How to Find Cheap Flights: 15 Proven and Lesser-Known Tips

Travelling isn’t expensive, but flights usually are. They’re often the single most expensive part of any trip. We’ll teach you how to find cheap flights and save as much money as possible.

If you’re not patient, travelling can cost you a fortune. It’s not unusual for the first flight you come across to be ten times more expensive than the cheapest option on the same route.

So how do you find the cheapest flights and often save hundreds of pounds?

After five years of travelling together, we’ve learned a lot, and we’re happy to share our tips on how to find cheap flights that will help you save money when booking.

Best Flight Search Engines

Using flight search engines is the most convenient way to find cheap flights. These websites scan offers from dozens of airlines and compare them side by side.

Always start your search with flight comparison sites and make sure to try several of them. You never know which one will show the best price.

We always start with Kiwi and Skyscanner to get an idea of the price range. Then we check other search engines, and finally the website of the airline we found through the comparison site.

Flight Search Engines We Use

• Kiwi

A search engine (formerly Skypicker) that specialises in budget flights and can combine even complex layovers. It offers a brilliant map where you can mark roughly where you want to fly from and to. The Nomad feature lets you plan multi-week itineraries combining several destinations.

• Skyscanner

Skyscanner is the most widely used flight search engine, particularly popular in the UK. It offers an incredibly broad database of flights, which is why — along with Kiwi — it’s always one of the first places we look for cheap flights.

• AZair

AZair might look like it’s from the last decade, but for patient users it’s the ultimate tool. It offers a huge number of configuration options and its “I don’t care where I fly” feature is simply genius.

• Momondo
• Google Flights
• Kayak

Sign Up for Cheap Flight Alerts

In addition to searching comparison sites, take advantage of their email alerts. If you roughly know when and where you want to fly, the system lets you receive a notification email when the price changes.

Cheap Flight Deal Websites

There are also numerous companies online that hunt for the cheapest flights and alert you about them, hoping you’ll buy through their links and earn them a commission.

Take advantage of this and sign up for as many as you can. Here are some of the best ones for UK travellers:

• Dollar Flight Club
• Going (formerly Scott’s Cheap Flights)
• SecretFlying.com
• Holidaypirates.com
• TheFlightDeal.com
• Jack’s Flight Club (great for UK-based deals)

Choose Your Destination Based on Price

The more flexible you are, the greater your chances of finding a really cheap flight.

For finding the best prices when you’re flexible on dates and destination, we recommend these tools:

• Kiwi Search
• Google Explore
• Skyscanner Inspire Map

If you don’t insist on flying to a specific place, you have incredible freedom. Search engines will help you find cheap flights all over the world, and you might end up heading to a remote corner of the globe you never planned to visit.

Flexibility and spontaneity can save you a lot of money.

Subscribe to Airline Newsletters

The best promotional deals are announced by the airlines themselves, and they typically share them with their subscribers first.

Signing up for newsletters gives you access to these “secret” offers. It’s not unusual to receive a 50% discount on a particular route by email.

There are a lot of newsletters out there, though. We recommend using email filters to sort them into a dedicated folder, or setting up a separate email address just for this purpose.

Which newsletters should you sign up for? It depends on where you fly from and to, of course, but this list covers most of Europe well:

Major Airlines Flying from the UK

British Airways, easyJet, Ryanair, Wizz Air, Jet2.com, Virgin Atlantic, American Airlines, Air Canada, Air France, Finnair, Delta Air Lines, Eurowings, Iberia, KLM, Lufthansa, United Airlines, Turkish Airlines, Qatar Airways, Emirates, Scandinavian Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Vueling Airlines, Swiss International Air Lines, Pegasus Airlines, Norwegian, Aer Lingus, TUI Airways

Budget Airlines Flying to Europe

Ryanair, easyJet, Wizz Air, Norwegian, Eurowings, Vueling, Pegasus Airlines, Volotea, Transavia, Condor, Blue Air, AirBaltic, Aer Lingus, Flybe, and Icelandair.

Other Airlines Flying to Europe

Aeromexico, Avianca, ITA Airways, Blue Panorama Airlines, Condor Flugdienst, Evelop Airlines, Wamos Air, Air China.

When to Buy Flights

The best time to buy flights is generally 4–11 weeks before your planned departure. The best days to fly are Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday, as these are off-peak and tickets tend to be cheaper.

Monday and Sunday are typically the most expensive days to fly.

Early Morning Departures and Long Layovers Save Money

If you don’t mind getting up early and spending a few hours at the airport, your flights will be even cheaper. Connections with layovers longer than six hours tend to be cheaper than those with a comfortable transfer time.

