3 Ways to Find ALL Airfares (so you save money)

What do we mean by ALL airfares? If you like to save money but you’re going to fly in less than 14 days, haven’t yet booked your flight and you’re leaving the entire decision to one website to help you book, you might not score the best deal possible.  Never fear!  Yay for Vacay has 3 tips for you to consider…

1. Book Your Flight at Least 14 Days in Advance

There are emergencies where you just can’t book your flight less than 14 days in advance.  I get it.  But 99% of the time, your most economical flights will be found at least 14 days from departure.  More time on this side of your departure date gives you more options AND less expensive options.  The goal here is to save money (if your dates include a holiday, start even earlier with your planning).

There are sites like nextvacay.com that will alert you when deals are coming to the airports near your home.  It’s kind of like a little sales flyer customized just for you.  That’s how we flew to Paris for $380 round trip (normally over $1000) including bags.  We booked airfare 6 months ahead because of the alert we received from nextvacay.com. For an affordable $25 per year, you can also receive these amazing flight deals right to your inbox!

2. Do Your Homework

There are LOTS of websites like Travelocity, SkyScanner or Kayak that scan multiple airline systems for flights and compile them in one place. NEWSFLASH: did you know that certain airlines do NOT allow third party sites to book their flights?  So when you go to a one-stop-shop website for flights, you may not even see every airline’s fares for that city.  So, what to do?

• Step 1– Find the official airport website of your destination city.  (such as https://orlandoairports.net/ for Orlando or for New York City, https://www.jfkairport.com/) The official airport website will list all of the airlines that serve that city’s airport.  Make note of those airlines. 
• Step 2– Go to your favorite one-stop-shop travel booking website.  Note which airlines that you found in step 1 that are not listed on the travel booking website-and make note. There will most likely be some missing.
• Step 3– For the missing/unlisted airlines you noted in step 2, go to their specific airline websites and compare costs with the airlines found on the travel booking website.  Yes it’s a little bit of work but can save you money…sometimes a lot of money!  But you’ll know you’ve actually checked every airline that lands in that city.

Always check airports in whatever radius of your home you’d be willing to travel by car to get to.  For instance, we’re only 2 hours from Orlando and have saved time by getting nonstop flights to certain cities. This also sometimes saves hundreds of dollars on flights by driving those 2 hours, even considering gas and parking fees. Be sure to pick “flexible days” or “low fare finder” on the travel/airline websites if your traveling days are in fact flexible.  You’ll be amazed at the differences of fares between days. Some airlines (like Frontier) only fly on certain days to certain cities.  If you are flexible on dates but don’t put that, you might miss out on that airline altogether! Remember: flying on Fridays, Sundays & Mondays are generally the most expensive days to travel (by far) because of weekend wanderers who want to do quick weekend getaways.

3. Don’t Forget to Include the Baggage Fees

Some airlines (like Southwest Airlines) give you 2 checked bags for free in addition to your free carry-on. Otherwise, be prepared to pay $30+ for EACH checked bag for EACH way.  Some “discount” airlines will even charge you for a carry-on. Boy, does that add up!  So be sure to go all the way through the booking process (just before purchasing) to figure in bag fees and the total costs when comparing flights.  Maybe having a nonstop flight and paying for bags is worth it to you.  Perhaps not.  Maybe paying for that carry-on is STILL cheaper than the big guys’ fares. Sometimes you can have your nonstop flight (cake) and pay 0 for bags (eat it too). 

Research and book as early as possible.  Make sure you check around to get the best deal and figure in those baggage fees to get the real cost of each option you’re comparing.  Rest assured that you’re getting the best deal out there.  And then start planning the best parts of your vacay!

Other tips and tricks from Yay for Vacay here