I used to spend hours, and sometimes even days, searching websites and looking at airlines trying to find the best deals. It was confusing and frustrating. Over time, I distilled my cheap flight hunting formula and now I can almost always find deals that are much cheaper than average. For example, yesterday I booked a ticket from San Francisco to Taipei for $516, which is a flight that, on most days with most airlines, costs $700 – $1000 or more.
Here’s how:
Ticket prices are set according to demand, so the cheapest tickets can be found on the days with the least demand. Most people, especially business people, fly on Mondays and Fridays, so those days tend to be the most expensive, while midweek flights are usually cheaper. I’ve had the best luck flying on Wednesdays (and occasionally Sundays), but it’s always good to check flights on several different days before purchasing a ticket.
If your flight dates are flexible, you may be able to find a much better price checking prices in a range of around three or four weeks. The prices of flights can vary dramatically from one week to the next. Waiting an extra seven days has saved me hundreds of dollars on a single flight before.
According to Nora Dunn, a budget travel ninja, airline companies usually set prices on Tuesdays around midnight, and that they sometimes post special temporary seat sales at this time. Find them. Pounce on them.
Most regions of the world are served by budget airlines that don’t show up in big search engines. Which budget is a search engine that will tell you which budget airlines fly the route that you are looking for. Check those airlines websites for normal and special fares. They often have amazing deals.
I have known people to fly Taipei to Manila round-trip for less than $50 on a local budget carrier.
Some Great Budget Asian Airlines
If you are looking for cheap international flights around Asia, Air Asia out of Kuala Lumpur is often the cheapest airline. If you buy tickets with them far in advance you can often get really good deals. At the time of writing Air Asia had a sale including tickets from Kuala Lumper to Phenom Pehn for $43 USD including taxes and fees. This is not unusual for them.
It’s also worth it to check out Cebu Pacific and Spirit of Manila Airlines.
Do you know of any good budget airlines for other areas of the world? If so, please share them in the comments section, or contact me, and I’ll add them to this page.
Different booking websites often offer different prices for the same price. To save time, I use price comparison websites like Booking Wiz and Fare Compare to check several websites at once. After I have found a few options, I then check the airlines’ websites to see if they offer a better price for the flight or have any special deals. Sometimes the airline website is cheaper. Sometimes the booking engine is. Sometimes they’re the same. Make sure you cover all the bases before you buy.
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