I wish there were a magical one-stop-shop for finding the cheapest flights online. In all honesty I believe that finding the best flight deal involves lots of web surfing, and what I mean by this is checking out numerous flight comparison sites as well as the airline’s official site. Other little tricks that I know of for securing a good deal (apart from utilising frequent flier points) are either booking well in advance or snapping up a last minute deal as well as buying tickets mid-week (it has been suggested to buy on either Tuesday or Wednesday). You might also want to consider using a site like Yapta to track a flight price either before or after you buy. Remember, if you do find a great deal check the fine detail as often I find the cheaper flights come with the greater inconveniences, such as numerous stops and transitions. This is ok if you’re travelling solo, not so ok if you’re travelling with your one and two year old.
Here are 10 online sites (in no particular order) that we check-out when we’re looking to book flights and hoping to get a good deal (I say we, but I actually mean my husband, he seems to really enjoy searching for flight bargains and who am I to deny him of this great pleasure). Most of these sites also include the option to search for hotels and car hire as well.
Skyscanner.net
Momondo.com
Kayak.com
Priceline.com
Zuji.com
Expedia.com
Fly.com
Orbitz.com
Travelocity.com
Travelsupermarket.com
3 Comments
How far in advance do you usually book your flights? We have lots of family that want to come visit us in Germany, but they are a bit last minuet type people. I’m trying to encourage them to book early! Have your found a good time frame to book before the prices start to go up? Thanks for sharing these sites, I had only knew a few of them.
Hi Crystal, we find the ticket price can depend on a number of factors including: the carrier you’re flying, the time of year you’re flying and the price of oil. Whilst you don’t really have control over the last factor and if your family is planning on travelling around the holiday season it’s probably best to book well in advance given that the seats tend to sell quickly and there are only so many of them. However, if your family is planning to visit you outside peak flight dates, then it might pay to wait for a good deal. Some airlines, such as Emirates, rarely offer big promotions to the locations we wish to fly but others, such as currently Lufthansa and Virgin Atlantic, have some great promos for trans-Atlantic flights. I always try scanning one of the above mentioned in this post to get a general idea of what prices are out there.
Hope this helps 🙂
Yeah, that does help a bit. I think I need to start scanning these sites now and then, as my mom is hoping to come this September. thanks for sharing!