GypsySpirit In my opinion, finding the best deals is the most stressful part of being a digital nomad or just a traveler at any time, any place, or any period. When you’re traveling a lot and frequently like I am, this is a major pain point- finding the best airfare deal for your money and not losing your mind while searching.
In this blog post:
- Time or Money?
- Start Looking 1-3 Months Ahead
- Cheap Airfare Resources
- Tailor Your Flight to Your Stay
- The Step-by-Step Guide To Finding The Best Flight Deal
- Book Directly Through an Airline Website for Domestic Flights
THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS, MEANING I GET A COMMISSION IF YOU DECIDE TO MAKE A PURCHASE THROUGH MY LINKS, AT NO COST TO YOU.
Time or Money?
I am very grateful that I learned very early in life the conundrum that rules our lives in modern society. That is everything- I think I can say everything, maybe except relationships– always comes down to the decision of either spending your time or spending your money. You can reduce one but only by increasing the other.
In this case, if you’re like me, not an heir of some fortune or the offspring of some wealthy parents, you’ll be looking to not break the bank while traveling around chasing your dreams, exploring as much as you possibly can, and being as free as you can be. Since we don’t have the money to throw at expensive airfare, looks like we must spend more time than money in this area.
Start Looking 1-3 Months Ahead
The best strategy to find the best price for a flight is to start looking for airfare as early as possible. And I mean as early as possible.
For example, if I plan to stay in a place for 2 to 3 months, I’m already looking for the next airfare the first month I’m there. I start playing with travel dates and different travel search engines. Long ago, I learned that the best time to start booking your flights is, at least, a month ahead. This makes a huge difference in the deals you’re going to get. If you don’t book a month ahead, you don’t want to be booking less than two weeks ahead. The prices won’t get cheaper the closer to the date you get.
In my years of experience, I have also found that the best day to buy a ticket is always a Tuesday, they tend to be the cheapest flights. When it comes to the cheapest month, that is dependent on where you’re traveling to and what the peak season is at that specific destination. Especially for international flights, it is best to do your research about their differences in seasons, their peak traveling season, and their off-season. If you’re participating in holiday travel, expect higher costs compared to off-season periods.
Cheap Airfare Resources
When flying on a travel budget, utilizing a top-notch flight search engine to give you the search results you’re looking for is a great way to discover the cheapest flights. Through these, you can also compare the best flight prices.
I start with a great website that offers some really, really good deals, Scott’s Cheap Flights. This is one of my favorites. I was a member many years ago and his website wasn’t as sophisticated as it is now. I recently signed up again and it’s amazing. In addition to the deals he sends you almost every day, you’ll get some great tips on how to save while traveling. He uses Google Flights, one of the most excellent flight search engines to get good flight deals.
Once you find the deal you’re interested in even if you’re not ready to book, you can turn on the option to track the prices, and maybe even get price alerts. Google Flights will email you letting you know when flight prices change for the flights you’re interested in.
Another search engine I discovered recently that always provides a good deal is Trip.com. I’ve been finding great deals especially when looking at their bundles of hotels and flights to certain destinations (I was recently contemplating Italy and they had great deals. Airbnbs were too expensive in Venice and Rome and this website has good hotels available at great prices when combined with the flight). They also offer tickets and tours for you to plan your activities in the area you’re going to be in. I’ll cover that in another blog, but you can go here to check them out.
Another site that has great deals and I make sure to check out before booking my final flight and stay is Expedia. I have a personal story to tell you about Expedia. I bought a ticket through them in 2007 when my father passed away and I needed to fly from Las Vegas to Orlando last minute. The ticket I purchased was nonrefundable and didn’t allow for any changes. My father was being transported from New York to Florida and it was delayed. When I booked and took the flight we expected everything to happen in a certain order. It didn’t. I needed to extend my stay to be able to make it to my father’s funeral service. I tried reasoning with the rep at the other end of the line but, no matter what I said, they did not let me change the date on my return flight. At the time I could not afford to buy a new one. I had been self-employed for only 2 years so I was on a tight budget. This was an emergency trip after all. I missed my father’s funeral. This left such a bad taste in my mouth that I vowed to never purchase airfare from this company ever again. I can say that after 15 years, I am over it and have looked into this site again.
They have definitely improved and I actually used them to purchase last week’s return trip from India to Florida, United States three weeks prior. My ban is officially over.
A mobile app I use to find some of the lowest prices and monitor them is Hopper. I love this app. It shows you the cheapest prices by calendar dates. It allows you to set up monitoring of the prices, and its algorithm picks up on the future rise and fall of prices in the near future. Best of all, you can freeze prices for a chosen amount of time for a small fee that will later be applied to your purchase.
You can also protect your trip, book hotels, homes, car rentals and so much more in the Hopper app. It’s definitely one you want to sign up for. You can automatically get $10 in your account just for signing up.
Tailor Your Flight to Your Stay
As I type this, I just froze the price of my airfare to Brazil next week in the Hopper app. (Yes, you can sometimes find a cheap last-minute flight a week before. It depends on the time of year, where you’re going, and where you’re purchasing). I found an amazing deal to fly to Brazil but I’m not ready to buy because I’m yet to decide on the place I’m going to stay in the area. Once I decide on the place I am staying, I will finalize my flight. Check-in time is one of the factors to look at when choosing the flight, so you are also arriving at a time that makes sense. You don’t want to be sitting at the airport for hours on end waiting for the time you can check-in. In most cases, you can contact the hotel or Airbnb to arrange this. Most people/businesses will work with you if they can.
Currently, I’ve been searching and learning about the things I’ll be doing in the area which will range from medical to sight-seeing and even taking Portuguese classes. I’m hoping I like it there and can stay until January when I have to come back to drop off my daughter at college. So, I’m looking for lots of things such as gyms, fitness boot camps, or even a personal trainer. That’s an example of a reason or situation why you might want to freeze a price in this app. This won’t always apply but it just so happens that I’m currently visiting my sister after returning from India so I have a little leeway in choosing when I leave.
Find The Best Flight Deal
1. Start looking 1-3 Months ahead.
2. Utilize a top-notch flight search engine to find the cheapest flights (or utilize all of them to compare prices).
3. Consistently track prices through price alerts.
4. Find bundle deals with flights and hotels.
5. Tailor your flight to your stay (make sure you arrive on time and have possible refundable options if you need leeway for when you need to leave).
Book Directly Through an Airline Website for Domestic Flights
I only recommend here what I use myself. These are the websites that have worked and are currently working for me. Once in a while, it’s more efficient and inexpensive to go directly through an airline’s website or app such as JetBlue, Delta, or American Airlines, but it’s rare. Plus, I’m now flying internationally, so it doesn’t apply to most destinations at the moment. I used to LOVE Virgin America and was sad to learn they merged with Alaska Airlines (another favorite). Virgin America was the best airline ever!
Give these sites a try following the links here and let me know how it goes. I hope this post gave you some useful tips on booking the best flights with great deals. I wish you the best in your search and safe travels!
THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS, MEANING I GET A COMMISSION IF YOU DECIDE TO MAKE A PURCHASE THROUGH MY LINKS, AT NO COST TO YOU.
