How to Book the Cheapest Flights with VPN 2023 (+25 Best Flight Hacks)
Flight prices are determined by a complex algorithm that includes factors such as oil prices, the global economic outlook, internal projections, competitor rates and historical data.
Airfare is one of the most uniquely volatile things we purchase. While it can be frustrating for a consumer, this volatility is an opportunity. Today’s expensive flight might be tomorrow’s cheap flight.
Try these strategies to get cheap flights this year:
1. Why?
Believe it or not, prices change according to your IP address, browsing or purchase history, zip code, and even which Wi-Fi you’re connected to.
Dynamic Pricing and User Profiling
Airlines and comparison sites will use cookies in order to track customers and adjust prices! They don’t confirm this is real. In fact some of them, like Skyscanner, actively state that they don’t do this.
And we’re not in a position to prove or disprove otherwise.
In 2018, however, airline revenue management software provider, PROS, confirmed that many of their clientele now use dynamic pricing.
Dynamic pricing structures do consider user location, customer accounts, previous flight data, shopping trends, and more, to create specialized individual flight prices that differ from customer to customer.
PROS clientele includes Lufthansa, Virgin Atlantic, Qantas, Emirates, Southwest, and many more.
Dynamic flight pricing leads to price discrimination. This means one person might get a certain price while another gets a different one.
Airlines like United have robust algorithms on their websites that will determine your airfare based on the information it tracks from your IP address. In this case, you’re likely to encounter online price discrimination airlines use to make money on “wealthier” customers. In other words, airfare prices are individualized to maximize profits for the airline.
If you’re checking out flights on a high-end Mac, in San Francisco, the dynamic pricing might assume you have higher income and show you higher prices.
How about checking prices for a return overnight trip from New York to Chicago? Dynamic pricing might assume you’re a business person, check your previous flight purchase history, and show you price knowing that you will pay it regardless of cost.
Things get even more complicated if you live in a high-income country. Airlines have different rates for different locations. A person booking a flight in Brazil, for example, may pay more for a ticket than a person booking that exact same trip from Mexico. And the differences can be substantial—hundreds of dollars, even.
Luckily, the easiest and quickest way to get cheap flights is by using a VPN. VPN allows you to browse the cheapest flights from anywhere in the world.
2. What is a VPN?
A VPN or a virtual private network is a technology that allows for secure and private data transmission between your device and the Internet.
People use VPNs to bypass Internet censorship, change their IP addresses, hide digital identity as well as protect delicate data from hackers and prying eyes.
You can use a VPN to get cheaper plane tickets. If the airlines use dynamic profiling and flight route profiling, you can fight back by using a VPN to change your location.
A quality VPN not only hides your IP address but it allows you to pick the location in which you want to “pretend” you’re from. For example, if you are using your computer within the United States but you’re connected to a VPN server that’s located in the United Kingdom, the website you’re visiting will think you’re in the U.K. This means we can search for flights while pretending we’re in a different location. NordVPN has 62 virtual locations around the globe to pick from.
It’s not just cheap flights you can find using a VPN. You can save on entire vacation packages with a VPN, including your hotel and rental car.
Money Saving Tips First:
No matter which of the best VPN is right for you, you can get a free trial or a free version.
In fact, you can save up to 100% on online shopping at home and abroad!
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Whether you are buying cheap domestic products, international luxury goods, or buying mobile phones, computers, refrigerators, washing machines, clothes, shoes, bags, mother and baby products, snacks, drinks, or booking air tickets, hotels, car rentals, or registering services and memberships , you can save money on all related purchases – save $1,000 a year!
3. Why You Can’t Find the Cheapest Flights?
Many websites track your location and monitor your browsing activities to manipulate the airline tickets’ price.
How do they do that? You may wonder:
You can think of your IP address as of a passport in the online world: your IP tells websites who you are and where you’re located.
When you’re surfing a website to book a flight, the website usually checks your IP address to determine how much a ticket will cost based on your physical location.
Often, plane tickets will cost you more money simply due to where you’re located. If you’re purchasing a plane ticket from a more affluent country like the United States, for example, you are more likely to get charged a higher airfare rate. On the other hand, if you purchase a plane ticket from a lower-income country like Mexico or India, you will often find a better deal. VPNs like NordVPN have thousands of servers in multiple countries, making it easy for you to change your IP address to virtually any country in the world.
Given that, by their nature, browser cookies track and store your Internet activities, travel and flight companies analyze your cookies to see if you’ve recently searched for a particular flight several times.
Then, Cookies are used to monitor your browsing behavior and show you customize ads as well as pricing.
All modern mobile devices like smartphones and tablets have a GPS feature that indicates your geo-location.
If you’re browsing websites on your mobile device, airline and travel companies will likely see your location and adjust ticket prices based on it.
Airline and travel websites can also track your location if you give them permission to read your Wi-Fi connection.
HTML5 geo-location coding
Websites coded with HTML5 can track your location even on a personal computer.
