The Best Travel Hack for Getting Cheap Airfare on Non-budget Airlines

I’m excited to share with you the best travel hack for getting cheap airfare on non-budget airlines for domestic and international flights. The most expensive (and sometimes most daunting) part of trip planning is often airfare. But, it doesn’t have to break the bank.

I’ve learned how to find round trip tickets from the US to Europe on regular, non-budget airlines for less than a domestic flight home for the holidays. There are a lot of tips out there about finding affordable flights. Like, buy your ticket on a Tuesday for the best deal, look on travel websites (i.e. Expedia), or roll the dice on buying from Skiplagged, vs buying tickets directly through the airline. These recommendations hold true sometimes, but there are other, more consistently reliable ways to buy your flights for cheap!  Here’s how I used the best travel hack for getting cheap airfare, and how you can too.

My experience using the best travel hack for getting cheap airfare to go to Europe

Recently, I planned a trip to Barcelona, France, and London for 8 days. I flew roundtrip from San Francisco to Europe, then flew two more roundtrips within Europe. When all said and done, I spent only $700 total on airfare.

Prior to that, I enjoyed a 10 day trip to Europe, visiting five different countries. My roundtrip international flight and five separate 1-way tickets between countries totaled just under $800!

Follow these Steps: Best Travel Hack for Getting Cheap Airfare

1. Go Incognito

So where do you start? First, search for your flights in a “private” or “incognito” window. The lingo depends on which browser you are using, Firefox, Chrome, Safari, etc.

The private/incognito window doesn’t allow the websites to store cookies and track where you are looking, how often you’ve looked, etc. Cookies are a big factor that changes flight prices from $300 to $500+ when you keep searching for the same trip repeatedly. By trying to be a good shopper and monitor flight prices manually, you’re actually harming your chances for a cheaper flight (unless you’re incognito). #thankscookies

By trying to be a good shopper and monitor flight prices manually, you’re actually harming your chances for a cheaper flight. #thankscookies

2. Navigate to Google Flights

My website of choice is google.com/flights. It searches across all airlines, travel sites, etc (except for Southwest Airlines, which doesn’t fly internationally yet anyway). The best way to find good deals, especially if you are traveling to Europe, is to look via the “explore” option in the dropdown tab in the upper left corner. Start there and get inspired.

3. Next, Search for Flights

Under the Flights tab, enter your home airport. Then you can pick specific dates or a flexible option (i.e. “1-week in April”). If you can be flexible with your dates, you’re even more likely to find a cheaper fare.

Google generates a map so you can see how much it would cost to go anywhere in the world! This feature is by far my favorite and where I lose track of time far too often. 🙂 $289 RT to Paris, anyone? How about Oslo, Norway for $292 RT?

If you are looking to fly to Europe, this is where you can save the most money because getting across the pond is the most expensive part. Here’s what you have to do: fly to whatever European city is cheapest and from there you can fly extremely cheap throughout all Europe. I’ve flown 1-way between countries for as low as $30.

Alternate Best Travel Hack for Getting Cheap Airfare

An alternate option is to look on non-private or non-incognito window (AKA a normal window) and you can request to track prices for flights. Google will email you periodically when the price drops.

Of course, the first time you look may not be the cheapest, so look early and look often and you can find plenty of places to go that won’t drain your wallet. Happy travels!