‘If traveling was free, you would never see me again’. Booking flights are becoming a difficult task and expensive these days, you check the rates in the morning and can see them fluctuate within the next few hours. If you love to travel or need to travel at the last minute, then you should be aware of these tricks that can help you save more on flight bookings for your next adventure.
PLAN EARLY
Planning your trip well in advance can save you some good amount of bucks as last minute flight bookings are very costly. Start your flight search 3 months before the trip because as per a general guideline, you can get cheaper flights to destinations 47 days prior the departure date. Check flight rates early in the morning, say around 9 AM and in the evening after 6 PM.
ENABLE PRIVATE BROWSING
Always keep your searches private as airline sites collect data and use it to change the prices. If they observe that a route is being searched repeatedly, they tend to hike up prices, forcing you to book the flight as soon as possible. You can enable private search or incognito in Google Chrome either by pressing Ctrl+Shift+N to open a new incognito window or you can start Chrome and click the wrench icon in the top right corner of the screen and click New Incognito Window and start browsing in it. If you are searching in Skyscanner, then you need not worry about private browsing as it does not use any tracking system. Also, compare rates before booking the flight.
ONE TICKET AT A TIME
If you search multiple tickets at once, the airlines may show different prices. For instance, if you are traveling in a pair and if there is just one low rate seat left then the site will show you two tickets together that are of higher rates. Search for one ticket at a time, this way you can at least save some money on one ticket.
USE APT SEARCH ENGINES
Be careful with the search engines that you use, as some search engines keep hiking up the prices than others. You can use Skyscanner, MakeMyTrip, Goibibo, Momondo, Google flights for your flight search. These search engines can help you book cheaper flights.
DO IT ON YOUR OWN
Book your own tickets instead of getting them booked from a travel agent as travel agent often add up their own share of a commission to the actual rate and book the tickets. Also, sign up for email alerts offered by your preferred airlines as these will keep you updated about the special or exclusive offers and discounts on tickets.
LOOK FOR CHEAPEST DAYS TO FLY
Most of the studies suggest that Tuesday and Thursday are the cheapest days to fly but these are not absolutely true. Weekends are expensive obviously but sometimes even weekdays can cost you some heavy amount, especially if booked at the last minute. The best way to find out the low rate or from which date the prices will decrease is by looking at the prices of the entire month. For instance, if you use the MakeMyTrip site or App then just open the site or app and select a One-way Trip option and enter the ‘To’ and ‘From’ destinations. Click on the date option to select the date and you’ll see the rates for each date of the entire month.
AVOID SEAT SELECTION PAYMENT
If you are not very particular about where you sit, avoid seat selecting as some airlines charge extra for selecting a seat of your own choice. Instead, always check-in 24 hours before the flight and select your choice of seat for free.
LOOK FOR THE WEBSITE DIRECTLY
Though websites like Skyscanner, MakeMyTrip etc..can offer some great discounts sometimes even the airline’s website have some unannounced deals and offer to help you save more.
CONNECTING FLIGHTS CAN HELP
Sometimes instead of booking a direct flight to your destination, you can opt for a connecting flight as for some routes connecting flights are cheaper than direct flights.
LOOK FOR PACKAGES
Some airlines offer packages(flight and a car, flight and a hotel etc..) that can help you save a lot in some cities.
