Fares

Cheap flights: what actually works

Most advice about cheap flights is folklore. A few things genuinely move the price, several widely repeated tricks do nothing, and one or two of them cost you money. Here is the honest version, from people who price tickets for a living.

What actually lowers the fare

1. Being flexible by a day or two

This is the single biggest lever, and it is not close. Airlines price by demand on a specific departure, so shifting a Friday evening flight to Tuesday morning frequently changes the fare far more than any booking tactic. If your dates can move at all, say so when you ask for a quote — it is the first thing we test.

2. Using a different airport

Most large US metros have more than one. Flying into a secondary airport can save a meaningful amount, though it is only a saving if the ground transport at the other end does not eat it. We will tell you when it does.

3. Booking in the right window

Very early is not cheap and very late is usually expensive. There is a broad middle where domestic fares tend to be at their best. See when to book a flight for the detail.

4. Counting the whole cost, not the fare

A low base fare on an unbundled carrier plus two checked bags, seat selection and a carry-on can land above a bundled fare that included all three. This is the most common way travellers overpay while believing they saved. Compare totals, not headlines.

5. Checking the carriers the comparison sites miss

Not every airline distributes through every comparison site. Southwest is the well-known case, but smaller point-to-point carriers such as Breeze and Avelo also fly city pairs that otherwise need a connection, and they do not always appear where you are looking.

What does not work

• Booking on a particular day of the week. The "book on Tuesday" rule is a relic of an era when airlines filed fares manually. Pricing is now continuous and automated.
• Incognito browsing. Fares change because inventory and demand change, not because a cookie recognised you. Clearing your browser will not produce a discount.
• Waiting for a last-minute collapse. Prices on the last seats of a flight go up, not down. This works occasionally for package holidays and essentially never for scheduled domestic flights.
• Assuming one-way tickets are always cheaper. On US domestic routes they are often priced fairly, but on international itineraries a return can be considerably cheaper than two one-ways.

Cheap that turns out not to be

• Basic Economy. Lowest number on the screen, most restrictions behind it: no changes on most carriers, last boarding group, seats assigned at check-in, and on some airlines no full-size carry-on. See Basic Economy explained.
• Two separate tickets to make a connection. If the first flight is late, the second airline owes you nothing, and your bag will not be checked through. Sometimes it is still the right call, but you should be making that trade knowingly.
• Connections that are too tight. A 40-minute connection at a large hub is a gamble, and the saving rarely justifies the risk.
• Overnight arrivals. A red-eye that saves money and then requires a hotel night at the far end has not saved anything.

Where an agent helps and where we do not

On a simple round trip in economy, a comparison site is quick and our service fee would make the total worse. We will tell you that. Where we do add value is where the cheapest answer is structural rather than a matter of searching harder — an open-jaw instead of two returns, a different origin airport, a carrier that does not appear on the site you checked, or a group fare instead of ten separate tickets.

Common questions