All of the above things are the reason why you may overpay for flight tickets.
For example, a person in a different part of the world using another currency will pay less, even if you both are going to use the same airline and book the same flight on the same date.
4. What are the best VPNs for cheap flights?
Today’s top VPN service providers all offer excellent products that help you find cheap fares and book online flights safely. The service you choose really depends on the features most important to you. Some users want the fastest VPN provider. Others have price as their main consideration.
All our recommended VPN providers offer top notch privacy and security and server locations around the world. This gives you maximum flexibility to find the cheapest fares and keep your private data out of the airlines’ hands.
One of the top performing overall VPNs is NordVPN, which offers lots of international servers, high-speed connections and great 24/7 live chat customer support. The wide variety of locations is great for testing out prices all over the globe. That speed is handy as it’ll let you connect to another server faster than a lot of other VPNs out there.
We suggest CyberGhost , for three reasons:
They have thousands of servers spread across more than 90 countries. This makes it easy to comparison-shop ’til you drop using virtually any country combinations.
The monthly cost is exceptionally budget-friendly. Why stop at saving on flights? You can save money each month on a VPN service, too.
They offer a robust 45-day money back guarantee, one of the most generous in the industry. Take your time finding those cheap flights, then try streaming a whole new Netflix catalog with your VPN. You’ll have plenty of time to decide if a VPN is right for you.
Best VPN Services for booking flights 2023
# 1. best and fastest VPN – NordVPN
NordVPN ($3.49/mo + up to 75% cashback (Save 70% on 2 Years Plan + Extra Subscription))
Visit NordVPN
NordVPN’s success stems mostly from its feature-rich network design. NordVPN caters to a wide range of consumers’ demands, including the ability to unblock Netflix, BBC iPlayer access, Bitcoin support, and even malware protection.
Optimized for streaming and torrenting
5,200+ servers in 60 countries
Lowest Price: 3.54/mo.
Military-grade encryption
Strong no-logs policy
VPN Kill Switch
30-day money-back guarantee
No web logs & no IP/DNS leaks
Threat Protection feature for safer browsing
Compatible with all devices
Save up to 70% on select plans
# 2. Best Budget-Friendly VPN – Surfshark
Surfshark ($2.30/mo + up to 75% cashback (82% Off on 2 Years + 2 Months Free Plan))
Visit Surfshark
With a cost-conscious price tag, this rising star of the VPN market features premium capabilities, including Kill Switch and excellent streaming speeds.
If you’re after a premium service for as little money as possible, Surfshark is perfect. It offers 3200+ servers in 65 countries. Supporting unlimited simultaneous connections, Clean Web, and Multi-Hop with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Reasonably priced VPN service
Good media streaming speed
100% no-logs policy
Excellent customer support
30-day money-back guarantee
3,200+ servers in 65 countries
GPS protection on Android
No web logs & no IP/DNS leaks
# 3. Best VPN With User-Friendly Apps – CyberGhost
CyberGhost ($2.15/mo + up to 100% cashback (Save 82% on 3 Years Plan))
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CyberGhost stands out with its super-sleek and easy-to-use client that should be clear even for first-time VPN users. And that’s just one of the great features this service has.
Strict no-logs policy you can trust
Excellent apps for all major platforms
24/7 live chat support in 4 languages
Reliable VPN Kill Switch
Easy to cancel at any time
7,560+ servers in 91 countries
Automatic Wi-Fi protection
Try it for free for 45 days
No web logs & no IP/DNS leaks
Fast, secure & easy to use
Supports torrenting/P2P
Up to 7 devices per subscription
# 4. Best VPN for Torrenting – PrivateInternetAccess
Private Internet Access ($2.03/mo + up to 100% cashback (Save 82%))
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A strong all-around torrenting VPN with an enormous number of servers. It holds one of the largest server networks in the world with 35500+ servers in 84 countries. Offers best-in-class VPN experience, with 10 simultaneous connections, ad and malware blocking, SOCKS5 proxy, port-forwarding, and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Highly customizable settings
Great for private Internet browsing
Military-grade encryption
Committed to no-logs policy
Ultra-fast VPN servers worldwide
30-day money-back guarantee
Kill Switch option
# 5. Best Free VPN – Atlas VPN
Atlas VPN ($1.99/mo + up to 100% cashback (Save 81%))
Visit Atlas VPN
Atlas VPN is a top freemium service in 2023 with a bonus of unlimited simultaneous connections.
This VPN is located in the United States but does have a no-logs policy. Besides, Atlas VPN is owned by the same company that has NordVPN, our #1 provider. When it comes to security, Atlas VPN is not trying to invent the wheel. It uses NASA-grade encryption along with WireGuard and IKEv2 tunneling protocols for fast speeds. As expected, you’ll also find a kill switch, leak protection, split tunneling (Android), and SafeBrowse malware blocker.
