Do you know the most asked question when it comes to travel? Go ahead guess…I’ll wait! For those of you who said how to find cheap airline tickets, you guessed right. I get asked this all the time. Wouldn’t it be nice to find cheap tickets year round, no matter the destination. This just is not the case, especially for me. My hometown airport in Jackson, MS is very expensive to fly out of, no matter where you go just about. Here is a list of websites I like to use when trying to find the cheapest flights:
- My favorite website to use first to check for flights is called Skyscanner. If you’re not loyal or dead set on using one airline, do yourself a favor and check this website out before buying tickets. It will check multiple websites and list most airlines and their prices for you. It will also tell you the cheapest, best, and quickest option for you.
- Google Flights
- Kayak
I also like to use an app called Hopper. With this app, you put in the dates you want to travel. Once you have the dates set, you can select “watch this trip” and it will keep an eye out for the best time to buy your ticket. If it thinks prices will drop it will tell you to wait, and if they don’t think prices will get any better they will tell you to go ahead and buy now. The app will send you alerts on your phone when prices drop.
Have you considered when trying to find a good price for airline tickets, that your hometown airport isn’t the cheapest? If it means saving several hundreds of dollars, I will drive to another state if I find a good deal on tickets. For instance, I have driven to New Orleans, Memphis, and Atlanta because flights were that much cheaper than my hometown airport. If you do this, you really need to weigh your options and consider if the drive is worth it after paying for gas and parking your car.
There is a lot of data about the best time and day to book a flight. I am cheap, but I generally don’t go by these guidelines. I usually just look several days a week if I am on the hunt for cheap plane tickets. They say Saturday, Sunday, and Tuesdays are the best days of the week to search for tickets. For domestic flights, you can wait longer before buying a flight, about 4-6 weeks out. For international flights, I always look as soon as I nail down my dates of travel, just to see what the prices are like, but typically 4-6 months in advance.
Bottom line. I like to do lots of research and look repeatedly when trying to find the cheapest plane ticket. If you find a ticket that you think is a good price and you’re comfortable paying it, then buy it! Don’t wait because I have seen tickets go up in price within hours of each other!