Three Quick Tips for Saving Money on Domestic Flights
If you want the best deals for flights, these three things can help you!
If you’re not used to traveling a lot, you might not know there are some tricks you can use to make sure you always get the best deal.
Let’s talk about flights.
Typically, the best time to book a domestic flight is around 6 weeks out. Booking too early will ensure you’ll probably pay quite a bit more, but if you wait until the last minute and book too close to your travel date, the rates can get pretty high, too. So it’s a watch-and-wait game in some ways. 😉
Here are some tips to help you get the best deal, though…
Search for flights weekly.
Typically, Tuesday is a good day to search and purchase flights. If you start well in advance and check in weekly, you’ll get a sense of flight prices and know when they're improving, so you can choose when to book. There are apps you can use to track flight prices, such as Hopper or Google Flights, which can also recommend when it’s a good time to book. I like to be in control of my search, so I run my own search each week and review all the options I’m interested in.
Search on an incognito browser window.
If you aren’t using an incognito window, the site will remember your search, and the more you look, the higher the prices will go. Make sure it’s a “new” search each time by searching in incognito mode. The way to do this varies by browser and by device, so if you aren’t sure, just Google it, and you can find step-by-step instructions.
Book directly through the airline.
Once you find the flight/price you want, book directly through the airline. Never use a third party to book a flight; if anything goes wrong, the airline will not work with you to resolve it. Trust me — we learned this the hard way many years ago.
There are some situations in which third-party apps can be good and save you lots of money, but flights are not one of them. Even if it’s a little cheaper, it’s worth paying the extra to know you’ll be taken care of by the airlines if anything goes wrong. And we all know that things do go wrong with flights all the time!
What about you?
Do you have other tips to help get the best deal on flights? We’d love to hear what tips and tricks you might have, too.