Unlimited simultaneous connections
Unblocks Netflix and more
Free version
750+ servers in 37+ countries
MultiHop+ feature
Unblock multiple Netflix libraries
Torrenting is allowed on all servers
30-day money-back guarantee
Available in China
5. Is it legal to use a VPN to get cheap flights?
It is. Using a VPN to get cheaper flights is an absolutely legal practice.
First of all, there are no international or domestic laws that could prohibit you from doing so.
Secondly, when contacting customer support, websites like Expedia and Kayak also confirm that you can freely utilize a VPN to book cheap flights.
Finally, if you think of online price discrimination, it all itself looks illegal or at least very unfair that airlines charge their customers different prices just because they live in different countries.
Thus, you can use a VPN to your advantage anytime you want to save an extra penny.
Booking the flight through the U.K site, or any other site around the world, is no different than booking through your local site. Your email confirmation is the same, your flight details are the same—you just saved a boatload of cash.
6. Is the cost of a VPN worth the money I’ll save on airline tickets?
If you fly a lot, the savings you’ll get when using a VPN to find cheap tickets will offset the price of the VPN service. Even if you get on a plane only once or twice a year, the VPN will offer you value well beyond your periodic airline ticket searches, since it offers privacy and security anytime you go online.
7. Use a VPN to save you hundreds of dollars on flight tickets
Even better, this trick could literally save you hundreds of dollars. There are plenty of examples where people have saved over $400 on cheap flight tickets by using a VPN, so depending on where you’re traveling, the savings could be huge.
After all, everyone likes to save money. And with just a few clicks of a button, a VPN like NordVPN could be your ticket to considerably lower prices.
8. How to save money on flights with a VPN
By using a VPN, you can change your IP address and search for tickets anonymously as though you reside in a different country.
Here are the steps that you need to take to find cheap airline tickets:
First, search websites for flight deals without using a VPN: Go to any cheap flight finder like Expedia or Bookings.com and search your desired destination.
Bookmark the pages with the flights you would like to take and write down the prices.
Select the VPN provider you wish to download. Install the VPN you selected onto your device. Open your VPN software and connect your server to a country that will provide you with cheaper airfares, like the ones we suggested. Generally speaking, we recommend connecting to a low-income country to book more affordable flights.
After you’re connected, log out and clear your cache and cookies. It’s recommended to use Incognito mode as an additional form of anonymity after clearing your cookies and cache. This also prevents the website from realizing you are trying to trick them and get better flight deals. You can also just browse in incognito mode if you do not wish to remove your cookies.
Copy the URLs of bookmarked pages or search for the flights as in the first steps
Compare prices until you find the best price
9. How to unlock ultimate deals with VPN IPs?
If you have time to experiment a bit more, try out these methods as well and see if you can get even cheaper flights by:
Changing your IP address to a developing country’s
Use a VPN like, for example, NordVPN to change your IP address to an IP in a country with lower income.
Then, check how the prices change.
Usually, websites will display reduced prices if your IP address comes from a low-income country.
That’s because airline companies know that people living in a low-income country may not be able to pay the same price for a ticket as, let’s say, people living in the UK.
To begin with, you have to acknowledge that airline companies bump their prices based on the location of a prospective customer.
What this means is that the prices for the exact same flight can be different for a person living in England and a person living in India.
If you ask, why there exists such a discrepancy in airfare rates, the answer will be really simple: airline companies use dynamic pricing to make more profit off citizens of developed (richer) countries and also to make their service affordable for citizens of developing countries.
Which Is The Cheapest Country To Book Flights From VPN?
Lower-income countries like Mexico and India tend to have cheaper fares, although this can be inconsistent and depend mainly on the trip’s final destination.
Changing your IP address to the destination country’s
Another thing you can do to save on airfares is to connect to a VPN server in your destination country.
After doing so, typically you will see a noticeable drop in ticket prices.
Changing your IP address to the airline’s home country
Changing your IP to the country from which the airline originates can also help you lower flight prices.
And even if prices don’t drop considerably, even such little savings can help you save big in the long run.
Changing your IP to avoid price surge
As we’ve already mentioned, websites often increase prices based on your online behavior.
For instance, when you search for the same flight several times without changing your IP address, you may notice that the ticket costs are gradually growing.
To prevent this from happening, you can connect to any SwitchVPN server you like — even if this server is in your home country.
Then, all you need to do is just go back to the website you browsed to see that the prices returned to normal.
*Don’t forget to clear your cookies every time you change your location!
10. Having trouble finding cheap flights with a VPN?
If you have got a VPN but are having trouble finding a cheap flight, here are some troubleshooting tips:
1. Clear browser cookies
Make sure to clear your browser cookies and cache to prevent the travel site from tracking you.
To clear cookies, if you are using a Chrome browser, click the menu (3 dots) > More tools > Clear browsing data. This way, travel websites will have no information to get your actual location.
2. Use Incognito mode
Make sure to use the incognito mode when searching for flights using a VPN.
