Carly Everyone wants to book the cheapest flights, right? Who can blame them! Flights can get REAL pricey REAL quick. Luckily for me, working in the airline biz, I have learned a couple tricks that I use to help me when looking at buying flights and I hope you can apply to help you too. Lets get it.
Choose the EARLIEST flight
The first flight of the day. First flights of the day can usually be cheaper than the later flights since no one wants to get up to travel that early. Not only will it save you some dough at booking, but as the day goes on, airlines take maintenance and operational delays meaning that, even if your flight isn’t delayed, if one of the ones before it was, it will probably affect your flight. Weather is also usually better in the mornings meaning you, again, have less chance of catching a delay. The morning flights are also the ones that are usually the most open (hello coveted row to myself), probably because no one wants to take them but also because people usually miss these flights (because #sleepislife).
Not all airlines will be listed on Google flights or other automated online services
Those online services take a cut or charge airlines for listing their flights on their sites. To save cash, airlines (especially low cost carriers) will stay off of these sites, betting that their customers will come to them knowing they’ll have a cheaper rate. But how do you find out what airlines fly there if you’ve never been? My favorite way is to Google the airport you want to fly into and what airport you want to fly out of (and maybe airports in the surrounding area) and go to the airport websites. 99% of the time they will have a list of airlines that operate at the airport. Match what airlines fly to both and boom, you’ve narrowed it down. Now that you know what airlines you can take, go to their airline websites and compare to get the best rate for you.
Beware the open browser
ALWAYS browse flights, hotels, car rentals, etc. in an incognito window. Airlines access data that you have provided by using your cookies (available in an open browser) to track the demand for a flight based on how many times you and others have looked at it. So, in order to watch to see when those price drops happen, do so in incognito mode.
Book on weird days and at weird times
Obviously flights on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays are going to be the most expensive because that’s when everyone else also wants to fly. Same goes for trying to book a flight at 5pm verses 5am. The weirder the day or time, the better the odds for a better price.
Watch out for events in the area
You’re going to visit your cousin in Palm Springs in April. Guess who else is going to Palm Springs in April: every glitter-faced, fringed-crop-top, shuffling 20-something year old with money. New Orleans in March. Munich in September. Pamplona in July. Large or small, airlines look for significant events in the area and anticipate the demand on tickets, which can send prices soaring. You might be going specifically for those events, but if you’re not planning to dress in a skull costume and parade the streets to celebrate the lives of those who have passed on in a Dia de los Muertos celebration, maybe you should plan your trip to Mexico for a time other than November.
These are just a few tips I’ve learned working in the airline world that have helped me be a little more savvy and I hope they can help you save a little on your next trip!
What tips do you have for booking flights? What did I miss? Share your best advice below!
