Best 32 Tips to Grab the Cheapest Airline Tickets

 Last Updated: 04 Dec, 2019 By Nidhi Singh

A big thank you to the low-cost airlines that have allowed budget travellers the opportunity to visit international destinations without burning a hole in the pocket. But do you know with the right planning and the optimum use of some tricks you can get yourself best deals on airline tickets that too in some of the best airlines in the world? Well, these are the tips famous travellers have been using or else how do you think they have been able to travel so extensively! Do you also aspire to travel like them or want to save some money on your dream vacation? If your answer to any one of the two questions is a yes, then this blog here with best travel tips on saving on bookings is for you. So without further ado, let us start with top 32 tips to get a cheap airline ticket online.

Start Searching as Early as Possible

Mostly airlines usually release tickets 11 months in advance. So, once you have decided where to go, you can start looking for cheap airfares and continue to check at least once per week. Although, we must tell you that an optimal time to book a flight ticket according to a study is on average 7 weeks in advance for domestic flights and 11 to 12 weeks for international flights.

Choose the Right Day to Fly

Well this point is debatable, while some suggest that it is ideal choose a day for flying, fewer believe that flying on a specific day of the week is no more than an urban legend. Whatever, it is, we thought of not keeping out this tip from you. The consensus is that Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday are the best time to buy flights/fly, as very few people fly on weekdays including business travellers. Whereas, flying on Fridays and Sundays is usually most expensive. Here’s a thumb rule for how to book the cheapest flight: for domestic destinations, depart on Saturday and return on a Monday and for international: destinations, depart on Tuesday and return on a Wednesday.

Don’t Choose Weekends or Holiday Time to Travel

Obviously, weekends and holidays are the times when a maximum number of people travel, and it is also the time when the ticket prices are at the highest. So, if you don’t mind sacrificing these “free holiday days,” then you can get a good bargain. Choosing a weekday to travel can really be beneficial, sometimes, the prices are almost the half of what you would pay on a weekend. So give it a thought.

Be Flexible with Your Flight Dates

One has the maximum chances of finding the lowest air tickets if the travel dates are flexible. It is in fact the best way for how to find cheap flights to anywhere in the world. You can take help of websites like Skyscanner that lets you find the cheapest airfare month wise to crack that best flight deal.

Adjust the Time of Day for Flying

There is another way of getting a good deal on flight bookings if you can’t change the travel dates; there is an option for you to choose the time of the day when the air tickets are cheaper. Flying at unpopular hours, such as the wee hours in the morning increases your chance of getting cheap flights as the least expensive flights leave either very early in the morning or late at night.

Book at Wee Hours of the Morning

Yes, this is also one of the tricks to grab discount on flight tickets. The idea is to book the tickets when almost everyone is sleeping (in your country/region), the airlines are said to lower their airfares during this time. A lot of people said have been offered cheap online flight tickets during these wee hours of the morning.

Check Alternate Airports

This trick comes handy; when you’re looking for the flights online, check if there are more than one airport at the destination you are visiting. Indeed, there are fair chances that the flight tickets to two different airport may vary, one being cheaper than the other. However, it is advised to also check the distance of the airport from the hotel/destination you wish to reach, otherwise you may have to spend whatever you spent on the air travel on a cab or bus ride from the airport. You can also consider multi-city flights since they are mostly inexpensive.

Delete Browser’s Cookies/History when Searching for Flights

Ever wondered why everytime you check the price of a particular flight increases? Well, it’s because some websites store your search data and inflate the price of the flights if they know the specific destinations you are searching a ticket for. This is why, you should clear your cookies or use a new incognito browser window when searching for a flight ticket.

Consider Round Trip Tickets

It is noticed that round trip tickets mostly come handy. Yes, sometimes the cheapest flights from both destinations are scheduled at odd hours, fret not, the next best flight will only charge you slightly more but still it will be a cheap deal for you. I once got a Delhi to Kochi round trip tickets in INR 5000, which usually cost INR 8000 to 10000.

Use Different Airlines for Booking Air Tickets

Ok, this point is slightly contradictory to the tip above. However, some of the expert travellers abide by this tip and book two separate one-way flights on different airlines in order to get a cheaper deal. We wanted to put this tip in the list so that when your are booking flight tickets, you can use both the tricks to see which one benefits you more.

