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Planning a trip? Airfare is usually the largest expense of any trip, and this would mean spending some time towards making the most affordable and valuable choice on the destination and/or airline ticket. Everybody wants handy tips to find cheap flights to help cut down on travel costs, and today, multiple tools and platforms provide adequate opportunities to do just that. Access to correct information is key to finding cheap airline tickets, and there’s plenty of incorrect information out there on tricks and sites to find cheap airfare and discount flights. It’s hard to tell the right from the wrong. So, then, what is the secret to finding cheap flights? Here are some simple tips for booking the cheapest flights possible at any given moment. The best way to use this information is a mix-n-match of these tips.
Typically, airline ticket prices tend to jump in the last 2–3 weeks before the date of departure, which is not usually one of the best times to book cheap flights. Booking as soon as possible is one of the simplest ways of ensuring the lowest price for that flight. An ideal period to book a flight is anytime between 90 and 30 days before the date of departure. Many search engines have a price predictor algorithm that analyzes historical price trends to help predict if ticket prices will increase, decrease, or remain the same. These predictions cannot be relied on for 100% accuracy, but they are usually spot on as they crunch the numbers on thousands of different routes and flights over months and years of data.
The 24-hour cancellation rule must be taken advantage of. It is the best reason to make impulsive decisions. The U.S. government has a federal law that requires any airline in the world to provide a full, 100% refund for any flight that touches US soil if cancelled within 24 hours of booking. As a result of this, bookings done on most online platforms can be cancelled within 24 hours of booking. This 24-hour rule can sometimes be used to book ridiculously cheap flights to unplanned destinations. After that, all other travel parameters can be explored in terms of leave application, travel partners, budget-friendliness of the location, etc. If it’s not working out, the ticket can always be cancelled within the first 24 hours of booking.
Simple economics dictates that higher demand fuels higher prices. Weekends and peak seasons will always drive higher airline ticket prices. At these times, it is smart to choose any other dates than those that fall within peak season or weekends. Sometimes, airlines run high discounts just after the holiday. For example, many people want to go on long weekend vacations. Therefore, air travel over long weekends usually increases substantially, and airlines make a great profit from these flights despite the exorbitant prices, but the same destinations tend to offer great discounts the very next day as most people have finished travelling and flights are more likely to go undersold.
Fare alerts can be a great tool in a traveller’s toolkit. Few airlines like Qantas and Virgin Australia allow setting up alerts for when airfares drop for a selected route or a specific flight. If the choice of airline is not specific, aggregators like Skyscanner and Kayak also offer this functionality. It makes planning a trip for any particular time of the year that much easier by choosing a desired route and/or flight and waiting for the notification alert for cheap tickets. However, it must be noted that the price at which the decision to buy is made doesn’t guarantee that the price will not fall further. In the end, it is the traveller’s choice, at which point the transaction will happen.