However, keep in mind that using incognito mode will not hide your IP address, as for that you need a VPN.
So how do you open an incognito window?
Go Incognito on Google Chrome
Open Google Chrome and click the wrench icon in the top right corner.
Click ‘new incognito window’.
Alternatively, you can press Ctrl + Shift + N.
You can tell if you’re browsing privately by looking for the logo of the person in disguise in the top-left corner of the window. He’s wearing sunglasses and a secret agent hat.
Are you finding your cheap flights like a secret agent would?
Go Incognito on Mozilla Firefox
Open Firefox and click the hamburger Menu button – it looks like three parallel lines.
Click ‘New private window’.
Go Incognito on Safari on Mac
Open Safari and click on ‘File’.
Click ‘New Private Window’.
Alternatively, click Command + Shift + N.
Go Incognito on Microsoft Edge
Open Microsoft Edge and click the ‘More’ icon – it looks like three dots.
Click ‘New InPrivate window’.
Open a new incognito or private window between new searches, as cookies are reset and deleted between each session. By doing this you will have the best chance to find cheap flights without being fooled by airlines.
You should also be aware of the common best practices for hunting for cheap tickets:
1. Get up to 45% cash back with Extrabux.
Extrabux is a well-known multinational cashback website. They have you covered when it comes to value travel and the cheapest flights.
They work with more than 300 partners to bring you better travel deals, You can find cheap flights from 1000s of airlines and travel agents! Whether it’s a romantic weekend getaway, family vacation, bucket-list trip to your dream destination, or a business trip with a side of fun, they have you covered.
2. Use the best flight search engines
As part of their business plans, search engines take a cut of the flight cost and show you an inflated price to cover that cost. While all search engines do this, the trick is to find the ones that offer you the lowest inflation rate. Some search engines (e.g. Expedia) consistently inflate much higher than others (listed below).
Our three favorite tools to search for flights are Skyscanner, Momondo and Google Flights.
Remember that Southwest doesn’t show up on search engines and OTAs, so check directly on their website.
Best flight search sites:
Skyscanner (our #1 choice)
Momondo (a broad search engine that sometimes shows cheaper fares than Skyscanner)
Google Flights (good tool to quickly compare flight dates – not usually the best prices)
Scott’s Cheap Flights (experts at finding sale & error fares)
Skiplagged (a hidden city ticketing search engine)
Airfarewatchdog (lists top sale & error fares from your city)
Kiwi.com (combines all airlines to create routes that are cheaper than booking with just 1 airline)
Cheapoair
AirWander (lets you extend layovers into stopovers to visit 2 destinations with 1 trip)
JetRadar (includes budget airlines, which many search engines don’t)
Finally, no single search engine is consistently perfect (though we typically find the cheapest price on Skyscanner or Momondo). As such, you may need to try a combination of search engines to ensure you’re not missing any results.
When booking a flight, it’s a good idea to check travel search engines like Priceline, and Skyscanner, as well as airlines’ websites. Plus, many travel search engines allow you to set price alerts for certain flights, which is a great way to keep track of fares.
However, keep in mind that when you book directly through an airline’s website and your flight gets canceled, you’ll have an easier time dealing with the airline — and getting rebooked — than you would if you had booked through a travel search engine.
What is an opaque booking?
An opaque booking is one in which many of the flight details including arrival and departure times and even airline are hidden until your booking is complete. Many sites including Hotwire, Orbitz, and Travelocity offer these types of bookings.
3. Go for budget airlines
If you are not a luxury-seeking traveler, flying in budget airlines is the right option for you. Budget airlines have proliferated in recent years, giving passengers more choice when it comes to cheap flights. Of course, not all budget airlines are equal.
Why budget? Normally you will have:
Less legroom
No free food and drinks
No baggage allowance
Always make sure to check the fine print with budget airlines and do the following:
Check where the airport location is (some budget airlines fly to smaller airports further away from the town center ).
Ensure you’ve booked & paid for your luggage allowance. Adhere to restrictions on weight, height, and # of bags allowed. Some airlines (e.g. Ryanair) will charge hefty fee if you’re over.
Read the fine print. The best example is that Ryanair WILL CHARGE AN AIRPORT CHECK-IN Fee €/£55 if you do not check-in online in advance and print your boarding pass, or use their mobile boarding pass.
Fees for using debit or credit cards to pay.
best budget airlines:
Remember, budget airlines in Europe and Asia are extremely cheap. You can fly roundtrip from most cities for less than $90 USD within those regions.
Below is a comprehensive list of budget airlines around the globe. Red indicates true budget airlines while blue implies the cheapest companies available where budget airlines don’t exist or aren’t plentiful.
CANADA
UNITED STATES
AUSTRALIA
NEW ZEALAND
ASIA
EUROPE
TIP: If you subscribe to airline newsletters, you will get sale information ahead of everyone else and might be able to snap a bargain. Air Asia, Jetstar, Tiger Air and Ryanair are especially good at having regular deals. Also, by signing up to Facebook pages or Twitter feeds, you might hear about great deals.
