Finding the cheapest flight is quite a science. If you do not know how to go about it, you will spend a great deal of time on it with nothing to show for it. Read our tips on how to find cheap flights and save yourself a lot of time and money:
General tips: how to find cheap flights
1) Cheapest 1 to 3 months before departure
The lowest prices tend to be 1 to 3 months before departure.
- Within Europe the lowest prices are usually 1 to 2 months before departure.
- For flights outside Europe it is more like 2 to 3 months before departure.
This is not always the case, but it is statistically proven. Only buy, though, if you are sure nothing will change, or choose a ticket that can be cancelled.
It does not apply to various deals and error fares.
2) Avoid popular dates and holidays
Fly outside the main seasons and avoid public holidays and school holidays. Fares on these days are often twice as expensive. When planning your trip, rule out these dates:
- Summer holidays
- Spring half-term holidays
- Christmas
- Easter
- New Year’s Eve
- Public holidays at home and in the destination
- Long weekends at home and in the destination
3) Choose your destination by the cheap fare
Choose your destination by the price of the flight. Every year the good deals are to different destinations. If you are flexible, you can save a really large amount of money. You will find instructions on searching for flights without a set destination later in this article.
4) Try different language versions of the search engines
Try searching for flights on several different language versions of the search engines. The prices often differ slightly.
Especially for flights to and from the Czech Republic, tickets on the Czech version of Skyscanner.cz are significantly cheaper than on the English version. With the Kayak search engine you can also try Kayak.de, Kayak.fr, Kayak.es, Kayak.it, Kayak.pt, Kayak.se or Kayak.co.uk.
5) Test the surrounding airports too
Search for flights not only from Prague, but also from Vienna, Bratislava, Berlin or Katowice, for example. Fares from these airports are often significantly cheaper. Here is a list of all the nearby airports you can try searching from:
- Berlin
- Bratislava
- Budapest
- Dresden
- Katowice
- Kraków
- Munich
- Nuremberg
- Warsaw
- Vienna
- Wrocław
You can reach all these cities easily and fairly cheaply with Flixbus or Regiojet coaches. A detailed guide on how to get to each airport has been put together by Travel Bible.
6) Buy return tickets
Return tickets are usually significantly cheaper than two one-way tickets (this does not apply to low-cost flights, which you have to buy separately).
7) Try searching for connecting flights in separate legs
If you are flying with a connection, try searching for the individual legs separately as well. Sometimes it can work out 15-20 % cheaper than buying both legs together.
Just be careful to allow yourself enough time for the connection. When you buy the individual flights separately, your connection is not guaranteed if the first flight is delayed.
8) A one-way ticket as a return
If you need a one-way ticket with a connection and want to explore the transit city for a few days, you can find this ticket as a return with a different return point.
As an example – that is how we flew from Prague to New Zealand with a connection in Tokyo. We had a so-called “multi-city” return ticket. The Prague – Tokyo flight was the outbound leg and the Tokyo – New Zealand flight was the return leg.
9) Watch out for distant airports
Watch out for distant airports – this applies especially to low-cost carriers.
Sometimes it can happen that the transport from the airport to the city costs as much as the whole ticket.
For example, London Stansted is almost an hour and a half from the city centre and a one-way bus costs you around CZK 350, so you have to add CZK 700 to the price of the ticket. It is similar in Barcelona with Girona airport.
10) Travel on Tuesday or Thursday
It is generally known that flights are more expensive over the weekend than on weekdays. Most people fly out on Friday and come back on Sunday or Monday. Flights in the middle of the week, on the other hand, are often not full. The lowest prices are usually on Tuesday and Thursday flights.
11) Buy cheap flights on Sunday or early in the morning or late at night
Buy tickets on Sunday, when flights are statistically cheapest (we mean the day of purchase, not the day of the flight). On Wednesday, for example, tickets are on average 4% more expensive than on Sunday, which on a CZK 10,000 ticket makes a difference of CZK 400 – not exactly a negligible amount.
Also avoid buying around lunchtime and in the late afternoon, when people are coming home from work. The lowest fares tend to be early in the morning or late at night.
12) Buy cheap flights in January
Before Christmas the price of flights usually rises, while after New Year demand falls and prices come down. If you are planning a trip in spring or summer, the best time to buy tickets is usually in January.
Read also: Where to Go on Holiday in January: 47 Best Places (by the sea or somewhere exotic)
13) Search directly on the low-cost airline’s website
Some low-cost airlines occasionally stop search engines from showing their flights. Find all the airlines here that fly to your destination and try searching for flights directly on their own websites. Sometimes you can find tickets at significantly lower prices this way.
14) Use an incognito window
Search for cheap flights in an incognito window. Otherwise the search engines remember your previous searches and often show you higher prices when you search again.
15) Search for domestic flights through a VPN
If you are looking for domestic flights within some foreign country, it pays to switch on a VPN (virtual private network), which lets you appear to be in that country. For example, flights from one US city to another are cheaper bought from the USA than from Europe.
16) Act fast
Whenever a deal on flights appears, it tends to sell out very quickly. You need to act without hesitation and buy immediately. With error fares in particular, every minute counts.
17) Set up price alerts
If you have fixed dates and a fixed destination, set up price alerts several months in advance. You will be able to watch whether the fare is falling or rising and buy the ticket at the right moment.
You can, for example, set an alert to arrive once the price drops below a certain amount.
With Skyscanner you just search for your specific flight and click the “Get price alerts” button at the top left.
18) Use the layover to see the place
Do you dislike connections and waiting at the airport? Why not use the layover to see an interesting destination instead? Try finding a ticket with a connection in an interesting city and a longer wait (at least 8 hours, say) and go for a walk around the city while you wait.
