Most people don't have all day, every day to be searching for hidden flight deals, unadvertised flash sales, and mistake fares.
Sign up for Thrifty Traveler Flight Deals and you'll get some of the best international and domestic flight deals we find each day right to your inbox.
Once you sign up for alerts for cheap flights, consider upgrading to Thrifty Traveler Premium+ to get 90% more flight deals. Premium members get domestic and international deals, as well as award alerts to use points and miles plus business and first class deals tailored to your home airport so you only see the flight deals from your hometown.
We're not the only flight deal service out there (though we're a bit biased!) We recommend checking out other flight deal websites like The Flight Deal to keep your eyes peeled for awesome deals.
There are dozens of sites out there promising to help you find cheap flights. Ignore them all and start every search with Google Flights.
Google Flights is hands-down the best flight deal search engine out there: it's one of the main tools we use to find affordable flights deals every day! You should start each and every search for cheap airfare with Google Flights. It's packed with powerful features that other search engines simply don't have.
If you're new to using Google Flights, don't worry. We're happy to share what we know on how to get cheap airline tickets. And if you couldn't already tell, we are a little obsessed and have written about nearly every tool and feature it has to offer.
Not sure where you want to go? Use the Google Flights Explore feature to search for the cheapest destinations around the world
OTA stands for Online Travel Agency. Think KAYAK, Priceline, Expedia, Orbitz, and many others. Some of the most popular sites and smartphone apps out there for finding cheaper flights are OTAs.
These sites purchase fares from airlines and then sell them to travelers, sometimes at a mark-up … and sometimes even cheaper than you can get them directly from the airlines. And then there are even more popular platforms like Skyscanner and Momondo, which act as OTAs of OTAs. They aggregate the cheapest flight deals from tons of small online travel agencies.
Because of the way these sites operate, online travel agencies can save you money – and sometimes a lot of money. They're worth checking out, though we still recommend starting any search with Google Flights before you check with some of these sites to see if you can save even more.
And most importantly, these savings from third-party sites can come at a cost. There are tradeoffs to booking through an OTA. Chiefly, you're using a middleman to book your flights. If you book with Expedia then need to change or cancel your trip, you have to go through Expedia to do so – not the airline you're flying with. Some major sites may have the customer service to handle your request, but many smaller sites (with the biggest savings) do not.
And in this day and age, booking directly with the airline is more important than ever. So do the mental math and make sure those savings are worth it.
The U.S. government has a federal law that requires airlines to provide a full, 100% refund for any flight that touches U.S. soil if you cancel within 24 hours of booking. It doesn't matter if you're flying a U.S. carrier like American or Delta or a foreign airline like Lufthansa or Copa: If your flight departs from or arrives in the U.S., you're covered.
U.S. regulations require airlines to offer either a 24-hour refund policy or the option to lock or hold a flight at the current price – but not necessarily both.
It may not work last-minute: Airlines are only required to offer a free cancellation window for flights booked at least seven days before departure.
Some of the major online travel agencies (OTAs) like Expedia honor the 24-hour rule, but many smaller sites do not.
Put it all together, and you can use the 24-hour rule to book an insanely cheap flight the moment you find it. After that, do the legwork to make sure you can get the vacation time or your favorite travel buddy can come with. Not going to work out? Just cancel within 24 hours of booking and get your money back.
We like to focus on finding cheap flights through deals on the major, full-service carriers. These are the big airlines with names you know like Delta, American, and United or big foreign carriers like Lufthansa, SWISS, Japan Airlines, and Emirates.
Cheap FlightsBut there's no question that budget airlines have their place for travelers looking to save. Whether you're flying within the U.S. or down to the Caribbean, criss-crossing your way through Europe, or heading all the way over to Asia, there are a ton of low-cost carriers (or even ultra-low cost carriers) that pride themselves on offering low fares.
But be warned: These cheap fares can be a mirage. These airlines survive by nickel and diming passengers for everything imaginable, with high fees to check a bag, bring a carry-on, pick a seat, and buy food onboard. Some of these airlines even charge an extra fee for printing purchasing tickets online – a fee you can avoid by buying your tickets from the airport.
So if you're content traveling with just a backpack, you can often come out way ahead on these fares. But for anything else, you'll want to do the math and make sure you're actually saving once you've added up all those “extra” costs that may come free with a spendier ticket.
Not seeing cheap deals from your airport? Think you're stuck paying $1,000-plus to fly to Europe or Asia? Think again.
Positioning flights can be a game changer to save hundreds on international travel. These are short domestic flights from your hometown airport to a second hub in order to hop on a cheaper fare. You can score huge savings by booking an international flight from major airports like Los Angeles (LAX), San Francisco (SFO), Boston (BOS), New York City (JFK), or Chicago-O'Hare (ORD), then book your positioning flight to get there.
If you've got international travel on the brain, broaden your search to some bigger airports that are relatively cheap to fly (or drive) to. Just be sure to give yourself enough time between these flights in case things go wrong. And consider packing in a carry-on bag to simplify your connections.
We know points and miles can be intimidating at first. We've been there. But trust us, it's worth the effort to save even more on flights. The good news is that there are a few points and miles programs that are perfect for getting started. If you're looking to dip your toes into points and miles, we've got a few favorites.
We know points and miles can be intimidating at first. We've been there. But trust us, it's worth the effort to save even more on flights. The good news is that there are a few points and miles programs that are perfect for getting started. If you're looking to dip your toes into points and miles, we've got a few favorites.
This is our top card for beginners – and for good reason. Chase points are extremely valuable and easy-to-use, as you can book flights straight through the Chase travel portal (it looks just like searching with Expedia!) with points. Find flights for $400? Make it free using just 32,000 Chase points from your Preferred Card.
You can currently earn a 60,000-point bonus after spending $4,000 within the first three months of card membership. And there are some amazing ways to put those Chase points to use.
There's a new travel card on the scene, and it might just be the best we've seen in years.
Launched last year, Capital One launched The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card – a souped-up version of the ever-popular Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card that’s chock full of extra benefits. That includes access to Capital One Lounges and Priority Pass lounges, a $300 annual travel credit for bookings through Capital One Travel, a credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck, great travel and rental car insurance protection, and more. The annual fee clocks in at $395 a year, but the benefits can easily outweigh that. It’s the reason why we think the Venture X annual fee shouldn’t scare you off.
Here’s the best part: You can currently earn 75,000 Venture Miles after spending $4,000 in the first three months. Considering you earn at least 2x for every dollar you spend on the Venture X Card, you’ll earn a total of at least 83,000 Venture Miles.
If you're ready to learn more, read our guide to getting started with credit cards, points, and miles. From there, check out our Points Principles series, where we tackle hot travel rewards topics and reader questions.
That's it. That's all it takes to find cheap airfare and start flying more for less. There's no magic in how to buy airline tickets, or magic day or time to book cheap flights. If you're really set on finding cheaper airfare, it all comes down to using the right tools and, more importantly, having the right mindset.
Use these tips and tricks to rethink the way you book flights, and save hundreds on your next trip. If you do, you'll discover a whole new world of discount flights – and that finding cheaper flights isn't rocket science.
Choosing to fly during the week is generally cheaper than at weekends. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays are good for bargains (they're not usually popular days of the week to travel).
