Travel Expert Shares 3 Key Ways To Save Big on Every Flight
All too often, booking a flight feels like playing a game of roulette. Are you going to be able to find a good deal for the date you need to fly out? Will you spot a good deal one day, only to wait too long and have it jump up on you by hundreds of dollars only a day later? If you can't tell, I'm tearing my own hair out planning out travel for the next few months, so believe me- I get it.
It's times like these that we could all use some cost-slashing advice, and luckily, seasoned travel expert "Raimee" came through with a few hot new tips. I'm always searching for extra ways I can optimize my flight booking process and save money, and I genuinely gleaned some helpful new information from her!
As someone with years of experience in the travel industry, @raimeetravel knows firsthand that finding the perfect flight deal is no easy feat, especially when travelers have variables like full-time jobs to work around. The three travel tips she offers up give would-be travelers a variety of ways to find good deals based on the kinds of limitations they're working with!
So for starters, if you are trying to plan a vacation but don't have a specific date set aside for it, Raimee advises planning your vacation backwards. For instance, Raimee says that she's planning on taking a 10-day trip to Japan. Rather than blacking out a 10-day period and looking for flight deals during that time, she instead uses the "Price Graph" widget on Google Flights. This tool shows which days in the upcoming months are most likely to have the cheapest flights. She uses that tool to figure out the most cost-effective days to fly, then plans her vacation around that!
Unfortunately, my plans aren't so flexible, so her first tip wouldn't help me with my current travel woes. But Raimee wasn't done yet! If you need to fly during a specific time period, Raimee recommends switching on Google Flights' Price Tracker toggle, which will send her email updates if the price drops on her travel dates. Even after purchasing tickets, though, she still keeps the Price Tracker on. If the price drops again, she'll cancel and rebook the flight, and keep the leftover flight credit to put towards future trips!
And lastly, sometimes you just need a few extra alerts to spot great deals before everyone else. Raimee subscribes to a few trusted cheap flight alerts she uses to find daily surprise deals. The ones she recommends are Thrifty Traveler, Going, and Fare Drop. If she gets an alert about a really great deal, she uses it to help her plan potential trips backwards- see tip number one!
Other Ways To Save on Flights
By now, most of us know that when in the week you travel can also significantly affect prices: weekend flights are almost always going to be much more expensive than mid-week flights. But did you know that when you search can also have a major impact on prices?
I'm not talking about what day of the week you search for flights; I'm talking about how far out you search. There are time periods that Going.com describes as "Goldilocks windows" when airfare prices are "just right." Newly-released tickets can still be costly, and fares often skyrocket closer to the travel date, but usually there's a happy medium between the two when prices dip. That ideal "Goldilocks window" depends on when and where you're traveling- I recently covered common Goldilocks window times if you want details on the best times to fly!
I'm gonna get back to planning my next flights, and I'll be applying Raimee's cost-saving tips as much as possible. Here's hoping her sage advice helps you save a few bucks, too!
For more WanderWisdom updates, be sure to follow us on Google News!
Have you had a funny, interesting, or just highly memorable experience while traveling? We'd love for you to submit a video of your travels for a chance to be featured on WanderWisdom and our social channels! Click here to upload your clip and share your adventures with the world.
