When I told my friends I was traveling from Pittsburgh to Northern Ireland for under $800 round trip, they naturally did not believe me. When you think of traveling overseas, your first thought is that the plane ticket will be thousands of dollars. While flights can be expensive, if you follow a few tips you can get domestic and international plane tickets for fairly cheap!
1: Be Flexible with Travel Dates
It is beneficial to pick a time frame in which you want to travel, not a specific date. The price of plane tickets can increase or decrease by hundreds of dollars depending on the time you choose to travel. For instance, you can save money if you choose to travel on the 3rd week of May instead of the 1st week of May or if you choose to travel on a Wednesday instead of a Monday.
2: Travel During Off-Tourist Season
This varies from place to place, but the typical off-season for most countries is between the months of October to May. Not as many people will be traveling to your destination so flights will be cheaper during this time.
3: Search in Incognito Mode
The airlines keep track of what flights people are searching for on the internet. If more people are searching for a flight, the price will go up. To prevent this from happening, search for your flights in incognito mode on your laptop or in the private tab of Safari on your phone.
4: Use Flight Search Engines
Use apps and websites to explore flight options. I personally like to use Google Flights, but Hopper, Sky Scanner, Momondo, and Kiwi are my other top choices. You are able to put in your destination and see various flight prices for different dates.
With Google Flights, you are able to put in a date and search a range of destinations within that time frame. It is always good to look at a few different sites to compare prices. Remember to always search for flights in Incognito Mode!
5: Use Discount Airlines
Smaller airlines offer cheaper ticket prices between destinations. In the United States: Spirit, JetBlue, SouthWest, and Frontier offer cheap prices between the states. In Europe: KLM, Easy Jet, TAP, Norwegian, and Ryanair. Do not hesitate to use the discount airlines in the area you are traveling. They are a great resource to save you money on flights.
6: Book Tickets Separately
(1) It is typically cheaper to fly out of airports that act as major hubs for airlines. You can save money if you book a round trip ticket from your hometown airport to a major hub airport and then book your destination flight from the major hub airport.
(2) It is cheaper to fly major airlines for long-distance travel and then book a flight with a discount airline for a short distance travel.
Example: I live in Pittsburgh. A round trip ticket from Pittsburgh to Madrid is $1,551. However, a round trip ticket from Pittsburgh to JFK is $137 and a round trip ticket from JFK to Madrid is $631, making the total price $768. This reduces the price of the ticket in half just by flying out of a major hub airport.
When booking separately, you need to find flights that allow you to have time to get to your next connecting flight. You typically want to give yourself at least 3 hours minimum between connecting flights because you will have to go back through security to catch your next flight. This also allows time between flights in case there are any delays.
7: Watch Flights
After you have decided where and when you want to travel, it is important to watch the price of the flights. You want to book flights anywhere form 1-4 months in advance. The best time to book your flight can vary depending on the season and your destination. Hopper is a great toll to use to determine the best time to book your flight. The App will give you a prediction of when the prices will increase or decrease in the future, making it easy for you to know when to book your flight.
Using these tips can help save money when booking flights!
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