Usually, one of the most expensive parts of a trip is the airline ticket. At times, it is even more expensive than your entire stay, like when you are going home. Staying at home without shelling out a penny but spending a whopping amount just to reach there? Sounds so unfair. Similarly, if you are planning holiday trips to distant places, the flight tickets take up the cost of the entire holiday to a different high. However, there are many loopholes (so you may call them) or lesser known tricks which can make a difference to your flight ticket costs by a reasonable margin.
Let us take a look at those tricks which you can use to lower the cost and book cheap flight ticket:
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1. Incognito/Delete cookies
Most of the website save your search information and are likely to present you with an increased price when you go back to browse through their flight information. Therefore, you must always either browse in an incognito mode or keep deleting the cookies aiming to start afresh every time you search.
2. Try off beat websites
Next time, rather than browsing through flight options at MakeMyTrip, Yatra, Goibibo and other commonly used websites. Instead go for the off beat ones like Google Flight, Kayak, ITA Matrix, Orbitz and Skyscanner. Many a times, they have better deals than their counterparts.
3. Six weeks prior is the key
Some people believe that flight tickets are cheapest on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. It is true to some extent as few people travel mid week as compared to weekends or days nearing weekends. However, a stronger logic to perfect timing is booking at least six weeks in advance, as the costs keep going higher as they near the departure date. The tickets are cheapest until around/more than six weeks from the date of departure.
4. Explore budget airlines
If you are willing to compromise on leg space and food for a small journey, then it is better to fly through budget airlines as that will save a lot of money. They might not be able to give you luxury of space/leg room and fancy food but are reasonably fine for travelling shorter distances.
5. Explore local airlines
If you are traveling to or within a different country, you might want to explore their local airlines as they would be priced at relatively lower cost. These airlines might not be listed on the regular websites and you might have to Google search for them, but they are worth it!
6. Look for connecting flights
Many a times, a direct flight to a place would cost more than a flight that connects in the city you wish to travel to. Therefore, explore all options regarding direct and connecting flights to compare the rates. If you get cheaper rate for a flight that is actually a connecting flight to your destination, then it is wiser to opt for that. However, if you choose to do this, you should get confirmation details about your departure at the required airport from the authorities.
7. Cheapest day
If time is not a constraint and it suits you fly on any day within a given period, then search for the flight prices for that destination for the entire month to see what is the cheapest day to fly on. Once you get the results for whole month, you can easily decide on the date which saves you a substantial amount of money.
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8. Cheapest place
If you wish to travel but have not decided on the destination and are open to options other than that, search for places which offer cheaper flights. For instance, if you want to travel to a coastal area for a beach holiday, look for various options which may be less commercial/popular but equally good for holiday. That way you can get the perfect beach experience without spending heavily on it. There are thousands of holiday resorts all over the world so there is plenty of choice. With some research, you will be able to find one which is in the most affordable location for you.
9. Reward points
Get yourself a credit card which has a rewards in the form of miles without having to spend on flying at all! Yes, some credit card companies give you miles as reward points every time you use their card. This way you can earn miles and even fly for free once you have earned enough points!
10. Frequent flyer
Many of us ignore this while flying. Whenever you book tickets, remember to esquire about their frequent flyer program. This program lets you earn miles everytime you take a flight from the same airlines. You can keep accumulating these miles and use them as per your requirement and save a lot of money.
11. Choose bulk buying
If you are travelling a lot or are a lot of people who are travelling together, then it is wiser to buy the tickets in bulk. You can enquire about the deals that the airlines might have if you book the tickets in bulk. That way, you will be able to save some amount as per their deal.
12. Look for alternate airports
At times, one destination would have alternate airports which might not be listed on the regular websites. Research on such airports on Google and then book after comparing the price differences of the flights. At times, the alternate airport might not be too far from your hotel/resort and save you a good amount of money on the flight and cabs. Or the price saved on the ticket booked for the alternate airport might be substantial enough to make a difference in the total budgeting of the trip.
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13. Become a part of their mailing list
As irritating as it may sound, with all the spams and unnecessary mails, you really don’t want to miss out on any promotional stuff which might have the key to your money saving trick! Get notified time to time and keep a close watch on all the deals on their flights to see if they serve your purpose. You can then make use of their deals and save money, its better than living in ignorance in this case for sure!
14. Different to-and-fro
At times, while booking return tickets, it is more cost effective to book a return ticket from a different airline, a lower priced that is. Research thoroughly about the flights leading to and coming back from your destination and look for the best deal if you book from different airlines.
15. Cash on their mistakes
This world is not error free and cashing on to a computerised system’s error is both fair and cost effective. On rare occasions, there might be a misquote on a ticket price due to system glitches. Look out carefully for those and make them of utmost use to yourself.
These are the various ways in which you can make a difference to the costing of your trip. Search, research and catch! And you might end up flying for free! You can thank us later!
Also read: A Flight Attendant Shares The Secrets About Private Jet & It’s Fancy Life
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