to arrive to the airport. Booking early with some flexibility is your best bet for consistently low rates.

How can you find the best travel deals?

It’s always best to check a few flight websites over several days, or is it?! With cookies, tracking, geo-targeting, etc., you’re probably not surprised anymore with erratic pricing.

In our experience, allowing enough time, it’s best to book 2 to 3 months out from your trip, or in general, sooner than later. The day of the week doesn’t matter so much, just search around. If booking last minute, every increasing hour or each day (depending on ETD) usually only increases the prices.

Some nomads wing it quite successfully by being “destination flexible”. This means they go wherever the deals are. It’s a lifestyle design and admirable state of mind to be in.

What are the cheapest ticket sites to book a flight?

There are a variety of options for booking the a flight from Point A to Point B. Most airlines allow third-party websites, such as Orbtiz and Skyscanner to book planet tickets. There are some airlines and airport that you must book directly through. There are benefits to both ways for booking a cheap luxury flight.

Flight Comparison Sites:

Comparison sites are two-fold. The first group check the different major airlines participating and list all the available routes and pricing. The other side of comparison sites scan those former websites for their best prices and lists all the prices.

This adds another middle man, but usually you can find a rock bottom price, which are usually dollar differences. The downside to the latter is lack of repeat rewards that would’ve built up, as well as ordering on less than credible-looking sites (I’ve never had a problem, only credit card company fraud alert).

Most of the big name flight sites have comparable prices across the board. These being Orbitz, Travelocity, Expedia, Priceline, etc. If you’re into brand loyalty then strategically choosing one of these could be the best longterm move. Orbitz offers a rewards program and probably the same prices most of the time as the others.

Then the are website that scan these and the myriad of mysterious flight booking sights around the earth. Kayak is probably the most popular example of that. After speaking with travelers around the world, the favorites, including mine, are SkyScanner and Cheap Flights.

Book Direct and Earn Points:

Also, always consider checking with the airline directly for tickets. Each region has their own set of domestic and international carriers, such as Southwest, Air Asia, Swiss Airlines, Japan Airlines, United Airlines, etc.

Why do I like to book direct? Because airlines reward loyalty, and it’s often cheaper to change a flight with them, and possible, versus when booked through a middle-man website, the shadier the worst chance you have.

Join the airlines’ frequent flyer programs and be sure to only use 1 per greater alliance….example – Korean Air and Vietnam Airlines are each on Sky Team Alliance, so if you book flights on each of these airlines, you should only give 1 frequent flyer program for both, so choose your loyalty carefully. In this instance I prefer Korean Air, as the points last for 10 years!