Pirates's Tips & Tricks - Cheap flights!

Lara
Mar 19, 2019
4 min read

Dear readers, today we are sharing with you our Travel Pirates' Tips & Tricks about

HOW TO FIND AND BOOK CHEAP FLIGHTS

You can’t buy HAPPINESS, but you can buy a PLANE TICKET, and that’s kind of the SAME THING.

The plane ticket actually can be expensive if you don’t know how to book for a cheap flight. The price are also increasing as fuel costs rise and airplane companies grow..

Overall flying is often the most expensive part of your trip…

Do you want to know how the Travel Pirates find ways to reduce that cost when looking for cheap flights?

After 5 years of travelling and living abroad together, we’ve learned few tricks that will help you saving money on your next flights and enjoy more your vacation… What are you waiting for? Pack your bags, check this out and book for your next flight...!

1. Find the best Flight Search Engines

That’s the first thing to do if you want to save on flight tickets.

These sites search for tickets across many different airlines, and offer helpful tools like price prediction, price maps based on destinations, fare alerts by email, and more.

It’s also important to check multiple flight search engines before you book a ticket. You never know which site may show you the best price and cheapest flights.

Our Favorite Flight Search Sites

Our best suggestion is Skyscanner when searching for cheap flights. When we find a good deal, before book it, we also double check on the other search sites and finally the Airline’s Official Website, which is in our experience usually the best one!

2. Be Flexible With Dates/Times

The best time to book a flight sure will be around 4/10 weeks in advance of your trip, so don’t be in a hurry!!!

Organize it Plan it Make it happen

The best days to travel on the cheap are generally Tuesdays and Wednesdays and early morning flights or overnight, because they’re off-peak with less passengers and lower fares.

Flights with long layovers are less expensive than others.

Flying during the off-season will result much cheaper, with better deals and less demand.

For example? Interested on going to Costa Rica during the wet season? You will find cheaper accomodations and cheaper flights tickets.

You can find more info about Costa Rica at the Travel Pirates' Tips in Costa Rica.

3. Check Alternative Airports

If you live near few airports remember to check the fares for each of them, as well as alternative airports or large hubs near your intended destination.

Don’t forget to check all details before book your flight..!

You are not the first one that booked a flight to San José, thinking on going to Costa Rica and then found out at the airport that he booked for California…

But sometimes traveling by bus to or from a different airport can save you a lot of money on flights.

One of our personal experience was to organize and combine different destinations with time and dates, sometimes we found ourselves “sleeping” at the airport because of long layovers… but we saved few hundred dollars on flight tickets..! Lara took around 10 flights in 6 months time with absolutely no problems at all!

4. Book Flight Tickets In January!

Some of the best flight deals we’ve ever seen are always available during the month of January & February. Thinking of a round trip?!

It doesn’t mean you need to travel during those months, but you should book your tickets by then!

Airlines generally offer cheap flights in January because after the holidays people are out of money and they’re trying to boost demand… Keep this in mind when planning your next travels, set aside some cash and get ready for your vacation!

5. Destination Based On Price

If you are more flexible, you have more chances of finding cheap flights. In this case focus on the deals!!!

For example Skyscanner can show you a price map for different destinations based on your departure airport.

Being flexible allows you to plan your journey based on how cheap the tickets are and permits to discover new random locations that you hadn’t planned on visiting.

Flexibility and spontaneity can save you money.

NOT TO FORGET….!

Are you planning a long-term trip, not sure when you’ll return? Or do you want to travel overland for a while?

You should know that some countries/airlines can ask you to show a Proof of Onward Travel, which means they want proof that you have another flight leaving that country.

They do this to prevent illegal immigration, to make sure you aren’t attempting to move there to live forever on a tourist visa.

Always check all details, your Travel ID and if you need a particular Visa to enter that country, before book your flight!