How To Book The Cheapest Flights Possible

Have you ever wondered how to book the cheapest flights possible? Flying can be incredibly expensive sometimes, especially if you wish to travel during a typically busy period. This is hardly ideal, especially if you’re also paying for accommodation and other factors at the same time.

Thankfully, it seems that you don’t simply have to pay the hefty price or give up on your travel plans. Instead, you can organize affordable airfare courtesy of someone who’s more than experienced in flying cheaply. It seems that Scott Keyes does this sort of thing for a living, and he’s provided some insight into how you can keep your travel costs low.

People should switch up the way they search for flights

Have you ever thought about how you go about searching for flights? Typically, a person will pick a destination, decide what dates they want to visit this place, and then look for affordable flights. However, Scott Keyes advises against this because it doesn’t prioritize the price element. Instead, he thinks that people should look at what flights are available from their nearest airport and see which are the cheapest. Then, they should decide which of those destinations speaks most to them and pick a date that works with their availability. It might make it harder to visit the places you really want to see. However, it’s a better way to guarantee better-value tickets.

There are windows that people should aim to book flights in

It can be very difficult to know when is actually the best time to book. People often get their flights sorted as quickly as possible, believing this will save them money. However, doing this too early could actually put someone at a disadvantage. According to Scott, there are certain windows that people should book in to get the best deals. With peak travel, it’s three to six months for domestic flights and four to ten months for international flights. Meanwhile, when traveling off-peak, it’s one to three months and two to eight months, respectively. Booking in opposing seasons can also help to get cheaper flights, e.g. booking in summer for a winter vacation and vice versa.

Think about the days you travel on, not the days you book on

There was once a time when booking on a particular day would actually help someone to get a better deal on flights. However, this doesn’t seem to be the case anymore. In reality, fares can change within the space of a day, which admittedly can sometimes make it harder to get the best tickets. Of course, while there might not be specific days you should try to book on, there are specific days you should think about traveling on. These are the days in the middle of the week, as they’re when flights tend to be less in demand. Most business and leisure travelers will fly between Friday and Monday, meaning these days are worth avoiding if possible.

Going directly through the airline might be wise when booking a flight

Something that can make booking a flight quite stressful is not knowing what site to use. People may end up looking for their desired travel plans on a dozen different websites on the off chance that one place may offer a better deal. Unfortunately, Scott doesn’t have a specific solution to this. However, he does recommend prioritizing something like Google Flights, as this allows you to compare multiple departure and arrival airports at once. Moreover, he suggests making the actual booking directly through the airline. That way, it’s easier to manage your reservation details, and it gives you more of a window to cancel your flight and receive a full refund.

Airline credit cards can help to save money and gain additional perks

If you’ve ever wondered if airline credit cards are worthwhile, Scott Keyes is here to tell you that they are. Being able to earn points and miles just from making everyday purchases can sometimes make a big difference to flight prices. Plus, you often get additional perks with these cards, which can make traveling even cheaper. For instance, free checked luggage or airport lounge access. So, if you use one of these and keep in mind the rest of Keyes’ advice about how to book the cheapest flights possible, who knows just how much money you could save.

Trying to book cheap flights won’t always be hassle-free, nor will it always be without compromise. However, Scott Keyes has proven that you can keep the travel portion of every vacation down, potentially quite significantly. What’s not to love about that?