Find cheap flights

Flights can often be very expensive, but nothing is more fun than being able to score cheap plane tickets. Here are some tips to help you.

Period

If possible, it is best to travel outside the high season and school holidays. This does not only concern your own school holidays, but also the holidays at the destination. Also, the prices are a lot higher when major events take place. So unless you’re really going to this particular event, you’d better go at another time.

Track prices

With Skyscanner, Momondo, and Google flights you can set alerts on a chosen route. You will automatically receive a notification if the prices drop. With google flights, you can also set whether you want alerts for all possible dates. You will then be notified when cheap tickets are available for your chosen route, for any dates.

All these comparison websites also give the option to book the round trip through various websites/airlines.

Flexibility

Dates

If you are flexible in your departure dates, you can use comparison websites such as  Skyscanner, Momondo, or Kayak. Here you can search for the cheapest days within a certain month or the cheapest month.

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Location

Also, take a look at surrounding airports to depart from. But then take into account any additional costs (petrol, train ticket, parking, hotel, …). In the aforementioned comparison websites, you can also indicate this when searching. Or you can, for example, enter the country as departure (Belgium or the Netherlands) to immediately include all airports. The same can also be done for destinations.

 

With Google flights and Momondo you can specifically indicate the airports from where you want to depart

 

 

By the way, you don’t have to depart from the same airport when you landed. For example, if you travel to New York, you can land at Newark but depart from JFK. The same applies to the departure airport (Brussels vs Amsterdam).

If you have no idea where you want to go yet, you can use the everywhere function at Skyscanner, Momondo, and Kayak. I also definitely only check direct flights. You can use this function at Skyscanner on specific dates, but also on a full month or the cheapest month. You will then get an overview of the cheapest destinations for that specific month.

 

 

 

Error fare

Error fares are, as the name suggests, wrong fares. These are often only available for a short time, so if you see them, book that ticket immediately. Wait a little longer before booking accommodation, for example, because sometimes the airline can still cancel it. And keep this one to yourself: don’t contact the airline to see if the price is right ?.

You must be very lucky to come across such an error fare yourself. Fortunately, there are websites where you can register to be kept informed. Some examples are Flynous, Secret Flying, Fly 4 Free, Travel Dealz, Jack’s Flight Club en Airfarewatchdog. You can also follow them on social media such as Facebook and Twitter so as not to miss any offers.

Promotions

It can be helpful to subscribe to the newsletters of your favorite airlines or follow them on social media. Usually, they send out emails when there are promotions. For example, some airlines have annual promotions such as Qatar 2 for 1 at the beginning of February.

Registering for Frequent Flyer programs can also be useful for the same reason.

A few more tips

Always look at the combination flight + hotel. Sometimes a flight can be very cheap but the hotels are very expensive.

Traveling with hand luggage is always the cheapest way. At Kayak en Google flights you can indicate during your search whether you take checked baggage or not. And if you want to take hold luggage with you, always book it online in advance (especially with low-cost airlines).

Sometimes it is cheaper to book 2 single tickets than a return flight. With Google flights, this is checked by default so that these are also displayed.

A flight with a connection is often cheaper than a direct flight. Allow at least 4 hours for a transfer, so that you have enough time. You definitely need that time when you transfer in the US and you have to go through customs.

If you are traveling for a long time, you may consider opting for a stopover (of more than 24 hours). 2 destinations for the price of 1. Several airlines specifically offer this: Icelandair (Iceland), TAP Air Portugal (Lissabon of Porto), Virgin Atlantic (Londen), Singapore Airlines (Singapore),  Turkish Airlines (Istanbul), Qatar Airways (Doha), Emirates (Dubai), Etihad (Abu Dhabi).

If the tickets can still be canceled, you can also keep an eye on the prices after booking. Only cancel your first booking if the new booking is in order.

Some websites have multiple extensions for different countries. Sometimes there can also be a price difference. This applies not only to the websites of airlines but also to the comparison websites.

If you fly with low-cost airlines, also keep in mind that they often fly to smaller airports that may be further from the center. There may be additional costs for public transport or taxi to get to the center.

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