Cheap Flights

Say you originally bought a 6am nonstop flight because it was cheapest. If the airline decided to make that a one-stop flight, you could switch to a more convenient time—without having to pay more. If you had a connecting flight and the airline changes the time, you could see about switching to a nonstop. And if it’s a trip you no longer want to take, schedule changes let you get a full cash refund.

Yes, it's a shameless plug, but helping people book cheap flights and travel more is what we're all about. We send our members alerts for cheap tickets like $202 roundtrip to Japan, $164 to Hawaii, and $23 to Puerto Rico—all on direct or one-stop flights on airlines you know. You can even join for free to try us out.

Both Google Flights and Kayak let you track a specific trip and get alerted when the price drops

I found a cheap flight that departs from City A, connects through City B, and arrives in City C. If I live in City B, can I just skip the A-B leg?

No. Once you miss a leg of an itinerary, you're considered a no-show and the rest of your itinerary automatically gets cancelled out. The only way skipping a leg can work is (a) if you buy two separate one-way tickets rather than a roundtrip, or (b) if you just skip the very last leg of a roundtrip itinerary, in this case from City B to City C. This is a practice called “hidden city ticketing,” which the airlines don’t like (so don’t advertise your plans!) but has a seal of approval from the New York Times Ethicist.

No. It doesn’t make a shred of difference. Many people incorrectly assume that the airlines are manipulating prices based on past flight searches. The thinking goes that if the airlines see that a user is interested in a certain flight or route, they’ll raise the prices. But if this was true, the Flight Experts at Going would have a much harder time finding deals. We run thousands of searches every day, day after day. If prices were rising based on those previous searches, we’d see it. Airline and OTA (aka online travel agency) websites do typically access your IP address, but they do that in order to provide accurate location-related information like language and currency—not to manipulate prices based on your activity. Airline prices are highly volatile. If the price happens to change between searches, there could be a number of factors at play. First, prices fluctuate all the time, and it’s possible that the price simply increased in the few minutes between searches. Second, a price is usually only good for a certain number of seats. Once those seats are sold, the price rises to the next bracket. If you’re searching on an OTA, it’s also possible that the first price you saw had already expired but the OTA hadn’t yet updated its prices. When you ran the second search, the prices had updated and the new price was higher. In the wise words of Alexis Rose, “People aren't thinking about you the way you’re thinking about you.” While airline and OTA sites are tracking things like your location, they aren’t obsessively tracking your searches to sneakily increase the prices on flights they know you’re interested in. When a price increases the second time you search, it’s coincidence caused by a number of factors, or simply a lagging price update. It’s not an intentional move to get more money from you. While there’s no harm in clearing your cookies or searching for a flight in your browser’s incognito mode, it’s just a waste of time. It’s not going to help you get a better price.

Basically, no. Last-minute deals can pop up, but it’s increasingly rare. In the last week or so before a flight, the price tends to skyrocket. This wasn’t true 20 years ago as airlines slashed prices to fill unsold seats, but nowadays airlines jack up prices on unsold seats knowing that business travelers are far more flexible on price but can’t make plans until the last minute.

For most carriers, one-way flights are significantly more than half the cost of a roundtrip flight. If you want to fly into a different airport than you will depart from, it's usually better to book an open-jaw flight (flying A to B, then C to A) on one itinerary rather than two separate one-ways. Airlines whose one-way flights are around half of a roundtrip include jetBlue, Norwegian, Condor, and basically all intra-continental budget carriers like Ryanair and Air Asia.

It’s pretty rare to find cheap last-minute flights because airlines typically jack up the price to gouge business travelers who are last-minute planners and not very price-sensitive. Cheap last-minute flights are more likely on international routes than domestic routes because business travelers don’t fly international routes nearly as much. In general, using the tips above is the best strategy for finding cheap last-minute flights, but if you absolutely have to fly last minute and want to do so for as little as possible, check out our guide to finding cheap last minute flights for a few additional tips.

If your plans are set in stone and you're not too picky about your seat, a basic economy ticket may be a great way to save money. However, if you prefer the flexibility of changeable (and upgrade-able) ticket and want to select your seat at booking, it may make sense for you to upgrade to main economy. Google Flights and other search sites make it easy to see what you're getting—and any extra fees—and switch classes depending on what's best for you. You can read more about basic economy in our Ultimate Guide to Basic Economy or check out our tips for making a basic economy flight a little more pleasant.

Budget airlines have proliferated in recent years, giving passengers more choice when it comes to cheap flights. Of course, not all budget airlines are equal. Our favorites, like AirAsia X and LEVEL, offer comfortable seats, reliable service, and reasonable fees.