Many of these budget airlines have their own airline rewards credit cards, and most of them offer a major signup points bonus. For example, the Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus card from Chase offers Companion Pass (every time you fly, your friend flies too) and 30,000 bonus points after hitting the minimum spend in the first 3 months.
However, a general travel rewards credit card such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card is the best option for most people, as you have the flexibility to redeem your points towards a wide variety of airlines and hotels. You’ll receive 60,000 bonus points worth $750 through the Chase Ultimate Rewards program after you spend $4,000 in the first 3 months of your account opening, and the card features no foreign transaction fees.
4. Use international versions of websites
Prices may differ between the different versions of a website you use.
Therefore, you can try switching between different regional versions of one website.
To do this, you can change the ccTLD of your initial website to a country-code top-level domain of another country.
For example for France, it will be (.fr), for New Zealand (.nz), for Australia (.au), and so on.
However, in some cases, websites will force-redirect you only to that version of a website that corresponds with the country you’re in.
That’s because they see your IP, and you need to turn a VPN on to hide it.
5. Plan your trips ahead: book within the Goldilocks Windows
Airfare is unpredictable. The best way to time it is to think in terms of ‘Goldilocks’ windows: not too early, not too late, in the middle, just right.
The general rule is that for domestic flights, travelers should start searching for flight tickets one to three months in advance. For international flights, the best prices are typically available from two to eight months in advance.
According to the study, the prices for domestic travel start to rise 21 days before travel, with international trips beginning to get more expensive 28 days before departure.
5.1. How far in advance should I book a flight to get good deals?
Broadly speaking, the sweet spot for booking is 28 to 35 days before travel for domestic flights, but three to four months before travel for international itineraries.
If you are planning to visit during the peak season, it is advisable to book tickets 45-60 days in advance as airfare tends to rise with the ticking of the clock.
5.2 Which is the cheapest month to fly?
The cheapest month to fly can vary depending on where you’re going, so finding the best rates largely comes down to avoiding peak travel times for your destination. A great insider tip is to travel during shoulder season – a name for the window of time between a destination’s high and low tourist seasons. These are the best times to score better rates and still enjoy temperate weather.
Peak times that tend to be pricier no matter where you’re headed are June and July, due to the summer break schedule for families, and December, around Christmas and New Year’s.
Those planning a trip during a peak period, such as midsummer, Christmas or New Year’s should start looking for domestic flights two to five months in advance.
In North America and Europe, the cheapest time of year to fly is usually:
The most expensive time to fly is usually:
5.3. Seasonal Considerations and Advance Booking
The general recommendations that CheapAir.com lays out：
Fall: You can usually wait a bit longer to book fall travel and still get decent deals. The average best time to buy is 69 days in advance. The exception is Thanksgiving week, for which you should book travel earlier.
Winter: Travel around the Christmas and New Year holidays will usually cost more no matter what; otherwise, winter can be an affordable time to travel. For non-holiday travel, aim to buy plane tickets 94 days in advance.
Spring: Many people travel during a wide range of days for spring break, so the key to travel during this season is to plan ahead. If possible, buy your tickets 84 days in advance.
Summer: This is the most popular season for American travel. CheapAir.com recommends buying your tickets 99 days in advance during this time.
5.4. Which day of the week is the best day to buy airline tickets?
For both U.S. domestic and international travel, Sundays can be cheaper for plane ticket purchases. That doesn’t mean you need to fly on Sunday to save money—you just want to purchase on that day of the week. Doing so will generally save you an average of 5% on domestic flights and 10% for international ones.
For domestic flights, Mondays showed the highest average ticket prices and for international, avoid booking on Fridays.
5.5. Which day is the cheapest to fly?
The best day of the week to start a domestic round trip is Friday. Do so and you can save 15% on what you would have paid had you flown out on Monday.
For international trips, Thursday tends to be the cheapest day of the week to fly, although the savings aren’t as dramatic—just 5% versus flying on a Tuesday (the priciest day of the week for international flights).
Flight fares tend to be cheaper when you are looking for your journey on a weekday. While looking for how to book cheap flight tickets try to book your ticket for the journey on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday because statistics say that flight fare tends to cheapest if you book flight tickets on weekdays at 2-4 pm.
5.6 What are the recommended days to fly in order to get cheap flights?
There’s no definitive rule for which days are best to fly for cheap flights to all destinations. Every airport and place is a little different and have their own specific days and times when there’s less travelers usually flying in and out, creating a higher surplus of available seats with less demand and causing airlines to charge less. There’s also seasonal and holiday travel, which creates more demand and lowers any chance of cheap flights. But there is a general pattern in how most people travel that you can take advantage of to save money on airline tickets. Most people will book to fly on Friday and the weekend and that’s why flights on those day are generally the most expensive. So, just being willing to fly Monday through Thursday will increase the likelihood of snagging cheap flights.
