Seven tips to find cheap flights

Si has mirado vuelos últimamente, te habrás dado cuenta de un par de cosas: los precios están por las nubes y las opciones son más limitadas.

It is no surprise.During the last months, the number of passengers has recovered figures similar to those before the pandemic, but the options offered by airlines are still reduced.And, by law of supply and demand, the price of the tickets rises.

"I think prices are especially expensive this year for the large number of travelers who are reserving their ticket at the last minute, now that so many countries are opening their borders," says Rocky Trifari, blogger from The Rocky Safari.

Said all this, you don't have to give up your search for good offers.Discover Trifari's advice and other experts to find cheap flights this year.

Prioritize the price before the date and destination

"To find cheap flights you have to prioritize the price, not where or when you want to go," says Darci Valiente, Scott’s Cheap Flights specialist.

"Many times, when people think about reserving their vacations, think about where they want to go and when," he explains."If you have already decided that you are going to leave the last two weeks of August to such a place and it is your only option, you just spend 1000 euros on flights".

It is normal to prioritize the date and destination, especially in the case of families limited by the school calendar, but if you do not have these bonds, Valiente recommends this other approach: ”Where are the cheapest flights from the airport of my city?Is there any cheap flight in August? ”.

"The same runs with an offer three times cheaper to visit a new country and you can take advantage of the money you have saved on the tickets".

Use flight search engines

"If you are looking for cheap flights, you should use search engines comparing the prices of the different airlines," says Trifari.

You can even find lower prices than those offered by the airlines themselves.

"There are websites that can further lower the price of the airline itself," Trifari confirms.

He recommends Skyscanner, Expedia, Google Flights and Cheopoair search engines to look for the best offers.Brian Kelly, director and founder of The Points Guy, recommends Orbitz, Travelocity, Hotwire and Cheptics.

But these search engines are not the only useful tools to find offers.

If you are willing to “give up the comfort of direct flights, you can use Skiplagged to find the cheapest route with scales,” proposes Trifari."The disadvantage is that it will take longer to reach your destination, since you will go through one or two airports until you reach the final one".

Establish alerts

Not everyone has time to review several web pages every day, and although you can, sometimes there are offers that disappear immediately.That is why it is useful to establish alarms on the platform to send you an email or a message when the prices of a certain flight go down.

"With an alarm, you will be the first to find out about any last minute offer or advantage," says Mark Crossey, a travel expert on the Skyscanner web."You can point out a flight in which you are interested and Skyscanner will send you an email when prices go up or down".

Google Flights, Kayak and other travel platforms also give you the option of receiving these notifications.

Be flexible when choosing dates and airports

"If you are looking for a good offer, you can't be very rigid when choosing dates, airports and airlines," says Kelly."Plant the possibility of traveling on other dates, from other airports and with other airlines that do not give up hiring".

Flexibility can involve booking tickets in an airline in which you have never traveled or even resort to more than one airline on trips with scales.

"It's not a summer fashion.If you know how to fit the airlines and schedules you can save many expenses, ”says Crossey."You can go with an airline and reserve the return with another to save some money".

Skyscanner has tools to calculate the cheapest month for certain destinations and allows users to investigate the prices of a certain month to find the cheapest date.

"The price of flights is based on supply and demand.As some months and destinations are more common than others, prices change.Try to travel a day before or a day after your desired date.The least popular days of the week are usually the cheapest, ”he says.

If the airline does not give you much flexibility, it may be time to use the fidelity points that you have been accumulating for some time, or maybe they still have to reimburse a few euros for the cancellations of 2020.

"But remember," says Kelly: "Don't pay anymore at points than you would pay in money".

Many destinations have great fame because, indeed, it is worth visiting them, and therefore they are also more expensive.However, that does not mean that there are no other great places where you can spend an unforgettable vacation.

Ask for recommendations to your friends more travelers, look for predictions from tourist destinations that are going to become fashionable soon or the most undervalued places.Or simply, turn the globe, cover your eyes and take it with your finger to see where you landed.

"In general terms, the cheapest places to travel are those that are already open, but where there are still more places than passengers on the plane," summarizes brave."And conversely, those places where you have to hurry to reserve a ticket are the most expensive".

If you still find nothing to enter your budget, do not discard national tourism, where you still have a multitude of jewels to discover.

Do not always trust the cheapest rate

I know as exhaustive as possible when comparing flights.Sometimes, tickets that look like a bargain involve hidden rates or a lack of flexibility that will be more expensive in the long run.

“Reserve a ticket on an Ultra Low Cost airline can end up being more expensive than a current ticket once all the rates added, and many of those airlines do not accept cancellations or return.The cheap sometimes comes out expensive! ”Kelly warns.

Similarly, flying in Business class does not always imply excessive expense.A couple of months ago, Valiente got some business tickets to Athens for the same price at which they now sell the cheapest tickets of that same airline.

"Although third -class tickets have stabilized in recent months, the first and second tickets are still below their usual price," says Valiente.“This is, above all, to the reduction of business trips through teleworking.Before investigating third -class prices, be sure to look at the second.They may be more similar than you think ".

Crossey underlines the importance of being flexible, especially now that we are still living changes in regulations and pandemic restrictions.

“In the past, being flexible with trips could mean flying to unpopular hours to get a good price.Now, it is more important to be aware of the possible policy changes that may affect your tickets and accommodations, ”he explains."Choosing flexible options can leave much cheaper".

In advance is very important

"To take a national flight, it is usually advisable to book the tickets between one and three months before," says Trifari."For international flights, between three and eight months before".

It is not advisable to fly from Friday to Sunday, since on weekends they are the days of greatest demand and prices go up.

If you know that you are going to make a Christmas trip, you should start looking for tickets and be aware of the offers, because if you do not take them, they will soon fly.

“The price of flights is very volatile and can change from a minute to another.The price you are today does not have to be the price of tomorrow, ”warns the brave.“To find the best offers, start looking at the tickets several months in advance and watches the prices.Then decide a price range that is reasonable and reserve as soon as an offer appears within that range.That the price could lower even more over the following weeks?Yes, but they could also upload much more ”.

Many airlines allow you to cancel flights in the first 24 hours, so that nothing happens to reserve that supply ticket that has caught your attention and take advantage of the next 24 hours to find out if you will really be able to do it.

Valiente also recommends reserving a ticket to a country that has not yet announced the reopening of its borders.Many airlines have not yet uploaded third class prices on flights to these countries, so you can always book at a good price and delay the trip if you do not reopen on time.

“If you want to visit a country that is already open, check if there are last minute offers.It is usually very difficult to find them, but this last year there has been more than ever and this opportunity is not expected to last many more months, ”says Valiente.

There is a lot.Just in case the first thing is true, activates the incognito mode of your browser when you are going to book the tickets or use another person's computer.

This article was originally published in the ‘Huffpost’ United States and has been translated from English by Daniel Templeman Sauco.