How to find cheap flights: 10 tools and tips

With constantly changing prices and hundreds of travel platforms promising the best deals, knowing how to get cheap flights can feel like an art form.

To cut through the noise, we’ve put together this guide on the best way to find flights for less. In it, we skip the myths and show you the real tools and tricks avid travellers use to fly cheaply. The airfare is often the most expensive part of a trip, but it doesn’t have to be the difference between going and staying.

1. Book your flights in advance – but not too early

When you book your flights has perhaps the biggest impact on the price you’ll pay.

Typically, flights go on sale around a year before their departure date. Booking the moment they’re released is not the best time to buy, though.

There’s no hard and fast data-based science to say exactly when you’ll get the cheapest prices for any particular flight. But there are some guidelines to follow.

KAYAK data gives the following advice:

• When to book cheap domestic flights: 7 days ahead of departure
• When to book cheap international flights: 11 days ahead of departure
• When to book cheap flights within Europe: 30 days ahead of departure

That said, In my experience, if you’re flying domestically in peak season, you should be looking to book early – around four to six months ahead of time.

For international flights, you can extend that a little. Four to eight months ahead in peak season like summer of Christmas, two to six in the off-season.

They’re big windows I know, but there are tools to help take the legwork out of tracking prices.

2. Save time searching for cheap flights with KAYAK Price Alerts

Just such a tool is the KAYAK Price Alert. If you’ve got a fixed destination and date range for flying, you can set a price alert that lets you know when the airfare gets cheaper to save you repeatedly searching.

Once the route is available, you can set your price alert from different areas in KAYAK. Go to ‘Notifications’ in your profile to create a price alert or look for the ‘Track prices’ toggle under ‘Our Advice’ on the left of the search results page. Once set, you’ll get an email whenever there’s a price drop on that route with a link to book the flight.

If you’re still unsure whether to book there and then or wait a little longer, our Price Forecast tool can help with that too.

3. Book with confidence using KAYAK Price Forecast

We can’t tell the future but we can forecast prices based on expertise.

KAYAK data scientists use the billion+ customer requests we get annually alongside current and past prices to predict whether airfares are likely to rise in the next 30 days.

Alongside Price Alerts, Price Forecast lets you know if now is the best time to book, or whether you should wait to get discounts on flights.

4. Be flexible with your travel dates and times

Yes it’s easier said than done, but having a little flexibility on the days and times you fly will open up a world of cheaper fare options.

Typically, the cheapest days to fly are Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. Fridays, Sundays and Mondays are the realm of business travellers, so are often pricier.

Flying on or after a major holiday (Christmas Day flights are notoriously cheap) does usually bring the price down.

This isn’t set in stone though, so it’s always wise to focus on booking early rather than on a specific day. The next time you search on KAYAK, try changing the ‘exact’ dates to ‘+/- 1/2/3 days’ and you’ll see the difference.

Use the KAYAK Monthly Flight Calendar to get a quick comparison of which days have cheaper airfares. Just search for a flight by entering your departure and destination airports and then select the date picker.

The date field will expand to show you two months of colour-coded dates with price estimates for which days are cheaper.

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5. Embrace the unknown with KAYAK Flexible Flight Price Alert

If you can be very flexible with your travel dates, you can save even more time and money. Similar to the KAYAK Price Alert, our Flexible Flight Price Alert monitors your chosen route and lets you know when flight prices drop across a set range of time.

Just log in to your KAYAK account from your desktop, go to Notifications, and click on Create a Price Alert. Choose the Flexible Dates tab and enter your departure and arrival airports – particularly handy if you’re flying long haul where prices can fluctuate by hundreds of pounds.

6. Choose another airport to fly in and out of

This doesn’t necessarily mean abandoning your trip to London for a trip to Lisbon, just because the flights are a bit cheaper. If you’re flying from New York to London, as with many destinations around the world, you have several airports to choose from. And flights to them won’t all be the same price.

This is particularly the case in Europe, where many of the low-cost (budget) airlines like Ryanair and easyJet are based in airports a bit further out of town.