6. Determine the Cheapest Day to Fly
You can quickly see prices throughout the month to see which days are cheapest for your particular route.
Click “Search Flights” on Skyscanner, Kiwi.com and Google Flights to easily see which dates are cheapest. Just enter your departure and arrival city, click “Depart”, but instead of entering a date, select “Whole Month” and then “Cheapest Month”.
For tracking when and where is cheapest to fly, Hopper also offer price analysis and track fluctuations (i.e. when is best to fly).
7. Find the cheapest place to fly
If you’re at all flexible on where you’re heading, consider either flying to the cheapest destination on the map, or flying into the cheapest airport close to your chosen destination. Oftentimes you’ll be able to find a nearby airport to fly into and then hop on a bus or train to your destination.
To determine this, head back on over to Skyscanner, enter your departure city, and then under the “To” header, click on “Everywhere”. This will bring up a selection of cities and the cheapest places you can fly to.
My other options:
Kiwi.comGoogle FlightsKayak
TIP: Always check for airports that might not be the obvious choice. Smaller airports or an airport that is only an extra hour drive from home might save you hundreds of dollars!
7.1 Which are the top budget travel destinations for 2023?
Orlando
Beijing
Bogota
Rio de Janeiro
Cancun
Montenegro
Bali
Budapest
Costa Rica
Georgia
Hanoi
Athens
7.2 I have specific dates/destination. How can I track fares for that?
Both Google Flights and Kayak let you track a specific trip and get alerted when the price drops.
8. Earn miles and loyalty points
Almost all current airlines offer a loyalty program. That can be called points, miles or Avios. Depending on the airline, you can pick them up by means of flights, but also by refueling, renting a car, booking a hotel or going shopping. This is especially useful for frequent travelers or long trips.
Also known in some circles as “travel hacking”, using flyer points to purchase your flights can save you a lot of money.
9. FLY FOR FREE WITH POINTS
The cheapest flight you can book is free, and the easiest way to do that is with points. If you don’t have any, don’t fret – signing up for just one travel rewards credit card and hitting the minimum spend can land you a major points bonus, often enough for a free flight!
You can sign up for an airline rewards card that earns points with a particular airline, or a more general travel rewards card that lets you redeem points across a variety of airlines. As a beginner card, we recommend the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card. You can earn up to 60,000 in bonus points after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months after your account opening. That’s worth $750 when redeemed through Chase Ultimate Rewards, and more than enough for an international flight. And since it includes trip cancelation insurance, car rental collision damage waiver, lost luggage insurance, and no foreign transaction fees, it’s the perfect all-rounder travel credit card.
CHASE SAPPHIRE PREFERRED CARD
60,000 reward points (worth $750) after meeting the minimum spend of $4,000 in the first 3 months
$50 annual Ultimate Rewards Hotel Credit.
5x points for purchases on Chase Ultimate Rewards, 3x points on dining, and 2x points on all other travel purchases.
Includes trip cancellation/interruption insurance, auto rental collision damage waiver, lost luggage insurance and more.
Can transfer your reward points to leading airline and hotel loyalty programs
No foreign transaction fees
Annual fee: $95
Do you have your own business? Then consider the Chase Ink Business Preferred Credit Card instead, where you can earn a whopping 100,000 bonus points after you spend $15,000 in the first 3 months from the account opening. That’s worth $1250 through Chase Ultimate Rewards. You’ll also earn 3 points per dollar on the first $150,000 spent in select business purchase categories per year, and 1 point per dollar on all other purchases.
10. Use an Airline Credit Card to Avoid Baggage Fees
If you need to check a bag, most airline rewards cards will let you waive the baggage fees for at least one traveling companion. The Delta Amex credit cards will let you check up to nine bags for free. The only two stipulations are you must book a flight directly with the carrier and use that credit card to pay for the flight. No problem, right?
11. Try paying in a different currency
It is a hack used by very few. Many a time, you can get tickets in cheap just by paying the airfare in a different currency. You should try paying in a different currency in which you find the tickets cheap.
Often budget airlines will make you pay in the currency of the country you’re departing from, but this isn’t always the case. It can sometimes be cheaper if you book using the foreign version of their website and use a foreign currency. It’s not full-proof. Sometimes there are no savings and sometimes the savings are small, but in other cases you can save a hundred dollars or more, so it’s often worth checking. Just make sure you book with a credit card that has no foreign transaction fees, such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card.
12. Book a Connecting Flight
If you aren’t in a hurry to get to your final destination, booking a connecting flight can be cheaper than a non-stop flight. The search engines will let you filter flight itineraries by non-stop, 1 stop, and 2+ stops. Even flying mixed carriers might be able to save you some cash as well.
Kiwi.com and AirWander are the best flight booking websites to search for this kind of crazy flight booking deals. This search engine will offer you cheaper routes with multiple airline options.
