How I find cheap flights

I travel a lot, especially the last years living in so many different countries and having a long-distance relationship within Europe I found myself often in the search of cheap flights. The process can be annoying and frustrating but here are some things I do as tips and tricks to maybe help out.

Step 1: Search for a flight

I love Google Flights as a tool to search for flights. Not necessarily to buy them though but more to this later. So when I need a flight cheap I usually first head to Google Flights. What I like is, especially when I am flexible with the destination, Google Flights can show you many great options. It allows you to add multiple (I think up to five) different departure airports which is a great tool to compare prices. So, I often put multiple departure airports and see if there are also multiple arrival airports I can choose from.

Another thing I do when I am flexible on the destination, I put my departure airports, adjust the dates but then leave the destination airport blank and hit search. Google will find all the possible destinations for you and you can consider where you would like to go and what the cheapest options are. This is a great tool especially when you have no plan where to go yet, as it shows you destinations you might not have thought of.

Often I also look at the flights as one-way, especially when I have multiple options for arrival and departure airport. Maybe it is cheaper to fly from Berlin Schönefeld to the destination and then back to Berlin Tegel. Or if you live close to any other airport comparing this might be a good idea. For example, when I lived in Girona it was often hard to find cheap flights there. So I would fly out of Girona and back to Barcelona and then take the train. Even with an additional train ticket, it would still be cheaper than flying in and out of one airport. So weigh up your options. This search might take you a little but also save you some money. The effort can really be worth it.

These are the things I do to find where I want to go first. Further, once you have decided on a place to go, Google Flights is a good tool to find out when the best time is to go. Then I use Google’s date grid. It helps me to see if there are better dates to go. Obviously, this is only an option when I am flexible with the dates. This overview will help me see if it is worth going a day earlier or later.

Step 2: Compare Prices

As I said before I use Google Flights to search for flights, I don’t buy them here though. So, once I have selected a flight that I want to take I head to Skyscanner or Travelmarket.

There I search the specific dates and connection that I have selected and compare prices. The good thing about Skyscanner is that it compares all offers and shows you where you can get the cheapest tickets. Now living in Denmark, I also sometimes use Travelmarket which works very similar. So, on these websites, I look for the flight and then see the different offers. Often it surprises me how much cheaper the flights can be on there. Sometimes they offer you different prices for the same flight. I then check the providers of the ticket on Trustpilot just to see if the 10€ save is worth the hassle you might have about your ticket.

Once I have found one, I think is a good offer I buy it and on average save quite some money rather than just buying the ticket straight from the airline. Comparing prices can save a lot of money and therefore make flying more affordable. I hope this helped a little to save some bucks but also agony when searching for flights.

Save travels.

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