A huge part of traveling is flying. Unfortunately, flying can be the largest cost. After booking dozens of flights over the last 6+ years in my adulthood I have found some great sites that I think allow you to find the best deals.
The biggest key I’ve discovered is that if you want to find a good flight deal, you have to put in the effort. The beautiful $100 round trip flight isn’t going to be handed to you. You might have to do some research or receive subscription emails as well. Here are my top recommendations from the ones I use the most to the ones I use the least.
#1: Google Flights
Google has this great algorithm for flight tracking flights when you are signed into an account. Google Flights sends you updates if prices change and you can track flights up to 11 months in advance. When searching, you can look at the calendar to find dates with the cheapest prices. Google Flights shows a bar to indicate typical flight price of your trip. You have to sign into a Google account for them to track this data but you can easily access it. They also has an explore tool to find destinations to travel to based on your budget or certain dates. I booked a $480 round trip to Iceland during peak summer time as well as $300 to Salt Lake City during ski season with their site. Google Flights tracks for all major carriers except Southwest Airlines. Google Flights is my go-to for any and all flights as soon as I know the dates. If you want a how-to tutorial to use Google Flights, click HERE to watch one on Youtube.
#2: Thrifty Traveler Premium
I found this site perusing through some travel blogs myself and Facebook. At first, I was a bit skeptical of the site because it had so much information. Over the last 6 years, I have grown to love Thrifty Traveler and now pay for their premium subscription and I am an affiliate with them! Thrifty Traveler sends you flight deals for all around the country and the world straight to your inbox weekly and even daily. I’ve booked trips like a $250 round trip to Seattle and a 44k Delta SkyMiles round trip to Portugal through their subscription plan. You can set your home airport as well as other airports that you know you might fly out of.
They send you anything from budget deals to business class tickets. When you sign up as a premium member you get access to a wonderful Facebook group filled with budget travel lovers with great advice and tips. Thrifty Traveler Premium members also have access to a free credit card consultation to help you travel hack even more. If you are at all persuaded to use them as much as I was, use my code “TTT10” for $10 off your annual membership with my affiliate code!
#3: Going (Formerly Scott’s Cheap Flights)
I found out about this site from a friend 7 years ago who told me they were going to Europe on a $400 flight and since then I’ve been hooked. Going spends their days tracking cheap domestic and international flights just for you. Going has a free membership and a premium once similar to Thrifty, but is a little more expensive. On the regular membership, Going will only send you some of the deals that they find but they are still great! With the premium membership, you will get all the deals and you get to choose your departure airport. Going also sends some great emails with details about great travel destinations you might not know about or deep dives into ones you already know.
#4: Clark Howard Top Travel Deals
For all of my Atlanta natives out there, Clark Howard is always the best guy to give advice and find the best financial deals. I have discovered he does it for traveling and hotels as well. A friend of mine got $150 round trip to San Francisco with his deals. He has them all based out of Atlanta which is great for us locals. He includes hotel deals as well which is an extra perk! Recently, I haven’t been able to receive the travel emails to my inbox recently, but I’ve reached out to his team and I’m hoping to hear back soon!
#5: Kayak
Another well known site is Kayak. Even though I don’t use it as much as other sites, it is still a fantastic resource because of some of the features it has. If you set up price alerts, it can send you emails of when prices have changed even day to day. They also combine to create “hacker fares” that you can’t get by searching just one airline. I also love that they have an app so you can search on the go super easy. On the side, it even has their advice on whether to buy now or not. On the app, it also has the price trends which is the feature I use them for the most.
#6: Momondo
I found this site by utilizing Going. A few years ago, I got a round trip flight to Vancouver for $350 just 2 months out from when I was leaving. Momondo works very similarly to the other sites above and it works best for international flights. Momondo finds hacker flight deals where you book one way flights with different companies to make it cheaper. I usually search with their site at the last minute to make sure I am getting th ebest deal.
#7: Hopper
I kept hearing about this app and website from all the old Bachelor/Bachelorette candidates. I’ll be honest at first, I thought it would be a little bit of a scam. After I did my own research, I really do like how this app is set up. It is very user-friendly with easy navigation and I love how easy it is to set up notifications with it. I think this app is great for those with flexible schedules because it shows on it which dates are the cheapest historically over the months you are looking at. They even track hotel prices for you as well which is an extra bonus. It is also completely free to use!
Hopefully, you gained some insight into new sites to help you find awesome flight deals! Also, always book directly through the airline website. Never use third party sites even if it is cheaper because is something happens, you most likely will have difficulty rebooking or getting your money back. If you loved this article, click HERE to sign for my email list or give me a comment!
