We have all suffered when trying to get a cheap plane ticket to any destination. With the changing prices of airlines, and all the different options out there, buying a plane ticket online becomes a very frustrating process.
Here are 11 proven strategies, tips and tricks to save you time, frustration, and get you to buy the cheapest possible plane ticket on your next trip.
1. Don't buy at the last minute
Doing things in a hurry, because they are last minute, only leads to loss of money, because you have to take what there is, you do not choose.
Airlines often raise their prices when the ticket is purchased close to the date of travel. So that this does not affect your budget, buy it at least 4 months in advance and, even so, sometimes it is not enough time.
The ticket will be more expensive due to its demand in high season: August, December, Easter and Carnival. In these cases, try to buy the ticket up to 6 months before the trip.
Two tasks are very important to get a cheap flight: planning and anticipation.
2. The scales are cheaper
There are two fundamental differences in direct and stopover flights. In the first you will save time; in the second (and most of the time), money.
Stopover flights will take you from your departure point to one or more intermediates before reaching your final destination.
If you have time, it will not necessarily be negative, because you will know even minimally that country where you will spend a few hours to take the other flight.
Destination
Choose the destination. Check the price of the ticket from your point of origin and compare it with a stopover in another city. You will be amazed at the rates you can get.
For example, if you are in Tijuana and you travel to Buenos Aires (Argentina), it may be more convenient to go through Mexico City.
These layover flights, in general, do not have major detours. As they preserve the route, the time lost will not be much and the money you will save will be worth it.
3. Connecting flights, an alternative
Connecting flights are another alternative to save money by booking separate flights to a final destination.
Do your research and, if you are not prepared, ask for help, as a poorly coordinated reservation will ruin your travel plan.
Each country has airlines that travel to a specific destination with rates that really allow you to save good money.
Unlike flights by stopover, the waiting time is days, not hours, but with this there will be a margin to avoid (or resolve) any eventuality, such as a delay.
If you are not in a hurry, with this option you can visit two destinations in one trip.
Use part of the money saved on tickets to reserve a room for a simple lodging in the transit city, so you don't have to spend hours and even sleep at the airport.
When you travel with a connection you must get off the first plane, go through the necessary security or migration filters and board another aircraft.
If the waiting period to connect from one flight to another is short, the ideal is that you make the connection with the same airline.
If you miss a plane due to delay or other eventuality, the responsibility of the airline, it will take care of placing you on another flight at no additional cost. If you are lucky, there will be compensation.
Click here to know the 8 best cheap flight search engines in Mexico
4. Secret search
If you are researching ticket prices on the Internet and you notice that some have increased when you check again, don't worry, this is a consequence of the cookies.
The browser generally saves the search and, when you repeat it, it can increase the rate. The intention is to pressure the user to buy before the ticket is more expensive.
What you should do is browse private or incognito to eliminate the cookies which are reset when opening a new window. So if you want to do another search without the prices being inflated, close the page and reopen it to continue with the process.
If after inquiring about flight prices, the banners or advertisements that appear on the web pages you visit are related to your search, it is because the cookies are active. If this holds, remember to close the window.
In Chrome, the incognito window is opened by pressing Control + Shift + N; in Mozzila: Control + Shift + P.
5. Use search engines
To book a flight it is important to know the best search engines, with which you will have a range of options and you can choose the one that best suits your budget.
Certainly, although none guarantees to find the best price, it is necessary that you familiarize yourself with several of them, as it will be more likely that you get the less recognized and low-cost airlines.
Some of the most used search engines are:
- Skyscanner
- AirFare Watchdog
- Momondo
- Kiwi
- Cheapoair
- AirWander
- JetRadar
- Google Flights
Once the search engine shows the best price, it will take you to the website of the airline or travel agency, so that you can make the purchase.
Although it is a recommended method, always verify that the payment site has a green lock in the address bar, which will indicate that it is reliable and safe.
Although there are search engines that allow you to cancel from their platform, do not do it, better pay the original seller because that price could suffer some adjustment for commission.
Search engines earn a minimum percentage when the ticket purchase is made thanks to their links to website official. So do not worry about not paying from their platform, because you are not evading any procedure.
6. The best day to travel
The day of the trip is another factor with which you will save or pay more for the ticket. It is best to leave on a Tuesday or Wednesday, because there is a trend of cheaper tickets on those days, not so with Friday, Saturday and Sunday, because the rate is higher.
One explanation for this is the low demand on weekdays that causes planes to fly with many empty seats.
Time when traveling
The time of the trip also affects the value of the air ticket. Everything after 6 pm will be your profit. Although you may arrive at your destination or a stopover in the early morning hours, it will still be worth it, if it is a walking trip in which there is no rush.
Knowing the prices of the whole month is a method to choose the day and time of the trip. Let's see how to do it.
Meta search engines are known, search engine search engines, with which you can see the prices of the 30 days of the month and thus buy in a practical and simple way.
Do it like this with Skyscanner:
1. Enter here its official website or download the mobile application.
2. Define the departure and arrival cities.
3. Confirmed the cities, you must select "one-way" (it does not matter if it is a round trip; the intention is only to check the prices).
If you do the process on a computer, click on "departure", but instead of choosing a particular date you will select "all month"; then "cheapest month".
4. Finally, click on "search for flights" and you will easily see which date is the cheapest.
Follow the following steps, if you do the procedure from the mobile application.
First touch the departure date and switch to "graphic" view. From there you can easily swipe left and right to find the cheapest day. You will see the price by touching some of the bars.
You will repeat the same process for the return. This way you can know which days are cheapest to fly. And if the result still does not suit you, you will be in time to book a round trip. That is why the importance of planning with a lot of time.
The Kiwi and Google Flights search engines operate similar to Skyscanner, but have map views to locate cities and airports.