13. MIX AND MATCH AIRLINES
Where Kiwi.com really shines is the way in which it mixes and matches airlines in order to find the cheapest price. For example, maybe you want to go to Rome, Italy from Washington, USA. A typical flight search engine will only suggest routes coming from a single airline and its partners. An example search on Expedia shows the cheapest route as $631.20 USD via TAP Portugal.
Kiwi.com, on the other hand, will mix and match airlines (including budget airlines) in order to find you the very cheapest route. For long-haul flights especially, this can make a huge difference. The same search on Kiwi.com returns a route at $459.80 USD via JetBlue, Norwegian Air, and Vueling. That’s a savings of $171.40 USD, and the travel time is even shorter!
Typically, booking a whole trip with different airlines would be risky. For example, let’s say your first flight with JetBlue was delayed, and you missed your connecting flight with Norwegian Air. Because the airlines have no association with each other, Norwegian Air has no obligation to reschedule your flight for free, so you would just lose your money. Kiwi.com instead offers their own guarantee, which covers schedule changes, flight delays, and cancellations. As long as you contact Kiwi.com as soon as you’re aware of the delay, they will provide you with an alternate connecting flight, or a full refund, at your discretion.
13.1. How do I find cheap one-way tickets?
For most carriers, one-way flights are significantly more than half the cost of a roundtrip flight.
If you want to fly into a different airport than you will depart from, it’s usually better to book an open-jaw flight (flying A to B, then C to A) on one itinerary rather than two separate one-ways.
Airlines whose one-way flights are around half of a roundtrip include jetBlue, Norwegian, Condor, and basically all intra-continental budget carriers like Ryanair and Air Asia.
13.2. What are really good roundtrip fares from the United States or Canada?
Africa: $800 or below roundtrip
Asia: $500 or below roundtrip
Australia: $800 or below roundtrip
Caribbean: $300 or below roundtrip
Central America: $300 or below roundtrip
Europe: $500 or below roundtrip
Hawaii: $400 or below roundtrip
South America: $600 or below roundtrip
14. Grab airline error and sale fares fast
Due to technical glitches and human error, airlines have been known to post erroneous fares, and sometimes these errors can lead to incredibly discounted flights.
One of the most popular sites for tracking sale and error fares is Scott’s Cheap Flights (or if you’re in the UK, check out Jack’s Flight Club). The website has a dedicated team that scours the internet for flight deals every day. Just make an account and enter your departure airport, and you’ll start getting flight deals sent to your inbox. There’s also a premium plan for only $49/year (a 14-day free trial is available), which gives you access to even more flight deals with even deeper discounts. Considering members save an average of $550 per ticket, this is well worth the cost!
Other sites like Airfarewatchdog, Kiwi.com, and Secret Flying are great resources to stalk for finding mistake and sale pricing, as they conglomerate slashed ticket rates all in one spot.
You’ll alsobe able to find them via Skyscanner by using the “Whole Month” method and then picking out any fares that look comparatively low.
Act fast when you stumble upon cheap flights, they wont be around for long, especially error fares.
15. Consider using “hidden-city” booking
Travellers long ago discovered a trick known now as “hidden city” flights.
Say you’re flying from New York to Chicago and you find a cheap flight that goes from New York to Kentucky, but with a layover in Chicago (chances are a flight like this will be cheaper than a nonstop flight from New York to Chicago). Book that flight and then just disembark in Chicago (don’t board the connecting flight to Kentucky).
While doing this isn’t technically illegal, many airlines don’t allow it, and will even fine you. There are websites to help you uncover these layovers (like skiplagged.com ), but make sure not to get caught, as airlines could also cancel your return trip.
Also, the other risks with this kind of ticket：
You get to the gate and they make you check your carry-on bag, which will go to the final destination. Make sure not to check any bags.
You may not be allowed off the plane (if the same plane is continuing onward to its final destination).
We’ve never used the hidden city method, but some friends have and they’ve saved some money. Use at your own risk!
16. Look out for “fifth-freedom flights.”
Fifth freedom flights, in which an airline offers service between two countries outside of its home base, can be a boon to budget-minded travelers for several reasons.
Here’s what that means in layman’s terms: Generally, airlines fly between their home country and other countries, but occasionally, because of layovers, they will have flights between two foreign countries. For example, a flight operated by Singapore Airlines from New York to Singapore with a layover in Frankfurt is a fifth freedom flight, because neither New York nor Frankfurt are the airline’s home country (that would be Singapore).
Why look out for these? While not necessarily cheaper, they are often better airlines and newer airplanes than what you would usually find on these routes.
First of all, they’re often serviced by larger aircraft on popular international routes, which means more competition and lower prices; they sometimes offer overlooked frequent-flier availability; and, baggage fees are often included—all of which can translate into significant savings, not to mention a superior onboard experience.
Emirates’ route between JFK and Milan is a favorite for grabbing a baggage-inclusive nonstop to Europe, as is the Singapore Airlines Houston to Manchester route.
