Travel Hack: Finding Cheap Flights
One of the easiest ways to be able to travel more often is to find cheap flights. But booking plane tickets at a reasonable price can be tricky. Previously, we spent a ton of time using about 10 different search engines just to find the cheapest flights. That was until we found Skyscanner. Skyscanner has cut our time searching for great flight prices in half! Skyscanner has turned into our go to flight search engine. It is extremely easy and customizable, making the flight buying process that much easier and we have found some really cheap flights using Skyscanner!
Skyscanner is a global travel search engine that compares flights, hotels and car rental searches. They are consistently the best flight options and prices that we have been able to find. Skyscanner is one of the best search engines out there! They have more travel partners than any other search engine, which means more flight options for you to choose from. We know there are a lot of people who still haven’t heard about Skyscanner, so let us help you become familiar with it so you can save on your next vacation.
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Search Everywhere
Our favorite part about using Skyscanner is the flexible search option. Skyscanner lets you search “everywhere” in the destination field, which is awesome if you are flexible and you just want to find a cheap flight somewhere! This is how we have planned our last couple vacations just by finding out what flights are the cheapest.
Let’s say the weekend forecast isn’t looking too great and you want to get away for a couple days, simply enter the city you are flying from and then type “everywhere” in the destination box. Then put in desired dates and click search. From here, it will pull up all the available destinations in order by cheapest price. From there you can narrow down the options and book your next trip.
Flexible Dates
Again, if your travel dates are flexible, there is a better chance that you will be able to save some money. Skyscanner allows you to have flexible search options. If you know you want to travel during a specific month, you can search the whole month, or you can even choose “cheapest month” and see when the best time to go is from your destination. If we search from Portland to Los Angeles in December, and choose the whole month, we can see what days are the cheapest days to book.
As you can see, one day can make a big difference in the prices, so flexibility in dates is key for saving money!
Map
We noticed the last time we booked our trip on Skyscanner that there is now a map function. This is great for those visual learners (like me) which allows you to see the prices from your destination and desired travel month. And if you have a price point you’d like to stay under, you can choose to only show the flights under your budget. I love seeing all the places at once!
Price Alerts
If you see something you like, but you aren’t ready to book, just sign up for price alerts. Skyscanner will email you and tell you how the price of that flight has changed. This is a great way to stay on top of the price change! Once you see that flight drop into your price range, make sure you are ready to book it!
Ease of Booking
Once it comes time to choose the flight you want to book, you can narrow the options down by numbers of stops, time of departures, airlines, and trip duration. Obviously a direct, or one-stop is preferred, but this allows you to see the difference in prices. You can decide if you want to spend a little more for a quicker flight or not. Usually, the shorter flight times are more expensive, so if you are really pinching your pennies, choose a longer layover. Skyscanner really lets you pick what times or flights are the best for you. Once you find the one you like, it will take to a different browser to book the flight. So no booking is actually done on Skyscanner.
Finding flights can be really fun (and really distracting) if you are looking for cheap flights along different routes. If you know you will be in Southeast Asia, but don’t know where you want to go next, use the everywhere search and find something that is cheap! The everywhere search will give you so much flexibility, you can basically build your itinerary as you go! Some examples of cheap flights from Bangkok in April:
- Bangkok to Phuket for $19
- Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur $32
- Bangkok to Bali $41
- Bangkok to sri lanka $56
Those are some incredible prices! You can still visit some of the places you’ve been dying to visit, without having to spend a fortune!
Whats the cheapest flight you can find?
The app is super easy to use, allowing you to also search by top deals and weekend getaway searches. Download it here
Other tips to consider when you want to save money on flights:
- Search frequently
- flights can change prices quickly and you don’t want to miss out on a good flight
- Delete cookies or search from a private browser
- If you search the same flights and dates too often, the prices may actual increase.
- Be flexible!
- The more flexibility you have (in travel dates, airlines, timing…), the more money you will be able to save
- Check other search engines to make sure you found the cheapest deal
We’ve used a ton of search engines when looking for cheap flights, like Kayak and Expedia, and they just never compare to Skyscanner’s results. Hope this has been helpful for you to find some cheap flights. We love traveling, and nothing is more exciting than finding a good price flight!
Have you used Skyscanner before? If you have any of tips for finding cheap flights let us know below. We want to know where you will be booking your next flights to?
If you want to learn how to find cheap flights make sure you check out these booking sites
*We have partnered with Skyscanner to bring you updates about flight deals and tips. We have used skyscanner for years and would only recommend something that we use and love!*
I need to get more time off work so I can use this!! Saved this for my next trip:)
I must admit, this is a skill I lack. Great ideas; let’s see if I can use them.
I had never heard of Skyscanner before, but I will definitely look into. What a cool app. I really like that it will alert you when the price changes. Thanks for sharing!
We too use Skyscanner a lot to locate cheap flights. They have this function which enables you to look at the cheapest month in a year and plan your travel accordingly.
Skyscanner is awesome. I love how they have options for both premium and discount carriers in their search results.
Love Skyscanner. It’s my preferred search engine for flights. Informative post for new users
Yesss! I always go to Skyscanner to find good deals! I can’t wait to take advantage of flexible dates + search everywhere when I’m home. Looking forward to that dirt cheap deal.
I often use SkyScanner but must admit that the most amazing airfares I found there are unavailable when I go to the booking source. I wonder if they have current feed or use historical data.
Great tips guys! I’ve also been using Skyscanner for years and totally love it! Searching ‘Everywhere’ is what I do to daydream 🙂 There are a few budget airlines that don’t appear in Skyscanner so I will always check those too – and use Incognito mode on my search so that prices don’t rise if I come back to book later.
I haven’t used Skyscanner and usually go to Cheap O’Air. We will try this. Looks easy to use and does the job! Thanks.
Skyscanner is super awesome! I also like to use http://www.secretflying.com/ to find deals for beloved destinations I’d like to visit. It does not allow you to search for cheap flights but it’s a great platform for flight deals departing from each continent.
I haven’t used Skyscanner before but I have heard they are great. We travel with kids so have a lot less flexibility. I tend to go for convenience as well because a crazy cheap flight with kids but on a reedye, for example, just means a day+ of pain with them whining afterwards.
Sky scanner can be good but sometimes it is more expensive! Always check flights in numerous sites.
Skyscanner is my go-to for scoping out cheap flights/places to go! I love their destination ‘Everywhere’ option, and wow I had no idea they had map view now. Looks so cool! Gonna definitely check it out for next time 🙂
Such a nice and informative blog.
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I have used skyscanner a few times and managed to find some great deals.
We absolutely love using Skyscanner and recommend it frequently. The only issue I have seen with it is that I haven’t had luck using it for travel within the United States. It fails to recognize many of the smaller airports and airline companies. I have been able to find better prices through websites like Kayak. It is just a lot harder because they don’t have many of the great features that Skyscanner does.
What an amazing post. Thanks for sharing.