Use Flight Comparison Websites

Flight comparison sites can be extremely helpful, in fact, they actually lessen down your work by listing all those websites that are offering the cheap air tickets. Websites like Skyscanner, Momondo, and Kayak that along with providing a detailed listing of flights show comparative fares offered by different airlines making it the first step to get that hassle-free airline experience.

Select the Cheapest Payment Method

Yes, choosing a payment method can also save you some extra bucks. It is not always ideal to pay with your credit card, sometime paying via an online money transfer app like Paytm (India), BPAY and POLi system (Australia). Major international airlines like Qantas, Virgin, and Jetstar sometimes offer good discounts on online flight booking (domestic flights) when choosing one of these payment methods allowing you to save some money. However, to book international flights you can use your credit card for the payments since it helps in earning those frequent flyer points and member benefits.

Consider a Longer Layover

It is a fact, flights with longer layovers mostly have lower price. So, if there is no hurry to reach the destination and the only intention is to see new destinations and have that perfect budget holiday then look for flights where you can plan for longer stopovers on the same ticket.

Be Willing to Fly Anywhere

If you are an avid traveller, someone who does it for the heart, then the best travel tip we can impart on finding cheap airlines and tickets to anywhere on the globe is to not to have a specific destination in your mind and have plenty of days at your disposal. Sites like Skyscanner give you the option of searching for a list of cheap flights to different countries in specific months, so if you have a flexible schedule you can plan a trip anywhere in the world.

Join a Frequent Flyer Program

It’s a simple and beneficial step that lets you earn points towards cheaper fares, upgrades, free tickets for two, and even free flights. Airlines usually run frequent flyer programs to create loyal customer group, and guess what signing up for these programs is free. Make sure to read the rules and regulations when you join any airline program as most of them have separate rules.

Sign Up for an Airline Affiliated Credit Card

Signing up for an airline affiliated credit card can be an extremely useful as it will help you accumulate frequent flyer points which in return shall allow you to sometimes buy flight tickets by paying almost nothing. On my Citi Credit Card, I could travel to several cities in India on half the price of the plane tickets. You should research well before signing up for the travel credit card as the benefits depend on which country you live.

Use Your Age or Student Status for Flight Deals

Not of any use to me though but all you young travellers can make most of this tip. If you’re a student or under 26 years age, chances are a few popular airlines can offer you student discounts. It’s true, some of the leading airlines in the world offer student concession making your journey quite a budget-friendly one.

Subscribe Email Notifications

This is a great way to grab promotional fairs and discount codes which the airlines only offer to their e-newsletter subscribers. These deals can really be helpful in saving your money. You can actually be notified about the last minute cheap flights, so you see, signing up for email notifications can be the best way to find the lowest air tickets fares.

Book Connecting Flights

Booking connecting flights can sometimes save you a good amount. There are possibilities that the regional fares could be less, so instead of booking one flight ticket you can opt for connecting flights which might take a longer time to reach but can be cheaper by hundreds of dollars.

Consider a Mileage Run

This can sound a bit crazy but trust me, it does come with perks and rewards. Mileage Run is a way to obtain elite status for a whole year with a particular airline. Basically those participating in ‘mileage run’ find a cheap flight to anywhere in the world even for a day trip or a weekend holiday. The cheap cost of the flight is seen as an investment if the extra miles accrued allows them elite status for a whole year.

Get Refundable Flight Tickets and Trip Cancellation Insurance

These do not save your money directly while booking a flight ticket but they can really come handy in case you change your mind or something urgent comes up before your trip. Though you should not worry about purchasing refundable tickets or trip cancellation insurance for inexpensive flight tickets. In India, the government has recently allowed free cancellation of flight tickets within 24 hours of booking and up to 96 hours before the flight. So, it is an important thing to check the aviation rules in your country or of the country you have booked the tickets in.

Look for Airlines that Waive Bag Fees

It happens with most of the low-cost airlines which sometimes allow only hand baggage and for the check-in bag/s there is an additional charge (per bag). So before booking a flight check with each airline, since there are a few airline that have free baggage check-in. There are also some airlines that waive bag fees for frequent flyers or members of its credit-card program. Also, in case you do need to check baggage, paying for it in advance is much cheaper than doing it at the airport.

