What is your method for finding the best flight deals?
Sure, we all see links and mentions of stellar flight deals, but you have to be flexible with your travel dates. So what happens if you have specific dates of travel?
We usually have a specific time in mind or specific destination. Many times we go on cruises and as you know, they have a specific start time and end time. We both work full time and try to spend as little of our vacation days on the actual transportation aspect of the vacation. We are currently trying to find flights that get us in Copenhagen, Denmark the day our cruise departs, and back out of Copenhagen the day our ship returns. This is proving to be the most challenging flight search.
We live in Atlanta, GA, the corporate headquarters and main hub for Delta Airlines. So finding a flight is not the issue, it’s the time and price. We are big believers in time is money, so we don’t want to spend a large amount of time in transit, just to save a bit of money. We also don’t want to spend a ton of cash on a flight. Picky? You bet! I am sure you are as well.
This is how our typical flight search goes:
- Google average flight time for the destination. In this situation, there are little to 0 direct flights to Copenhagen. Calculating in the average stopover time. Prokearla informed us that it would be an average of 11 hours. Taking that information into consideration we go to step 2.
- Kayak.com We like to see what flights will stay around 11 hours, with 1 stop. Here is where it gets really tricky for this ATL – CPH trip. We plan to work most of the day (the 29th) so we prefer an evening flight, however, we MUST land in Copenhagen no later than 2:00 pm so we can catch the ship in time. Once I find a few flights that line up with our needs I go to the next step.
- Google.com/Flights it is hands down my favorite Google travel feature. You can plug in the exact flights you want to track and Google sends you an email to let you know how they are trending, and the actual cost (also where to buy)
A few things to note:
- Kayak and other large flight search engines do not include regional airlines or smaller airlines in general. (RyanAir, MayaAir etc)
- Patience is key when trying to get a good deal on specific flights, however, set a budget from the beginning. In this example ATL-CPH if I find the flights we want, in the amount of time we want for $1,000 USD per person, I will buy. Know what you are willing to purchase a flight for so you don’t miss out on a good deal hoping for a miracle. Pay attention to the recommendations on Google Flights, if they both say Buy “fares expected to rise” it’s probably the best deal you will get.
- If you are comfortable pushing it to the limit, wait to order tickets on a TUESDAY 6 weeks before your flight, this is when flights have a tendency to drop. If you do this, keep routinely checking to see how many seats are available.
Our flights are currently ranging around $1,300 USD per person. Hopefully, we get lucky and they drop a bit for us!
Let us know what tactics you use for sourcing flights! We love learning about other tricks!