You should not underestimate that air ticket rates do not remain the same as those of the subway, train or bus. In them are involved the price of gasoline, airport taxes, flight demand, among other factors no less determining.
7. Follow-up to low-cost airlines
Low-cost airlines are a great alternative to reduce expenses when traveling, but if you are going to buy a ticket in one of these, I must warn you that certain restrictions apply, especially in comfort.
These planes have a small space in which you will not be able to stretch your legs.
The suitcase is checked separately and a good excess weight fee is charged.
Free food and drink… there won't be.
Another peculiarity is that they often operate in secondary airports, so it would be better to verify the distance from the terminal to your destination. Sometimes it may be closer to the main one.
Despite their prices, these low-cost airlines have a lower demand because travelers prefer to search for tickets in the best-known companies and in the main airports, something that will be convenient because this will lower the air ticket of these companies.
Some low-cost airlines will ask you to print the ticket; If you don't have it, you may pay a commission.
To take a plane and a flight with these characteristics, you must first inform yourself well to avoid last minute surprises about the conditions of the trip. Most importantly, lower your expectations for comfort.
8. Subscribe to newsletters
Subscribe to the newsletters sent to the flight search engines and airlines, with rates and special offers on different trips. It is a good option when the destination is known in advance.
Just spend some time signing up for the most popular search engines and airlines. Then the information will reach you without much effort. You will have everything just one click away.
An advantage of subscribing to newsletters is that, depending on the search engine, you can customize or filter the information you want to receive.
Enter your travel date and destination and periodically you will receive a summary when the ticket prices have risen or fallen, a process with which you will know the evolution of the rates.
When you get the one that best suits your budget, do not hesitate to buy. You may not see that rate again.
He also follows airline companies on their social networks, which are usually very active in offers and recommendations. In addition, you will be able to interact with them and clarify any doubts you may have before making the purchase of the ticket.
9. Error fee, one chance
Some rates published by airlines do not add up to all taxes, so they are classified as error rates. They are easy to identify, because they are well below the average cost of tickets.
It is almost impossible that these errors do not occur due to the large number of flights and reservation systems that each airline has daily. From human error, such as placing a zero less, to a failure in the system can be the cause of this savings opportunity.
You have to frequently check the airlines web pages hunting for this error, as it is corrected in a few hours.
You can also subscribe to the newsletters and check them as soon as possible in search of rates with errors. It will be a tiring task, but one that will pay off.
Airlines usually acknowledge their mistakes and if you bought a ticket with this price flaw, it will be just as valid.
Anyway, take precautions and wait two days before making hotel reservations or any other travel expense.
In case the company decides to cancel the flight, don't worry. The amount paid will be returned and you will be offered the new rate. Ultimately, you can file a claim to have the value of the paid ticket recognized.
10. Earn miles
Most people associate this mileage accrual program only with frequent travelers, but the truth is this: even if you don't travel frequently, you can add them to your credit cards. When you need them, they will be there to save you money.
Earning miles works in 2 ways.
In the first one you must register for free in the program of each airline. When you travel, indicate your membership number so that the miles will be added. It is important to do it with the same company or associated group, as these are not transferable.
The more you travel, the more miles you will earn. You can verify them in your account created on the digital platform or by calling the airline.
The second way is through credit cards. The banks have agreements with the airlines and almost all have a mileage accrual plan. Each consumption you make will add them up. Find out first which airlines they are associated with.
Generally, banks and credit cards provide these benefits to their VIP clients. If you have not been offered it, do not worry, just request it.
To accumulate miles you do not have to make extraordinary consumption, since most of the time people add to the daily expense. Of course, check with your bank the conditions of the promotion, because each entity is independent and sets the rules of its plan.
You can exchange the accumulated miles for a free passage, part of the ticket fare, hotel stays and other activities. Just check what each airline plan offers.
11. Travel agencies
It is true that they are disappearing, but travel agencies have been the traditional method of booking flights.
Although not all have survived, some have been modernized and adapted to the technologies, to have digital platforms, which is where the action is.
Buying through these agencies is still a safe way. One of its greatest advantages is the advice they give you when purchasing the ticket, guidance that is sometimes priceless, especially for first-time travelers.
In the existing travel agencies you will find a staff willing to help you. It will give you the best options within the range of flights. Be direct and ask him for a cheap ticket, the cheapest the system has.
The entire connection and comparison procedure would be in expert hands, which will give you more peace of mind. In addition, your doubts will be clarified immediately.
If the purchase is through the digital platform of the travel agency, you can also ask and clear any concerns. They all have a contact phone number for further advice. Some include "live chat" to serve users.
The only disadvantage of the agencies is that the rates they will offer you will depend on the agreements they have with the airlines. Of course, they cannot have ties to all of them.
If you are not a frequent traveler, these can be very helpful. Any error in a flight date or assignment can be corrected. If you do the process independently and you make a mistake, you can hardly correct it.
Putting what you have learned into practice
Although it is a task that will require dedication and time to research and compare results, finding a cheap air ticket is definitely possible.
Despite the hours invested in airline web pages and Internet search engines, it will still be worth it, since the air ticket has the greatest impact on the budget.
What you can save will be reflected in a more comfortable hotel, one more gift to take home, one more walk, a more visited amusement park, a more complete meal and the list goes on and on ...
The tips that you have learned in this article will allow you to save good money so that your pocket is not so hit when buying the ticket. Now you just have to put them into practice.
If you have already decided where to travel, then take your time, relax and start using these tools to get the ticket that best suits your financial requirements.
Remember that the basis for getting a cheap air ticket is planning. Do not leave anything for the last minute, because the expense will be higher.
Do not stay with what you have learned, share it with your friends and followers on social networks so that they also know how to find cheap flights from anywhere.
