5 Of The Best Tips And Tricks For Finding Deals On Flights

We all hate that feeling of overpaying for something. Unfortunately, when buying plane tickets, it's incredibly easy to do — and likely something we've all done, given that ticket prices are truly unpredictable. Per Jesse Neugarten, CEO and founder of Dollar Flight Club, seat prices can rise and fall nearly three dozen times before departure, meaning there are periods when you will likely overpay for a flight. However, on the other side of the coin, it means there are windows where you can score a great deal.

As a general rule of thumb, airlines adjust ticket prices based on what the market will pay for a flight. Tickets normally have a base price, though they can change based on the overall health of the economy, holidays, major events such as the World Cup, a new airline route, and other factors including time of year and weather. As Noah Giansiracusa, a mathematician and visiting scholar at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard, shared with Harvard Law Today, airlines additionally factor in the customer's location, and potentially their biological factors and online habits, to calculate their "pain point" (the highest amount they'll pay) to maximize profit.

Whether you'll be making your first visit to Singapore or planning months in advance to visit family across the country, this piece will cover five of the best tips and tricks to help you score the best flight deals, based on insider tips as well as the author's own extensive experience. Keep in mind, though, that cheaper may not always mean better, and be sure to double-check for additional fees including baggage, seats, and service at the check-in counter.

Hotels often have last-minute deals to woo travelers to scoop up unsold rooms; meanwhile, airlines price tickets differently by spiking prices just before takeoff, when last-minute business travelers are more likely to book. If flights aren't selling as well as expected, airlines will cut prices to stimulate demand when it's not too early or too late for most travelers to plan a trip. This time period, according to Going.com, is called the "Goldilocks window," the time when it's just right to start planning your getaway. Generally, the window differs for international and domestic flights. Travelers planning a trip outside the country have a big window – about two to eight months before departure – to snag a cheaper ticket, get a passport, plan visas, or even learn some phrases in the local language. For a domestic flight in the United States, it's normally between one and three months ahead.

That said, don't book straight away if you discover you're already in the middle of the Goldilocks window. Instead, start watching price patterns, and set up fare alerts on your phone or a junk email address to stay notified of when the best deals come up. I personally use Google Flights, Kayak, and Skyscanner. Though it can be troublesome to check another email address or deal with excess notifications on your phone, that flash sale or new route announcement can save you hundreds of dollars. From personal experience, I have found some of the best deals for tickets during these periods, including a $92 one-way flight from College Station, Texas, to Washington, D.C.

During a typical spring break, flights to Florida and Turks and Caicos, a top Caribbean snorkeling destination, will likely shoot up, as families and students plan trips. Similarly, tickets to Europe are normally more expensive in July or August during the peak summer months. That being said, airlines may reduce prices to stimulate demand to off-season destinations during non-peak times (for example, Sri Lanka or Nicaragua in March or Australia during summer in the Northern Hemisphere). Similarly, while millions of Americans fly to visit family over Thanksgiving, international travel over this holiday weekend is relatively cheap compared to an expensive domestic flight. If you'd rather forgo football and a traditional spread, this week is a great time to visit Europe or Japan, as both are less crowded and the weather is crisp, or explore Thailand's top attractions in the sun.

If you do find a bargain during the off-season, be sure to check the local calendar of your destination before booking. While you may find cheap tickets to the Middle East during Ramadan or East Asia around the Lunar New Year, business and attractions may be closed or have reduced hours — or they may be packed, depending on the timing. However, this can be a meaningful time to immerse yourself culturally. Another option is to visit soon after locals have traveled during the Eid al-Fitr holiday or the Lunar New Year celebrations have ended.

The world is full of incredible beaches, cities, and mountains to explore. If your bucket list has 15 beautiful islands, there's no harm in ticking them off in non-sequential order, especially if it will save you money. Per Scott Keyes, founder of Going.com, being flexible and leaving the deals to decide your trip is a key way to save on flights. To get a better idea of the best price and time to travel, and when and where to go, select your home airport and use your favorite online travel agency's explore feature (I prefer Google Flights) to see when prices are lowest for your planned destination, or the cheapest destination for your specific travel dates. While there was once a belief that purchasing tickets on Tuesday or Wednesday would save fliers money, that is no longer the case; these days are normally the cheapest days to fly, though.

If you live in an area with multiple airports, don't forget to double-check smaller airports and airlines that do not sell tickets through third parties. For example, when researching this piece, a standard last-minute weekend trip to Honolulu cost over $1,000 on United from Houston Bush Intercontinental (and the non-stop was $1,200); however, from Houston Hobby, it was $699 on Southwest.

Even though major online travel agencies (OTAs) and airlines sell flights to travelers across the globe, ticket prices are not always the same across cities or countries — or even digital devices. Use a handy tool like Google's ITA Matrix to change the point of sale or the currency, opening the door to saving more (or spending more) – just be sure your bank is aware and that you will not be charged a currency conversion fee or foreign transaction fee.

Airlines know that most travelers want to get from point A to point B and back as quickly as possible. However, if you're willing to make multiple stops, or travel using another means of transportation between two airports, you can save a boatload of cash on a multi-city or open-jaw ticket. Travel guru Rick Steves recommends open-jaws as the best way to explore Europe, and having lived in Asia for over 10 years, I would recommend them for exploring this side of the globe, too. Use the Google Flights explore tool to visually see your options, and if possible, add them to the same multi-city itinerary for a single booking in another window.

When buying a multi-city or open-jaw ticket, you can save money by piecing together an itinerary made of individual flights; however, you should carefully note whether they are on the same itinerary. In the past, I have used this strategy to score a single ticket from Korea to China with a 60-hour stopover, then continue to a small city in Idaho for roughly $560 — two bags and taxes included. There is a risk, though: If you are flying on separate tickets through a self-made connection, making that next flight is your responsibility. You are potentially risking several hundred dollars if you have a significant flight delay or a lost bag that derails your trip and causes you to miss your connecting flight.

Before you purchase your ticket, take a close look at the letter displaying your fare code for your cabin — it's normally a letter of the alphabet like Y, K, L, J, or X, and it signals the ticket's fare bucket and cabin. Each fare bucket has different conditions and benefits associated with the booking such as refundability, your baggage allowance, and mileage earned. Every time you fly, be sure to add your mileage number in the reservation or at the ticket counter to earn on your flight. To get an idea of how many miles you'd earn across a partnership alliance for a particular flight, check a site such as wheretocredit.com, and factor in the cost per mile and award ticket costs to better understand how you can maximize your time in the seat. Depending on the route, the fare class, and the airline, a single flight or routing can earn enough for a free ticket, potentially worth hundreds of dollars. 

While points and miles aren't as lucrative as they were in the past, and most airlines now reward flyers based on spending rather than the distance flown, you can still find incredible value from signing up for your favorite airline's award program and leveraging its award partnerships. Before signing up or crediting, be sure to check award rates and blackout dates, and consider your own personal travel needs. All three of the major hub airports in the United States have non-stop flights worldwide, though the primary airline at each airport may have more expensive tickets.

When finding these tips, we perused and utilized a wide variety of primary and secondary resources, including academic interviews, travel blogs, and specialist companies that aid travelers in finding the cheapest plane tickets available. Much of the advice came directly from each company's founders or executives. Moreover, the author has over 10 years of experience using these techniques to save thousands of dollars on cross-country and international flights departing from airports across the world.