As with many things in life these days, airfare can feel really expensive. Nothing is more frustrating than arranging to take time off, figuring out plans and dreaming about travel only to arrive at your airlines site and watch your jaw drop at how expensive the flight is.
Airfare is not cheap but as many of us still enjoy travelling, what’s the best way to ensure we’re not overpaying for airfare and hopefully getting the chance to book at a cheaper price? Here are 4 of my favorite tips that I personally use to save money on airfare:
Know the ideal booking windows
There’s definitely an ideal time to book a flight – book too early and the price is often higher as airlines know you really want this flight – book too late and airlines know you really want this flight and will raise the price. According to the Points Guy, for most domestic flights – booking 1 to 3 months in advance is typically where you’ll find the sweet spot. For international I tend to find the window to be a bit further in advance but generally 1-3 months feels right.
However if you’re paying with miles – booking earlier tends to be smart. This is because some airlines will release the good seats (this especially holds true for business / first class redemptions) early and then they’ll sell out quickly. This is not always the case as some airlines have moved to dynamic pricing and prices in miles can vary day by day!
There’s really no perfect date to book – perhaps you have a reason to book early; needing to lock in your plans – or perhaps you’ve got some flexibility and can wait to book!
Be a bit flexible in your plans
If you can afford a little flexibility in your travel plans, you will run the possibility of saving more money in your travel. Start first by looking at the dates – check +/- 3 days from when you’re looking to go. If you want to do a 5 night stay at a tropical beach resort, you could do Saturday-Wednesday, Sunday-Thursday, Monday-Friday, Tuesday-Saturday or even Wednesday-Sunday. Or what about airport locations? Bigger cities might offer different airports – i.e. New York, Chicago or D.C. Sometimes there’s decent variability in airports – a recent trip I took to New York I found it was $200 cheaper to fly into Newark vs. Laguardia. Finally, being flexible with airlines can also help depending on your loyalty with one airline. Try checking around with different airlines to see if you can get a better deal.
Use predictive and monitoring tools
Google Flights or Hopper are both great sites to use to try to predict if a flight price will go up or down and if you should hold off or book now. Of course there’s no guarantee – it’s merely a prediction and sometimes predictions are wrong – but they are both solid (and free) tools to help you get a better idea of if the price you’re looking at it is a good price or not.
Once booked, monitor your flight
Ah – sweet bliss – the feeling of having booked your flight after all that research and planning. It’s at this time that many of us will move on to the next thing on our to do list and forget about it. However you might not be aware that airline prices will still rise and fall even after you book. Post COVID era most of the major airlines (Delta, American, United, Jet Blue, Southwest etc) will allow you to rebook at no charge – you simply have to pay the difference or if it drops – you are eligible for a flight credit. A service like Airfare Butler will monitor your flight for you after you book. In tracking hundreds of flights they’ve found that 40% of flights booked end up falling in price. It may be the next day or the next month, and the flight may stay low for a day or for several days – you just never know!
If you are one of the lucky 40% and your flight drops in price – Airfare Butler will notify you via email and from there you contact their airline – either through the app or on the phone. The process takes 10-15 minutes and the airline will issue you a flight credit (or a cash refund if you booked refundable). The best news is that Airfare Butler only charges you if your flight drops – 15% of what they save you. So – if you’ve booked a flight it’s a no brainer to let Airfare Butler track it for you!
Summary
Booking a flight can feel overwhelming – tons of research to do and a fear of overpaying. However with these tips and tricks you can easily ensure you don’t overpay and get back to travelling!
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