The Art of Finding Cheap Flights: A Step-by-Step Guide

Getting a good deal on flights is key to an affordable vacation. Last year, fueled by a strong desire to break free from the monotony of road trips and pandemic restrictions, I embarked on a journey to find the perfect flight deal for a summer vacation. In this post, I’ll share my step-by-step process, tips for finding the best prices, and a thrilling success story that resulted in an unforgettable adventure to Fiji.

Start with a flight search on Google Flights

Begin your flight search on Google Flights, a powerful tool that provides a comprehensive overview of flight prices worldwide. Its user-friendly interface allows you to search specific locations or my favorite feature is EXPLORE which shows you the flight prices of destinations around the world. Other sites that compare prices are Skyscanner and Expedia.

Price Tracking and Comparison

Checking flight prices on different days and times is important because flight prices change all the time. In general, flight prices are cheaper mid-week than weekends but flight prices fluctuate all the time so there are no hard and fast rules that always apply.

The Truth about Incognito Searches

I keep reading that sites increase the price after you have searched it a few times and you can get around it by using an incognito search. I have tested this theory multiple times and never found the incognito search to be cheaper. In fact, it is often higher. You can try an incognito search to see what happens but I do not use this strategy to get good deals.

Below is an old example comparing a regular search with an incognito search and the incognito search prices are higher than the regular search.

Seizing the Deal

Once you know what the average price is, you will know a good deal when you see it. When you see a good price, book it! If you wait the price can change. You will be stuck searching again and you may not find the good price again. This has happened to me numerous times because I hesitate, wondering if I can get a better price, and thinking about booking is not the same as pulling out the credit card and doing it.

Booking Directly vs. Third-Party Sites

My first preference is to book directly with the airline. In my experience it can be a lot cheaper to book with the link on Google Flights than it is to go to the airline website and select the flights there. I have no idea why this is but check both. I will take the chance with a booking site, if the price is lower. I booked with flight hub numerous times and never had any issues but I have read that if there are issues with flight cancellations etc. it is a nightmare to deal with them. You have to decide what you are willing to chance.

Leveraging Local Travel Blogs

I follow a local travel blog that releases good deals. YEG Deals. If you can find anything like this for your area, I highly recommend following and subscribing.

Realizing the Dream Deal

YEG Deals posted about a great deal to Fiji that had dates within our vacation time. I searched and found the deal. I texted my husband to show him the cheap flights and he replied agreeing they’re cheap. Then I wanted to make sure I wasn’t paying to go somewhere during monsoon season or where the hotel prices were way over my budget. I quickly searched weather and found out it was dry season and actually the best time to go to Fiji. Then searched hotels and saw lots of decently priced places to stay. I went to book and the site went down. I went through the process again and again until I managed to find the flights again and I booked them.

We got return flights from Calgary to Fiji for less than $900 which is hundreds less than any flights I have seen since then. The deal was awesome but it did require some concessions. We live in Edmonton, which is a 3 hour drive from Calgary. On the way down we also had a 12 hour layover in LA. Lucky for us, we have friends who live in LA that picked us up and took us out for a few hours. There are other ways to manage a long layover – that’s for another post, but this worked out well for us.

We had an amazing trip! I highly recommend Fiji if you ever have the opportunity.

Conclusion

Cheap flights take some work to get. A little bit of effort can have a big payoff. If you are flexible, use a local travel blog that alerts you of good deals. If you are looking to book, start with a comparison site, like Google Flights. Get to know what the normal price is. Then search on different days and times. When you see a good price – book it!

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