Airlines are usually not allowed to list these fares on their website or on travel search engines, however, Fly Pointy End has a comprehensive list of such flights.
17. Search for fares individually
If the first search you perform for a flight is for multiple seats, the airline might hike up prices. So instead, start by searching for a flight for just one person, and look into booking for multiple people later.
Just make sure to link the reservations together after you finish so the airline knows you’re all flying together.
18. Consider booking one way tickets and flying into and out of different cities.
While booking a round trip ticket in and out of the same city might seem like the easiest, most logical way to go, it’s not always the cheapest. Sometimes, booking two one way tickets that arrive in and depart from different cities can save you a lot of money.
For example, let’s say you’re flying from Chicago to Düsseldorf, Germany. Maybe you fly into Düsseldorf, but then fly back to Chicago out of Cologne, since the two airports are only about a 45 minute drive from each other. So make sure to always research nearby airports.
19. Cancel free for 24 hours
There’s a handy regulation called the 24-hour rule that says for flights to or from the US, airlines must allow you to cancel free within 24 hours.
So, if you aren’t sure you can get time off work, for example, rather than wait to hear from your boss, you could go ahead and book the amazing deal you found before it disappears. If your boss comes back and says you can’t go, as long as it’s within the 24 hours, you can get a full refund.
You can also use this trick if you book a flight and the price goes down within 24 hours. Just make sure you book the new flight before you cancel the old one.
20. Speak to a travel agent
It’s true that online flight deals can get you a cheap flight, but there is also a high chance that a travel agent can find a better deal for you. Call center representatives have options to waive a few charges and customize the deal. All you need to do is to be patient while calling and you may end up getting an enticing airfare deal.
21. Try a last-minute rewards search
Last-minute flights can be a smart time to burn off frequent flier miles, as airlines will sometimes release unsold seats as cheaper-than-normal mileage tickets.
I will suggest looking at Lastminute for such crazy flight deals. This site also offers last minute cheap hotel deals to book.
Don’t just search online for these, though; some experts recommend calling the airline’s 1-800 number or chatting online with a rep, even if the rewards app or website shows no redemption opportunities. There will sometimes be availability that hasn’t been released online yet.
22. Pack lightly
If you’re a family of four and you’re checking bags, expect to add on a few hundred bucks to the price of your tickets. Most carriers now charge $150 roundtrip, up from $120 a few years ago.
You can reduce your travel costs by packing as lightly as possible or having travel credit cards that are affiliated with airlines, as those include free bags for everyone in your travel party.
We also suggest folks compare all the different options within a $120 range listed in an aggregator like Google Flights or Kayak, taking into consideration baggage fees.
23. Ask airlines if they discount ticket prices for kids or families
Airplane seats are airplane seats and kids fill them up just like adults do. However, a majority of airlines do allow kids over 14 days old and younger than two years old to fly for free if they sit in your lap for the flight. It certainly won’t hurt to ask whether discounts are available for kids older than that. You may get lucky.
If you aren’t too lucky getting discounts for your kids by asking, you should consider going after companion passes from major airlines like Southwest and Alaska. For Southwest, once you accumulate 110,000 reward points, you’ll qualify for a companion pass which you can use for unlimited free travel during that year and the next one for a family member who travels with you.
24. Take advantage of the slow rebound of business class
Post-pandemic business travel has rebounded far more slowly than leisure travel—which can mean prime opportunities for scoring swanky, front-of-the-plane seats for far less than you would normally. On Scott’s Cheap Flights’ recently launched Elite membership offering, which tracks deals for premium economy and higher cabins, current prices for business-class round-trip fares to Europe routinely dip to $1,800—and sometimes even lower, senior product operations specialist at Scott’s Cheap Flights.
In addition, carriers also have rerouted larger aircraft to serve in-demand, short-haul leisure and international routes—which means “there is a rare opportunity to score lie-flat seats on wide-bodied jets for a fraction of what you’d pay to experience the product on a long-haul flight”. $500 round-trip between New York and Puerto Rico in lie-flat seats—that’s the kind of deal we’ve been seeing pretty regularly.
Don’t forget about the option to bid on upgrades, too. On flights when their premium cabins are fairly empty, some airlines offer economy passengers the chance to bid for upgrades—and airlines are much more willing to accept a lower bid these days than pre-pandemic, Since it doesn’t cost anything to bid unless you win, you have nothing to lose by giving it a try.
25. Be Prepared for Pandemic Disruptions
COVID-19 case counts can change suddenly as outbreaks pop up in specific areas of the country or globe. Particularly for those considering international travel this year, pandemic-related disruptions may occur, depending on your destination.
It’s possible that mask mandates on planes and public transportation might be lifted this year only to be reinstated if another outbreak occurs. Stay flexible and be prepared to wear a mask on your flight. Rules around vaccination and masking may vary across airlines, destinations and countries.