Avoid Peak Season

We hardly ever fly during peak tourist season anymore. Not only are flights much cheaper (sometimes by as much as 60%), but the weather at your destination is often more pleasant and there are far fewer tourists.

Buy Flights in January

Since January always brings a dip in flight demand, it’s a great time to buy.

You can typically score long-haul flights from around €300 without even trying too hard. Whether you’re planning to fly in spring or summer, January is the best month to book.

Avoid School Holidays and Bank Holidays

If you can avoid them, never fly during school holidays or public holidays. Flight prices can be up to 100% more expensive! So automatically cross these off your calendar:

• Summer holidays (especially July and August)
• Christmas, New Year’s, and Easter
• Public holidays in your destination country
• Bank holiday weekends in both your home country and destination

Book Early in the Morning or Late at Night

While we haven’t personally tested this, some flight deal hunters claim that prices tend to be slightly lower when fewer people are browsing. Why not give it a try?

Don’t Be Afraid to Fly from Nearby Airports

Flying from your nearest airport is convenient, but you often pay a premium for it. Always check nearby airports to see if flights are cheaper from there. For UK travellers, it’s worth comparing flights from:

• London (Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton)
• Manchester
• Birmingham
• Edinburgh
• Bristol

You’ll often find significant price differences. When the savings are substantial, it’s definitely worth a few extra hours on a train or coach to reach a different airport.

Fly with Budget Airlines

When searching for flights, always check whichairline to find out which airlines fly to your destination. There’s a good chance you’ll discover several budget airlines offering flights at a fraction of the regular price.

With these airlines, search for flights directly on their websites. Some block search engines from displaying their routes.

Thanks to budget airlines like Ryanair and easyJet, you can get to the other side of Europe and back for under £50, but with a few trade-offs. These airlines charge extra for everything from checked luggage and in-flight meals to printing your boarding pass.

Their tickets are also typically non-refundable and non-changeable, and they often fly from smaller airports. So before buying a cheap flight, read the terms and conditions carefully and consider whether it’s worth it. You can find a list of all budget airlines on Wikipedia.

Buy Long Flights in Segments

For flights with layovers, it sometimes pays off to book individual segments separately. You can save 5% to 20% on the total fare. However, you need to time your connections carefully to allow enough transfer time in case of delays. If you miss a connection, things get complicated.

Also always check whether two one-way tickets might be cheaper than a return. We’ve had cases where two one-way fares were cheaper than a single round trip.

Use Incognito Mode and VPN

Have you ever searched for a flight and found that a few hours later, the same search returned a higher price?

This may be because some companies (including search engines) use cookies in your browser and artificially inflate the price. Using an incognito window or clearing your cookies can solve this problem.

When buying domestic flights within a specific country, it’s always worth using a VPN to make it appear as if you’re located there. For example, flights from one Mexican city to another are noticeably cheaper when purchased “from Mexico” than when you buy them from Europe.

How to Prove Onward Travel

Planning a long-term stay abroad and not sure when you’ll want to come back? Make sure you study the entry requirements for your destination carefully.

Many countries require “Proof of Onward Travel” as a measure against illegal immigration — essentially a ticket out of the country. You don’t necessarily need to fly back to where you came from, but you must prove you intend to leave. This is a particular challenge for long-term travellers like us. We often don’t know even a month ahead when we’ll want to fly out, let alone where!

Fortunately, there’s a service that solves this problem. For a few euros, OneWayFly will issue you a real flight ticket valid for fourteen days. They then cancel the ticket themselves, but you have a valid document for immigration.

When Carry-On Only Is Worth It

Travelling with carry-on luggage only can save you money. While traditional airlines usually include checked baggage in the fare, budget airlines charge extra for it.

But are the savings worth the hassle of fitting everything within the weight and size limits of a carry-on bag?

Keep in mind that cabin baggage limits are often very strict. Many airlines cap it at just 7 kg! And given that the bag or small suitcase itself weighs over 2 kg, there isn’t much room left for your belongings.

In our experience, flying carry-on only works well for long weekends, but for longer trips it’s simply not worth the hassle. Consider what matters more to you — saving £20–30 on checked luggage, or having 20 kg of extra weight allowance.

Cheap Flight Tips — Summary

Made it all the way here? You must be serious about finding cheap flights! We’ve shared all our knowledge and experience with you. Now go find your dream cheap flights!

If you have any additional questions or your own tips on how to save even more on flights, drop us a comment below.

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