Not only do they offer cheaper airfares, but they often have cheaper car rental options too. On the downside, they can mean a longer and more expensive commute to your final destination.

When searching for a flight using KAYAK, add your from and to destinations and make sure to check the ‘Add nearby airports’ box. We’ll add all airports within a 70-mile radius so you can see the cheapest and most convenient flights available.

7. Get cheap flights to anywhere with KAYAK Explore

Sometimes dates and destinations aren’t the biggest thing. Sometimes you might just want to get away, anywhere, but have no idea what’s achievable within your budget. For just such occasions, there’s KAYAK Explore.

All you need to know is your budget. Explore will do the rest, showing you where in the world you can fly based on prices, desired dates or the type of trip you want to take.

Results will include the cheapest routes for every airline within the next six or so months, including nearby airports, direct flights and stopovers. You can of course adjust all these settings based on your preferences. Dive in – the world is waiting for you!

8. Make stopovers – and mix and match airlines

If you’re willing to sacrifice a little haste, making a stopover on your journey is one of the best ways to find flights for less. Play it right with a long enough stopover and it can even feel like extending your trip to include another destination.

While you’re at it, try mixing and matching airlines, as booking individual flights for each with different carriers will often save you money. If you’re not stopping for a proper visit, make sure you leave at least three hours between flights to cater for delays.

You’re booking separate flights rather than connections, so carriers won’t wait for you! My last tip here is to take only carry-on luggage for such trips, as having to collect your bags for each leg can be a royal pain in the…

9. Use KAYAK Search to find the cheapest flights

Not all search engines are created equal, so spending hours trawling different sites to get discount flights is time wasted. KAYAK is a dedicated travel search engine that compares hundreds of airlines across hundreds of travel sites to help you find cheap flights.

Choice is the keyword here. When you search for flights on KAYAK, you get access to a range of smart tools to tailor your trip and find cheap flights at the same time. Here are some of my favourite cost saving features:

• Fee Assistant shows you how flight costs change according to baggage and credit card fees, meaning no hidden extra costs or surprises when it comes to paying.
• By pinning one leg of my trip and still see flexible options for the return flight – this can save both money and time in my experience
• Multiple airport search shows the chepeast options quickly
• Price filters – set your maximum budget and see all your choices

These tools live on the left hand side of every KAYAK search results page.

10. Don’t waste your time on travel myths

Despite what many travel websites and blogs claim, there isn’t any one magic hack that will guarantee you a cheap flight. Heard that you should only book your flight on a Tuesday? Wrong! A legacy of when airlines would make their fares available at predetermined times, today it makes no difference what day you book.

Search across lots of devices using incognito mode to find cheap flights? Waste of time! Prices are set by complex algorithms, not by the device or browser you’re using.

The simple moral of this story is that you can’t control the prices you see. All you can do is take the smart approach: follow the tips and use the KAYAK tools I’ve laid out in this article. That way you’ll travel safe in the knowledge you got a cheap price with minimum hassle. Bon voyage!

Why is it so complicated to find cheap flights?

Lots of factors affect the prices of flight tickets, not least the laws of supply and demand. This means prices can change often and by significant amounts, making it frustratingly hard to find the many amazing deals that are out there

Seasonal changes dramatically affect prices. Travelling in the high season is always more expensive than in the low season. School holidays see a bump in prices, and special events or holidays can create a price spike in specific destinations, like Carnival in Rio.

Other external factors, such as inflation and the price of jet fuel, can make a big difference too. A renewed demand for post-pandemic travel has increased prices significantly in the last two years.

When you’re willing to fly can also have an effect. Flights are typically cheaper if you fly early in the day or land late. More contested are claims that the time of day, and even what day you book your flight, are important – but more on myths later.

Some of our favourite flight routes:

• Cheap flights to Paris
• Cheap flights to Berlin
• Cheap flights to Amsterdam
• Cheap flights to New York
• Cheap flights to Canada

Cheap flight FAQs