Flight Deals 101

Airfare is typically one of the more significant costs associated with travel, especially if it is an international trip. Fortunately there are ways to help reduce this cost if you are willing to spend some time researching or be flexible with your travel dates.

Instead of planning a trip and then purchasing airfare, Ashley and I frequently plan our trips around flight deals. We use several different tools to search for deals and occasionally catch deals that are to destinations we would like to visit.

In situations where we have a trip planned and need to purchase specific flights, we will set price alerts and begin watching for the best price we can find. While there is no set in stone window that’s best for purchasing tickets, most travel experts recommend 1-4 months in advance for domestic flights and 6 months in advance for international flights.

How to Find Cheap Flights

There are several methods we use to search for flight deals.

Going (Formerly Scott’s Cheap Flights)

Going is a subscription service that allows users to input their home airport and they will automatically search and send you deals based on your preferences. We have purchased several flights based on their alerts, including our $400 round trip tickets from Lexington, Kentucky to Madrid, Spain.

Google Flights

Google Flights allows users to search flights based on multiple factors including various airports, dates, flight times, and cost. It allows allows users to configure notifications for price drops for specific routes.

Momondo

Momondo is like Google Flights on steroids. It has similar functionality to Google Flights while also incorporating some additional features that allows it to search fares through travel agencies and search open-jaw flights, where the arrival airport is not the departure airport.

Ultra-Low Cost Carriers

Unfortunately it’s not always possible to find a flight deal on a major carrier such as Delta or United. If you’re not traveling too far or with too much luggage, Ultra-Low Cost Carriers (ULCCs) can often be the most affordable option.

ULCCs consist of budget airlines such as Allegiant, Frontier, and Spirit Airlines in the U.S. These carriers offer budget friendly fares by skipping out on frills and charging additional fees for seat selection and baggage. If you are looking at flying a ULCC, make sure you factor in all of the additional charges before you make your purchase. If you’re checking multiple bags it can quickly become just as expensive other ticketing options.

Ashley and I typically try to pack in backpacks that qualify as personal items when traveling on ULCCs. This allows us to fly with our only expense being the base fare. In 2020 we were able to catch a Frontier sale that allowed us BOTH to fly from Cincinnati to Las Vegas round-trip for $44 TOTAL.