What Are Some Of The Best Ways To Find Cheap Flights Online?

It's not your imagination; the prices of airline tickets have gone up. Whether you're looking for a deal on Google Flights or Skyscanner, finding a ticket that stays within your budget may feel like an impossible task. Over the years, seasoned travelers have come up with all sorts of tricks to beat airlines at their own game. For example, looking for tickets on a Tuesday instead of the weekend has been a popular tip among travelers. Unfortunately, it turns out this strategy is probably more of an urban myth than anything else. That being said, according to reports, Sunday has historically been the cheapest day to book air travel, with Friday being the most expensive.

Another popular strategy is using a VPN, based on the theory that airlines show different prices depending on your location or browsing history. However, there's little hard data to back up this idea. While there are a lot of good reasons to sign up for a paid VPN service, expecting to get better deals on flights probably shouldn't be one of them. Even though some of the most popular strategies may not work as well as we'd like, there are still things you can do to make sure you're getting the cheapest price possible on your next flight.

If you're not already doing so, the starting point in your search for cheap flights should be flight aggregator websites like Skyscanner, Google Flights, and Momondo. What makes these sites so valuable is that they pull prices from a range of airlines and online travel agencies, including some budget carriers that might not appear on traditional booking sites. Keep in mind that these tools won't let you book flights; instead, they make it easy for you to quickly compare fares across different sources before redirecting you to a third-party site to buy your ticket directly.

Some budget airlines like Southwest and Ryanair don't always show up on travel aggregators, so you should visit those sites directly to make sure you're not missing out on lower fares. While Southwest Airlines usually doesn't allow travel aggregators to display its fares, you can use an extension like Travel Arrow to view estimated fares.

You should also try to book your flight during the "Prime Booking Window," commonly referred to as the "Goldilocks Window." The Goldilocks Window is the date when you're likely to find the cheapest flights. On average, the best day to book domestic flights is 42 days before departure. For international trips, the ideal booking window varies: 120–160 days in advance for Europe, 90–120 days for Asia, 70–100 days for South America, and 120–180 days for Australia and New Zealand.

If your travel dates are flexible, you could end up saving a decent amount of money on flights. Changing your departure and return dates by just a few days can help you get a better deal on a flight. There are several Google Flights features you should be using, including its tool that lets you see the prices for flights on different days several months in advance to help you determine the cheapest dates to travel. If you're flexible about your travel destination, you can use the Google Flight Explore Map to compare the prices for traveling to different parts of the world. Many of the top travel websites have tools that let you find the cheapest days to travel if your vacation days aren't set in stone. 

Being flexible about the airport you fly into and out of can help you save money, too. The Washington, D.C. area is just one example of where this strategy works, as it's served by three major airports: Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD), and Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI). If you're willing to fly into BWI instead of DCA, for example, you may be able to save a significant amount on your fare. 

Whether your travel dates are flexible or not, you should set fare alerts to get notifications when the prices for the routes you've selected have dropped. Price alerts are one of the best ways to make sure you book a flight at the lowest price. For example, Skyscanner sends users push notifications or emails when a price changes for a route they've selected. Expedia, Kayak, Priceline, and Google Flights have similar features.