For many travelers, the most important concern while planning a vacation is how to book cheap flights. There are plenty of websites and apps that offer access to budget-friendly fares. But you need to watch out for those that charge extra hidden fees or never give you a confirmation of the itinerary. This guide brings the best scam-free, reliable websites for booking cheap flights.
1. Google Flights
For a bird’s-eye view of the cheapest possible flights on any route, nothing comes close to Google Flights. The familiar Google interface allows you to instantly finalize your favorite result. The entire booking experience is very fast. Google Flights only links to airline websites, offering more comfort and security.
The main reason everyone loves Google Flights is its wonderful Price Graph feature. As soon as you click the menu item, it will show you the cheapest possible deal on an airline website.
Booking a ticket with Google Flights means it’s closely integrated with your Google account. Thus, you get timely information on Gmail and Google Calendar, concerning check-in times, flight reminders, add-ons, and more.
FYI: use your own headphones for in-flight entertainment during your trip.
2. Booking Directly from the Airline Website
Most people find it comforting to book their flights directly on an airline website, to be sure that their tickets are bona fide. For any errors during booking, you can get help from airline customer support to quickly fix your problems. Web check-ins are a breeze, and you can cancel, reschedule, or upgrade your flights easily.
Unless it’s a last-minute booking, booking directly with the airline isn’t always expensive. In fact, it may sometimes be cheaper in the long run. Just keep an eye out for the best deals and promotion offers.
Plus, every time you fly, even on a cheap route, you get miles added to your account. The major airlines are affiliated with credit card programs, adding benefits to your credit card account, including complimentary lounge access and upgrades to business/first class.
3. Expedia
There aren’t many third-party websites that allow you to benefit from the lower costs, while simultaneously connecting you with airline benefits. Expedia is very different in this regard. You only need to sign in to your Expedia account for future airline privileges to be maintained.
The website offers price tracking and other discount features of cheap flight booking websites. The interface feels much more robust and secure. It’s one of the most reputable sites, and Expedia travelers benefit from its OneKeyCash membership benefit, which is globally valid.
Another great advantage of Expedia is its Price Drop Protection feature, ensuring that if and when the airfare drops the price of your flight, the website will refund you the difference.
Good to know: is a power bank allowed on a plane? We have the answers.
4. Hopper
For point-to-point travel between two destinations, Hopper is an excellent choice. It has a minimal interface that works well for most passengers’ needs. The booking experience is great, and you only have to select Price (low to high) in the comparison filters to get the best affordable deals.
Once you finalize a flight, you can easily add extra baggage, lounge access, trip insurance, and more, just like on an airline website. The checkout experience is simple and quick, and you can immediately expect an email and phone confirmation on your devices.
One minor issue with Hopper is that it automatically adds a tip to your total airfare, which you can remove. However, there are no other hidden fees. You can also keep track of Hopper Flash deals that are regularly sent to your inbox. They often contain deep discounts on several routes.
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5. Kiwi
If you’re a bit flexible with your travel plans, Kiwi opens several hidden routes for flyers who don’t care which airports they’ll be using. Even its slogans are pretty lucrative: “you fly for less” and “we hack the system.”
A genuine travel hack I discovered with Kiwi lets you book an entire continent as your source and destination. For example, I just had to fill the form fields as North America and Northern Europe. I was able to book a one-stop round fare ticket from Washington D.C. to Copenhagen, Denmark, for just $555. It was nearly a hundred dollars cheaper than the closest alternative, which was JFK-New York to London-Heathrow.
Despite these smart low fares, Kiwi is not a search aggregator. It doesn’t redirect you to any third-party website. The prices are stable throughout the booking, and you don’t experience any last-minute fare shock. If you’re after the best flight deals, check out the brilliant algorithms behind Kiwi!
6. Cheapflights
Do you want to compare the cheapest airfares from several websites simultaneously, without being redirected to another site? Cheapflights is the way to go. It compares the search results on at least 14 different websites. Choose the number of websites you want to compare, and click Compare Selected.
The interface is simple and minimalistic and makes the booking experience very easy. Once you finalize your target ticket fare on a website affiliated with Cheapflights, it gives you around 10 minutes to complete the booking.
Cheapflights offers a convenient chat tool that if you require assistance with booking confirmation emails or while handling refund and cancellation requests.
FYI: learn how to change the voice on Waze.
7. Kayak
Among all the cheap flight search aggregators, Kayak has been in business for the longest time. It has many useful features, such as an exploratory map, a large number of search filters, and a built-in flight tracker. You’ll know that the cheap ticket you’re about to purchase isn’t likely to be cancelled in the future.
Perhaps the best feature of Kayak is its signature Hacker Fare option on any round-fare selection. Often, one-way tickets between two airports are significantly less expensive than a combined two-way ticket. Using Kayak’s Hacker Fare selection, you get the most lucrative one-way deals.
Kayak offers the Best Time to Travel tool that allows you to input the two airports you’re traveling between and specify your desired duration of stay. In return, it will recommend the most budget-friendly month of the year for airfare between those two destinations.
8. Momondo
Momondo is a cheap airfare portal that is actually a part of Kayak, and Booking Holdings. If you’re looking for some steep discounts on your last-minute fares, this no-frills website gives you more options than many others.
Although I don’t like being redirected to other websites, any deal on Momondo is valid. I compared the airfare prices between Momondo and Delta Airlines’s official website. There wasn’t any difference. However, keep in mind that it was at Delta’s cheapest and lowest tier, with no date change possible.
For any flight connection, Momondo also displays visual charts on top of the booking. These help you clearly visualize how much money you can save by postponing or advancing your itinerary. It’s a handy website for those who want to book a cheap flight, with the knowledge that they may need to reset their travel plans.
9. Skiplagged
A real budget option among cheap flight booking websites if Skiplagged. Its advertising slogan is mainly about finding hidden flight deals. It’s the go-to platform for serious cheapskates.
If you have a destination in mind and are just looking for the nearest cheap flights from your home, find for Search Deals, and enter your choice of airport. There will be many cheap options.
Of course, if you’re in the U.S., using Skiplagged means wading through budget airline options. These unbelievably low fares are “backpack-only,” meaning you can only carry one bag that fits under the seat in front of you.
No matter which option you use from this list of websites to book your cheap flight, don’t forget to cross-check your flight’s past and current status online. FlightAware is a great option. When you’re overseas, use one of the best learning language apps for smooth communication.
Image source: Unsplash. All screenshots by Sayak Boral.
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