Flying somewhere for the holidays? You’re probably looking to secure the cheapest flight available. This has become a challenge as the airline industries record all-time high ticket prices. Especially when holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving come around the corner. You’ll be fighting then to secure a plane seat while paying off thousands on a single ticket. Well, not if you know every tip and trick in the books! Luckily, we’re here to guide you through the insider information for finding cheap holiday flights.
10 Tips and Tricks for Booking Cheap Holiday Flights
Booking a cheap flight ticket is one of the most important steps on your to-do list for a holiday trip. We’ve made it easy for you with these tips and tricks to find cheap holiday flights. Let’s explore each one below!
1. Start Your Search Early
One of the keys to finding a good deal for your holiday flight is to start your search as early as possible. You can’t expect to find cheap holiday flights for Christmas 2 or 3 days before. Just like you can’t also leave your holiday presents for the last minute! Ideally, you’ll need to start looking in mid-September for Thanksgiving and in mid-October for Christmas. The earlier you start the lookout, the higher chances you’ve got to secure yourself cheap holiday flights!
2. Search in the Right Places
Knowing what websites you need to surf for your cheap holiday tickets will make the process a whole lot easier. Thus, you won’t waste your time jumping between ads and scams only to come out with empty hands. Choose the right sites that will help you find your cheap holiday tickets without a hassle. For example, Momondo, Booking.com, Skyscanner, Kayak, and Google Flights are good sites you can explore. Some of these sites will direct you instantly to the airlines’ websites for booking your ticket. However, others might let you book through a third-party site. You’ll need to then ensure you’re using a trusted and safe website.
3. Have Flexible Travel Dates and Times
Airline tickets depend by a long shot on the time and date of your flight. This is especially the case when it’s time for holidays. Everyone has plans to travel for and needs to be there before the turkey hits the table on Thanksgiving! Having flexible dates and times to reach your destination will remove one restriction out of the way of finding cheap holiday flights. For example, look for flights on the day of New Years’ Eve instead of the day before. Avoid flying on the weekends ad look for flights on a Tuesday or Wednesday. You can also check out CheapAir.com’s airfare study for better planning. It’s all in your hands to decide which gets you the best deal!
4. Use a Flight Tracker
No one has all day long to search around and catch the best deal. Between your family, your job, or other priorities, it’ll be exhausting to keep looking out for cheap holiday flights until the odds are in your favor. Leave this for the technology to worry about! You can use online flight trackers to do the hard work for you, searching the internet in this case. These programs will also alert you any time the prices drop for your specified flight dates, times, and destination. Thus, you can wait until you spot a great deal and book your tickets instantly!
5. Avoid Flying Direct
Why pay a hundred dollars more for a direct flight when you can just save them up and have one stop in some other country? The best deal is to reach your destination with the cheapest flight available! Even if that means you have to make a 3-hour stop in Qatar on your way to Australia. You’ll find flights with stops cheaper than direct ones. In addition, you can sometimes make your own calculations and book two flight tickets instead of a direct one if it means paying less. For example, instead of paying 600$ for a direct flight from New York to London. Book a flight to Dublin for 320$ and another one to London for 30$. Thus, you’ve saved 250$ to buy yourself some goods in London.
6. Fly with Budget Airlines
No need to spend double the price on the same flight just because you’re flying with traditional expensive airlines! Now, budget airlines provide you with lots of options to save money and travel safely. Of course, a 60$ flight won’t have the same perks as a 200$ flight. However, it’s up to you to find the most suitable deal for you. For example, if your flight is 1 hour long, you won’t care much about how comfortable your seat is or the meal you’ll get. You’ll find a different list of budget airlines for every continent. Thus, you’ll need to check the ones that fly to your airport and find yourself some cheap holiday flights!
7. Check Alternative Fares
While this might seem strange to you, checking for alternative fares is one of the best tricks in the book. You have two ways around this that I’ll explain next. The first is to check for airports in hidden cities. For example, if you’re flying to Atlanta, a flight to New Orleans with a stop in Atlanta might be cheaper than a direct one to Atlanta. The other way is to check for more affordable airports nearby. You don’t have to fly to the most expensive airport in the city. Instead, fly to a nearby cheaper airport and find a ride to your destination. Think smart and enjoy your vacation with cheap holiday flights!
8. Ship Your Presents First
Whether for kids or even adults, the best part of the holidays is exchanging presents. That’s why baggage is an important issue when looking for cheap holiday flights. Unfortunately, baggage will only cost you more and add to your worries. Thus, a good option might be to ship your presents early to your family and friends. You can also directly ship the gifts to their address if you’re shopping online. The spirit won’t be the same, but it’s worth the extra money you’ll save. Not to mention, you can use that extra money you save on more gifts!
9. Benefit from Discounts and Miles
Looking for flying rewards is the first thing you should do when you decide on flying anywhere. Lots of airline programs provide you with many rewards like travel perks, flight upgrades, free hotel stays, access to free events, and even to the extent of free flights! For example, during the Expo 2022 season, lots of flights to Dubai offered free visits to the event as well. Some travel credit cards also save up the miles for you. Thus, you can earn rewards later! In addition, you can sometimes benefit from discounts. For example, students can benefit from their discounts to find prices of 10-20% off the standard fare.
10. Mix and Match Airlines
Securing cheap holiday flights will have you do anything, even mixing and matching airlines! You don’t have to adhere to one airline if sticking up two flights of different airlines is cheaper. Some third-party booking websites like Kiwi.com even help you out on that. They’ll piece together trips for you to reach your destination while saving up money. You never know when you stumble upon cheap holiday flights and make your holiday twice as fun. At the end of the day, everyone wants to save some money!
Final Words
The holiday season is the best time of the year for everyone from kids to adults. It’s also the perfect time to reunite with friends and family and go on vacations across the world. That’s why ensuring you know all the tips and tricks to book yourself cheap holiday flights is a necessity. We don’t want expensive airlines to get the best of you! Luckily, we’re here to sum it all up for you in one article. This will come in handy when you’re on the hunt for some tickets. Remember, the more you follow these tips, the more you save yourself money. At last, happy holidays and good luck!