Use the Airline Website to Book

Most of the travel booking websites include their service charges at the time of preparing your final bill, so even if they showed you great discounts, you end up paying more for a flight booking. So, instead of making booking through these websites, you can visit the airline’s official website and book your desired flight from there. Chances are that you will save at least some money, if not more there.

Use Smart Flight Search Tools

This Google-owned airfare search engine Matrix by ITA collects metadata from most of the airlines that helps you find the best flight prices and even hidden options the other search engines do not show. It provides a solid baseline on prices and comes with a calendar option that shows airfare over the course of the month. Matrix is used by several popular travellers in the world to get the best price on a flight ticket.

Look for Tickets in Other Currencies

This trick has worked quite well for a lot of travellers, though it is not necessary that it will work all the time. In case your country’s currency is strong compared to others, it is a great idea to search airfare in a country where the currency is weaker. For example, the US dollar is strong and the currency in most of the South Asian currency is weak. You can look for a return ticket from South Asian country for eg, Thailand, in their currency and chances are you will get the ticket at lesser price.

Check Back in 23 Hours

Even though it sounds a bit crazy but according popular traveller/blogger, Matthew Kepnis aka Nomadic Matt, checking back in 23 hours as one has 24 hours to cancel a flight without penalty can land one at a good flight deal. You have to clear browser’s cookies and go for a quick search to see if the price dropped.

Use Airline Shopping Portals

Almost every airlines and travel brand have preferred merchants and shopping in them can earn points that can be used for buying an air ticket at lesser price. You can use Evreward or Cash Back Monitor to find the ongoing offers across various programs. These sites offer a list of bonus points on different programs. In India, you can even make use of Groupon app/website as it has a variety of offers on hotels and travelling.

Book Flights in January

Yes, airlines for some reasons lower down the flight fares during the month of January and February, though the trend is changing and you can see the airfare to be a bit on the higher side even in these months but you can still give it a try. Who knows you might crack a good deal. Also, checking tickets in January or February does not mean that you need to travel in the same month/s too, you can simply book your tickets to fly to Europe or to Asian countries in next 11 months.

Participate in Dining Rewards Programs

Like the shopping portals, there are a number of airlines that have dining rewards programs as well. This is an easy way to earn miles and all you have to do is to sign up with your frequent flier number, register your credit card, and get extra points when you dine at the participating restaurants in the airline’s network (which can alter throughout the year). You can join one of the programs in the Rewards Network and get five miles per dollar spent once you are a “VIP member,” which happens after 12 dines.

Buy on a Site that Offers Price Drop Payback

Not sure if India has anything like this but in US, websites like Cheap Air has programs where if the price for an itinerary goes down any time before your trip, the website is ready to pay you back the difference in the form of a travel voucher for up to $100 per ticket. They call it a buyer protection program that gives confidence to the customer to buy tickets from them.

Use a Good VPN Service

Talking about being digitally smart when wanting to book a cheap flight, you can make most of this trick. You must be aware that prices may change based on where the transaction is completed, so the idea is to hide your location or to pretend to be somewhere else. Using a private internet access or VPN (Virtual Private Network) can be the solution for this, it is simple to use and can help you get flight tickets at a considerably less price.

Hitchhiking On Airplanes

Yes, it is possible and no we are not kidding, although don’t expect business or leisure travel this way but you can have a comfortable economy class experience while hitchhiking. To your surprise there are also a flight sharing website and all you have to agree is to pay for the fuel.

So there you have a list of 32 top tips to get cheap tickets and these tricks can get you the best deals even on the world’s top 100 airlines and even on best airlines in India. With these tips you can also dream of flying on first class tickets that too in your budget. If you liked our blog and found it helpful, then please give it a big Thumbs Up and also share it with your friends planning their dream vacation but are hesitant about costly air tickets. You can also contact us at info@tourmyindia.com or +91-9810352536 to get the best holiday packages that come in your budget and fulfill all your travel needs.

Published: 15 Nov, 2018By Nidhi Singh