This is it. This is what you've been waiting for: The ultimate guide that covers everything you need to know for how to find cheap flights.

Flights are often the biggest expense when planning a trip, especially now with flight prices skyrocketing … but they don't have to be. By using the right tools, having the right mindset, and employing some money-saving strategies, you can cut the cost of your typical flights in half – or more. You don't have to be a pro: Affordable airfare is in reach.

But to do it, you need the right information. There's plenty of bad guidance out there on the best tips and tricks to find cheap airfare and discount flights. It's hard to tell what you should be doing when you're on the hunt for a cheap flight. What is the secret to finding cheap flights?

We understand the struggle, so we've narrowed down some of our most important tips on how to find cheap flight tickets. There's a lot to unpack here, but here's what it boils down to…

Anyone looking to score a deal on flights has encountered their fair share of myths for how to book cheap flights. When money is involved, there's no shortage of so-called “experts” or influencers peddling bad intel.

These are some of the most common myths you've likely heard – or maybe even believe yourself – that you should put to rest if you really want to book flights for less.

We know you've heard it. Maybe you've even stayed up into the wee hours of the morning in hopes of snagging a bargain.

Don't be embarrassed, you're not alone. From friends and coworkers to supposed studies and even major publications, the myth that airlines sell their best, cheapest airfares on Tuesday has cemented as a universal fact. But the fact of the matter is that this recommendation on finding cheaper flights to anywhere, well… it's wrong. Sorry, but there's no magical best day to book flights in order to score a cheaper fare.

Cheap Flights

That old myth about finding cheap flights on a Tuesday is outdated. You can find great discount flights any day of the week. And big travel days like Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Travel Tuesday are more about marketing than real savings.

While it's convenient to think you'll nab a cheap flight by searching on a special day, it's just not the case. Flight prices are constantly changing. Airlines load new fares every hour, and they can add or subtract how many flights are available at a certain price at any moment. We're sorry to say that it's unpredictable when the cheapest flights on the flights you want may pop up.

What's more, airlines never advertise their best, lowest budget fares. So if you're on the hunt for an insane mistake fare or a deeply discounted flash sale to Europe or the Caribbean, you probably won't get it by seizing on a Black Friday sale or entering an airline promo code.

Instead, jump on the best deals whenever you see them. And there's one surefire way to make sure you see all the cheapest flights – but it may what you thin…

That old “flights are cheapest on Tuesdays!” trope is just the tip of the iceberg of myths surrounding cheap airfare that you need to purge from your memory.

Do cookies increase flight prices? No. Don't bother clearing your cookies! Airlines are not tracking your searches and increasing the price on you. So long as you're searching with Google Flights or directly with the airline, you're safe. Trust us: We search for flight deals all day, every day. If airlines were tracking our searches, we'd never find cheap airfare, period.

You don't need to worry about using an incognito browser either, for the same reasons above. It's just not a thing, but this myth has taken hold.

Bloggers and influencers pass these “travel hacks” on like they've stumbled on some big secret. Travelers want to believe it because it's a simple, easy-to-understand explanation.

There's a familiar script when planning travel: Pick a spot, plan your dates, book your flights, and go. There's just one problem: That process is costing you money.

Setting your travel dates in advance before booking flights is the single costliest travel-planning mistake you can make – it can easily cost you hundreds of dollars. It's time to break the habit. And you can do it by following what we call The Flight First Rule.

Flip that script on its head and start by searching for flights, letting the price guide you to the cheapest dates possible. If you can be flexible with your travel dates, you can often score huge savings on flights by just slightly changing your tentative travel dates.

For example, Google Flights will alert you when shifting your travel dates by just a day or two can result in huge savings. If you've already booked your hotels, you may not be able to take advantage.

Google Flights also has a handy calendar view which will guide you, using green, to the cheapest dates to travel. You can easily skip from month to month to scope out the savings.

Say it with us again: Flexibility is key. And when you're trying to score big savings, it can go beyond shifting your dates and destinations. Being flexible with your route can help you save even more.

We get it: You want to fly nonstop as much as possible. We do too. And while it may seem counter-intuitive, sometimes taking an extra stop on the way to your final destination can pay off with savings so big that it's worth it – especially if you're crossing an ocean.

Let's say a nonstop flight from Chicago-O'Hare (ORD) to Paris-Charles de Gaulle (CDG) will cost you $950 or more. But by opening your search up to one-stop flights, you find flights for $430 that makes a pitstop in Reykjavik (KEF) on the way to Paris.