I always check several of these options before I fly anywhere. Sometimes the options you would least expect can offer you the biggest discounts! You will see the same flights offered on several sites but there are often extra deals that will be missed on the various platforms.
If you have an exact destination and time in mind, check out these sites.
Here are some sites you can check for airline prices:
- https://www.google.com/flights – Probably the most popular, but often misses out of a surprising number of cheaper options.
- https://www.skyscanner.com – Personally, I almost always check this one first as a baseline to compare against other deals.
- https://www.cheapair.com/ – I’ve had good experience with this one as well. Also: accepts cryptocurrency! They also offer monthly payments for flights if you need that flexibility.
- https://trip.com/ – This website can help you find cheap flights, trains, and more. I used this extensively while traveling China.
- https://www.kiwi.com – I’ve had good experience with this one as well.
- https://www.kayak.com – I haven’t used this one much, but it’s been recommended to me by others.
There are many websites that offer paid mailing lists for cheap flights, but you will find that most all of these find their deals through some combination of these sites and the techniques below.
If you have some flexibility, check out these options.
1. If you are willing to spend some time in another city as an extended layover you can save money.
There are several options for this. I find https://www.cleverlayover.com/ to be a great option. One time I got a flight from Shanghai, China back to Michigan for just over $200! I took a stop in Las Vegas for 24 hours and was able to make the trip for less than half it would have cost otherwise. I’d never been to Las Vegas, so I had no problem spending a day there and checking it out. If you can, I highly recommend trying to be flexible and checking out what options are available to you. Maybe you can check out an extra place for a day or more and save money too!
Another great option is the the multi-city option on https://www.skyscanner.com You can set a route through several cities and specify how long you want to be in each. This can be a great way to travel around a region for relatively cheap.
2. If you are willing to buy a ticket and get off at one of the airport transfers, you can sometimes save a lot of money.
Skiplagged is a site dedicated to helping you find these tricks. You can save as much as 80% on your airline ticket!
You always have the option to walk out of the airport at any point in your trip (as long as you have a visa, residency, or visa free access). I once was on a flight from Asia through Europe with a layover in Amsterdam. When I landed, I decided I wanted to check out Amsterdam instead of the final destination and I was able to just ignore my second flight. When you do this, it is important to notify the staff right away that you are not completing your trip so any luggage you checked doesn’t continue on without you! You may also be asked a few additional questions at immigration about why you are not continuing your trip, but they will let you in.
Here is an example from Skiplagged:
Website: https://skiplagged.com/
Extra: Don’t have an exact destination in mind? Check out flights to everywhere
This is a great way to determine cheap destinations you want to check out. You can also limit it to “direct flights” only which can give you a good idea of the easy destinations from any city in the world. This is available on https://www.skyscanner.com/ and other sites.