Tips on Getting International Flights at Low Prices
The internet has indeed made the world a smaller place- with its high-speed communication and connectivity. However, this world expands back to its normal size when you need to travel and be physically present at a place thousands of miles away. You would need to hop on a plane for that. For any citizen, the importance of traveling economically is paramount. It has been observed time and again that the airfares of traveling to your preferred destinations are very unstable. Lucky are those who get them at the lowest available price. Although it does seem unfair for you to pay a lot more than the “lucky” individuals to travel on the same flight, with the same facilities, sadly, that are how the airline market works. A change of that system, for all we know, could take years; but till then, you could mint a bit of luck and get your hands on the cheapest tickets available by paying attention to a few aspects.
Book well in advance
Try to book your tickets way before the date of departure. The common opinion is that the earlier you book, the cheaper you get. This helps in getting affordable flight rates. The remaining 5% deals with flash sales and last minute offers, which are extremely rare. You definitely can’t bank on that 5%, for obvious reasons. Depending on the foreign destination you wish to travel to, the time to book your tickets in advance for international flights varies. For instance, you could get the best deal if you book your tickets to Dubai 14 weeks in advance; but that would be a bit too late for the USA, for which 23–24 weeks in advance would be the best. By following this trick, you will be able to book the cheapest international flights for your journey.
Compare fares before booking
There are various search engines on the market that help you compare and find the best deals on your International flights. To find the cheapest tickets, it is necessary to avoid sticking to results of just one website. Going to other websites may better one’s chances of saving more.
Avoid Sundays
Sunday is the best day of the week, but not to travel abroad. Sunday is supposedly the most expensive day to travel. People, busy on weekdays, generally end up traveling on Sundays. Wednesday–Thursday would probably be the best time to travel, from a budget point of view. To find the cheapest international flights, remember to avoid Sundays without fail.
Holiday season
If it’s time for “festivities” or “holidays,” you would probably have your best time abroad! Only if you are willing to scrape out money in plenty though. “Everyone” travels when it’s time to celebrate. Naturally, the prices are very high. If you are on a tight budget, then you should try traveling some other time, or as mentioned. Be an early bird and book well in advance.
Flexibility
Many flyers stick to the same airline company, either because of the service provided or just its popularity. There are airlines that offer tickets at much lower prices. The flights of these airlines are equally capable of taking you to your destination. Although the service offered might not be top notch, the money saved might as well be worth it. So, being flexible with airlines can surely help you save some bucks.
Connecting flights
Traveling for long may sometimes take a toll on the flyer. So, to save time, most people prefer direct flights with no stop in between. The fact that these indirect flights may be a lot cheaper is often ignored. If you don’t mind sitting on the flight a bit longer, “connecting flights” is the way to go.
Single person flights
When searching for flights, initially, search for a single ticket, i.e., even if you want tickets for your entire family, search for prices for a single ticket first. The number of tickets can be incremented later on. This is because fares are shown higher when a search is done for multiple numbers of tickets as compared to a single ticket. After the results for prices of a single ticket are shown, the ticket for multiple tickets is just a multiple of the price of the single ticket.
Incognito mode
The airline companies show you increased prices, based on the cookies of your browser, which give out details of your previous ticket searches. So, deleting your cache and cookies or using the “incognito” mode might shield you from this hike. This trick has been acknowledged by many and at the same time, rejected by many. But it sure doesn’t hurt to try. If it works, all the better!
Attention to these details will definitely help you garner some of that “luck” we were taking off, in the beginning. Keeping these points in mind will definitely hold you in good stead whenever you try booking your international flights in the future, near or distant.
Keep flying and stay economical!