19) Fly with hand luggage only
In Europe especially, the vast majority of cheap fares are hand luggage only. If you are flying for a shorter holiday, packing into a small case or a backpack should be no problem.
That way you not only save quite a lot of money, but you also avoid waiting at the baggage carousel and there is no risk of your luggage getting lost. And because you are not checking a bag in, you can also arrive at the airport later.
Check the maximum dimensions and weight of hand luggage with your airline.
20) How to prove you have a return ticket
Are you planning a long stay abroad and do not know when you will be coming back? Do you only need to buy a one-way ticket out, but immigration will want proof of a return ticket before letting you into the country?
Do not despair, there is a service for that – OneWayFly, where for a few euros they will issue you a genuine valid ticket that you can show on arrival. Afterwards they cancel the ticket.
21) How to choose the best seat
Can you choose your seat during online check-in but do not know which one? Where is there the most legroom? Where is the best view out of the window, and where will the wing block it?
Take a look at the website SeatGuru, which deals with exactly this problem. Based on seat maps and passenger reviews you can choose the best seat on any aircraft.
22) How to find cheap flights from Prague
If you are looking for cheap flights from Prague, use the Skyscanner.cz search engine. It usually finds the best offers. Careful! Use Skyscanner.cz and not Skyscanner.com! The English version will probably show you higher prices.
Skyscanner’s advantages and features:
- The cheapest month feature
- The option to search for anywhere
- Searching by map
Read our guide 13 tips and a complete guide on how to search for flights on Skyscanner
23) I have the dates but I do not mind where I fly
If you want to pick your destination by the price of the flight, the Kiwi.com search engine can serve you well, as it lets you search nicely using a map.
You can set a radius around your departure point, so the search engine finds you flights not only from Prague but also from Bratislava or Vienna. You can also set a radius for the destination and it will find you the cheapest flights to the whole of Spain, for example.
24) How to find low-cost flights
For searching low-cost flights we recommend the AZair.cz search engine. This search engine can find really cheap flights that you will not find anywhere else.
Be aware that these are low-cost carriers and the fares are hand luggage only.
Also be careful if you find a connecting itinerary. You will be buying the tickets separately and you have no guarantee of making the connection if there is a delay. So allow yourself a generous gap between the flights.
AZair’s advantages and features:
- The option to search for anywhere
- Rich options for adding nearby airports
- Smart broad destinations (e.g. all the islands in the Mediterranean).
- Rich options for choosing flexible dates, you can set:
- a maximum number of days
- a minimum number of days
- departure on specific days of the week (for example only Friday to Sunday)
- arrival on specific days of the week
- departure from a different airport
- a maximum number of connections
Read our detailed guide to AZair:
25) How to find cheap flights to and around Asia
If you are looking for flights to or around Asia, the best offers often come from the Momondo search engine. It is a classic search engine where you enter the departure point, the arrival point and the date. Momondo also lets you search nearby airports or look for a ticket returning to a different place.
After searching for flights, Momondo shows you a clear chart with prices across the month. So you can see which days the flights are cheapest.
26) Flight deals
There is an enormous number of sites offering all sorts of flight deals and it is hard to keep track. On top of that, a lot of them list prices that are no longer valid.
This year a new site appeared, Cestolet.cz, which gathers valid flight deals in one place. So you can follow this site and nothing should escape you.
On Cestolet you can also set up email alerts for new deals so that you do not miss anything.
Other Czech sites with flight deals
- Cestujlevne.com
- Akcniletenky.com
- Cestolino.cz
- Zaletsi.cz
- Honzovyletenky.cz
- Letenkyzababku.sk
- Levneletenky.cz
Foreign sites with flight deals
27) More ways to find cheap flights
If you have plenty of time and really want to try every option for finding a cheap flight, here are more places where you can search:
- Kayak.com – try the other language versions too – Kayak.de, Kayak.fr, Kayak.es, Kayak.it, Kayak.pt, Kayak.se or Kayak.co.uk
- Student Agency flights
- Pelikan.cz
- Letuska.cz
- Google Explore
- Matrix ITA Airfare Search
Watch this great video – how to get the cheapest flights:
More tips for your travels:
We have prepared for you this comprehensive list of links, discounts, and resources for travel planning in one place. Bookmark this page and whenever you plan a vacation in the future, just open it and save yourself a lot of time.
1) Where to book accommodation?
- We prefer to find an accommodation using Booking.com.
- It's also worth it to compare with AirBnb.
- Read also our guide - How to search for the best accommodation.
2) How to find cheap flights?
- We recommend searching for flights on Skyscanner.
- Read also our complete guide - How to find cheap flights.
3) How to rent a car?
- We recommend a comparison portal RentalCars.com to compare the best offers of all available rental companies.
Save these cheap flight tips for later and for your friends:
The cheapest flights – frequently asked questions:
How far in advance are flights cheapest?
Flights tend to be cheapest 2-3 months before departure. This does not apply to various deals and error fares, though.
Where should you look for the cheapest flights?
The best search engines are Skyscanner, AZair, Kiwi, Momondo or Kayak. None is clearly the best. Sometimes one finds you the lowest prices, another time a different one does. It is always worth comparing several search engines.
What should you watch out for when searching for flights?
1) Avoid popular dates and holidays – fares tend to be significantly more expensive.
2) Watch out for distant airports – some low-cost carriers fly to small airports far from the city and the transport will cost you extra time and money.
3) Check whether luggage is included in the price of the ticket.
4) With low-cost flights, make sure you allow enough time for the connection. The individual flights often have to be bought separately and your connection is not guaranteed.
Which day is the best to buy flights?
Statistically flights are cheapest on Sunday, but the difference is minimal (meaning the day you buy the ticket, not the day of departure).
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