Whispering to a great destination is one of my favorite things in life. Some of my best memories come from the holidays I took with my family as a kid.
If you’re planning your next getaway, whether it’s for business or pleasure, there’s a good chance you’ll be flying to your destination. Unfortunately, airfare can be expensive.
This is the reason why people put so much effort to find the cheapest flight. Believe it or not, there are ways to get really good deals on flights that usually cost a fortune. You just need to know how to find them.
Some helpful tips include booking your flight early and making sure you’re shopping on the right day of the week. Also, make sure you fly on a day and at a time that traditionally costs less.
One of the top search sites is Google Flights (it used to be called Google Flights Search). Like any other search site, Google Flights lets you quickly find and compare flights between airports on certain days.
However, if you are using it, you are missing out. It has some amazing features built in that make it so easy to plan that vacation.
Let’s talk about five Google Flights tricks you need to use to get started now.
1. Get Destination Ideas
If you travel a lot, you might get tired of your usual destinations. Or maybe you don’t travel much, and you’re not sure where you want to go.
On its home page, Google Flights gives you some of the popular destinations like Portland, New York City, and Las Vegas with good deals available. If you’re not sure where you want to travel, this is a good place to start.
Of course, maybe you’re interested in visiting a certain region or country but aren’t sure which airports or cities to go to. The answer is also with Google Flights.
Instead of entering a specific airport as the destination, you can type in “Europe,” “France,” “Japan,” or another country or region. You’ll see a map highlighting the major airports and how much it will cost to fly there. If you zoom in, you can also see smaller regional airports. You can also narrow down the suggestions based on your interests like culture, ecotourism, food, etc.
For example, I found that on a trip to Japan, I could save a few hundred more people flying into Osaka or Tokyo than any other airport. Of course, for an even cheaper flight into Southeast Asia, I can get to Beijing for about $500 less than Tokyo.
2. Track Pricing Trends
If you have time to wait to buy tickets for your trip, Google Flights can tell you when the best time is. Google will send you an alert when it predicts a decrease or increase in prices. You can also track historical prices on flights that you ask Google to monitor.
This feature is great for people who travel to the same destination regularly for business or pleasure. To get started, just enter search criteria for departure city, destination city, and travel dates.
Once you press enter, you will be taken to a result page. You’ll see a section labeled “Track Price.”
Google will monitor the lowest price and you will receive price alerts and travel tips by email. This is a great way to know when is the right time to buy.
3. Find the Cheapest Days to Fly
Of course, prices for airports listed on area maps are based on the days you entered to fly. If you’re flexible on travel days, you can get much better deals.
Instead of typing in specific travel dates, simply click on the date field to bring up the calendar. It will show you the daily prices of tickets for the next few months so you can see the cheapest days of flight at a glance.
For my trip to Tokyo, I found that there are days ahead that I can save about $200 on a round-trip ticket. This is valuable information to know.
Google will also help you out with a handy “swap” feature. If there is a cheaper flight closer to the date you selected, Google will give you a notification at the top of the search results.
4. Find the best flight
Finding the cheapest destination and the cheapest days to fly is great, but in your rush to save, you may find that the “cheapest flight” isn’t always the “best flight.” I have seen this happen to many of my friends and family members.
What I mean is that the dirt-cheap ticket you bought might be that you’re flying in the wee hours of the morning and doing three 5-hour layovers. Not to mention that you could lose paying ticket savings for a checked bag.
For example, searching for flights to Barcelona brings up a wide range of options. The least expensive one costs just under $1,700, but there’s a problem.
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