Finding the cheapest flights for your international travel is not so difficult as some persons we have met seem to think. That’s why we did put together this ultimate travel guide to help you finding the cheapest flights to your desired destinations.

Where to find the cheapest flights

A common way to narrow down the flight costs are to choose low budget airlines and fly to secondary airports and then taking the (often very cheap) local bus or train into town. Also try alternative routes, using the budget flights as connecting airports – maybe even use a foreign airline site to book a flight in another currency.

For Europeans it is already well known to use low budget airlines like Ryanair, Norwegian, Air Berlin, Cimber Sterling, Blue Air, Wizzair as some examples, but I hope that you also have been aware of the fact that you from other places can fly into an European country and continue with low budget airlines within Europe.

AirAsia is a great choice if flying within Asia or between Europe or Australia and Asia. When flying to India, be sure to check united airlines.

As long as you are aware of all hidden fees and keep an eye on them, low budget airlines are one of the first options for finding the cheapest flights. Don’t forget though that sometimes, even the normal airlines can have special offers that make them as cheap as the low budget airlines, so always make it a habit to check them too.

The best thing is: you don’t even have to know the airlines companies names – it exists flight search engines out there that find them for you. Flight planning tools that simultaneously searches hundreds of airline sites worldwide to come up with the cheapest fares.

We recommend that you do your searches at several different travel sites: Travelocity, Priceline, Orbitz, Expedia, Kayak, Fly, Travelzoo, Skyscanner.net, Momondo, Bing Travel (previously Farecast), FareCompare, Airfare Watchdog or Dealchecker.co.uk.

Such sites are perfect for doing research and book your flights – or go ahead on the airline site direct to actually book the tickets later on when finding which airlines having the cheapest offers. Some of them even have mobile apps – really making it easy for you to book on the fly.

Which search engine you should use is not really possible to say. It’s a matter of choices, timing and personal taste of course. Some are more user-friendly than others, they can have other differences like special deals negotiated directly with airlines or special calculations to determine whether or not an airline fare will become cheaper or not in an future time period.

Register a special email address that you can use dedicated to sign up for different email newsletters and notifications from different travel sites about cheap flights offers.

Check with local travel agencies/clubs in the area which often has special discounts campaigns on flight tickets.

How to search and book the cheapest flights

When using a flight search engine, choose two or more different departing and arrival airports, plus consider flights with multiple stops as they usually are cheaper than direct flights. Check them at several different times, the prices can differ even when checking them later the same day.

Do a search for a date to a destination and then change the date back or forward to get different prices on the flights, choosing the one with the lowest price. Several of our flights has cost us zero (!) for the tickets, only the tax cost.

Especially check different weekdays, midweek tend to be cheaper. Choose low season and not public holidays if possible.

Always check both one-way trips and roundtrip itineraries to the same destinations, since one-way trips often are much more expensive!

Don’t search only for flights, sometimes complete travel packages with hotels can be cheaper than just the airfare. There are always different discount packages to keep your eyes open for.

Try to fly with only hand luggage if possible, check in online and print your boarding pass at home. Also be sure to thoroughly read the airlines policy before you book your flight, to not miss any crucial details.

Ask for any kind of discounts: business related, student, small child or senior discounts, since some airlines offer special prices for these categories of people, but might not mention it if you are not asking for it!

Ask the airline directly if they have Standby possibilities. If you are flexible you might be able to find discount airfares that way. With Standby means that if a passenger doesn’t show up and they have an available empty seat, you might get that seat instead to a cheap price.

Find and use frequent flier miles programs if you can, which later will make you able to fly for free or pay down the flight tickets cost using those frequent flier miles points. Or get an airline branded credit card.

Be aware of when booking connecting flights, buses, ferries or cruises, that you need to have enough time in between flights to make sure that a delay won’t make you miss your connection. I even recommend to have an extra day or two in that connecting city.

Search for other cheaper connecting alternatives then flights, like ferry or cruise tickets between two cities – and even two countries. If you are real explorers, you will find this alternative the most satisfying as you get to experience more along the way.

Oh, and don’t forget: If the airfare goes down when you have already bought your flight ticket, do dare to ask for a refund! You may not always get one, but some airlines don’t automatically tell you that they will refund you the difference if prices go down.

There are even a site helping you to track your booked airfare if it goes down and notify you: Yapta.com, even though I personally have not used it yet. Have you used it? What was your experience with it?

So where are your next flight going…?

Lifecruiser Love Cheap Flights

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