10 Tips to Find the Best Flight
As you probably know, the biggest expense when you travel, especially when you travel far, is the plane ticket. It genuinely eats up a few thousand euros of my budget every year, since I have to move from one contract to another, from one hemisphere to the other, to do two harvests a year. So over the past few years I’ve picked up a handful of tricks for saving money on flights, and I’m laying them all out here.
1. Book a round trip when you can
Okay, for most people this one’s obvious. You go on holiday, you come home, end of story. But for itinerant workers, backpackers, travelling winemakers, or anyone bouncing between more than one country, a round trip isn’t always the natural choice. And you quickly notice that a one way ticket is almost never half the price of a round trip. I genuinely don’t understand why that’s the case and it drives me a little crazy.
The first time I went abroad, it was for a work contract in Napa, California, and I’d booked a non changeable round trip ticket because I had my contract dates locked in. Then they offered to extend my contract and I said no, because I already had my return flight booked and I was scared of losing that money. Looking back, I honestly think I should have said yes, even if it meant eating the cost of the return flight, given the insane salaries they pay out there. Lesson learned. That contract in Napa is actually what got me into the whole J1 visa process, I broke it down step by step here.
Three months later, when I got a contract in New Zealand, I decided to book one way only, so I wouldn’t get burned the same way twice if they offered to keep me longer. I paid 1100 euros for the one way ticket when the round trip was going for 1400 euros. In the end they didn’t extend my contract, and I went off to spend a month in Thailand instead. That New Zealand contract came from my Working Holiday Visa, here’s exactly how to get one.
So if you can book a round trip, even an exchangeable one, it’ll save you money. Personally I’m always on one way tickets these days, because I almost never go back to France and I’m constantly travelling between contracts. Unfortunately this tip just doesn’t apply to my life anymore.
2. Be flexible with your dates
I think this is the real key to saving money. Not everyone can be flexible, I know some people can’t just take time off whenever they want, but if you do have the freedom to travel whenever, it’s worth checking several different dates. Seriously, the price difference between two days in the same month can be shocking.
Travelling on the 24th or the 31st of December is a brilliant way to score a deal, prices are noticeably cheaper on those exact dates. I travelled between islands in Hawaii for almost nothing on those two days, it was insane. I used that same trick island hopping in Hawaii, you can see the full budget breakdown in my Kauai itinerary.
3. Consider adding a stopover, it can cost the same as flying direct
This one I only really clocked recently and it changed how I book flights between hemispheres. When I was looking at flights from New Zealand to Europe, I found that a direct route and a route with a stopover in Bali for a week or two came back at basically the same price. Same dates, same cabin, same airline alliance, and yet one of those options came with a free detour to one of my favourite places on earth.
Airlines often route long haul journeys through their main hub anyway, so if that hub happens to be somewhere you’d love to spend a few days or weeks, it’s worth checking what a multi city search looks like instead of just searching point to point. You’re not always paying extra for the stopover, sometimes you’re just choosing to use the layover you were getting anyway, except stretched out into an actual trip. For someone like me who’s already crossing half the planet for work, this has become one of my favourite ways to sneak in an extra destination without blowing the flight budget.
4. Browse in private mode
This is something I do every single time. I honestly don’t know if it actually makes a difference, but the rare times I’ve skipped it and didn’t book on the first try, I watched the prices climb. When in doubt, just do it, it takes two seconds.
5. Use flight comparison sites
I rely heavily on Kayak and Google Flights to find flights. I love Kayak’s system where you can see prices laid out on a map, or browse the cheapest dates. They pull from a ton of sites at once.
6. Check last minute deals, but don’t count on them
There are genuinely incredible offers when you book a trip last minute. My go to for this is lastminute.com, that’s actually where I found my flight from Hawaii to New Zealand for under 300 euros, when everything else was sitting around 500 euros.
But don’t wait until the last minute to find a flight, it’s better to book three to eight months in advance. Treat last minute deals as a happy accident, not a strategy, they’re really more of an emergency option if you don’t have a choice.
7. Collect loyalty programs across different airlines
This one’s a slow burn and you won’t see results right away, but with enough travel and patience, you’ll eventually have a real shot at flying on points one day. Honestly I’m not there yet myself, since I’ve started loyalty programs with several different airlines and it’s tough to always stick with the same one. But I’m convinced that one day I’ll have enough points with one of them to score a free checked bag.
8. Use a VPN
This one takes a bit of digging, but if you search properly, certain countries offer noticeably cheaper tickets because of a few different factors, like the wealth of the country, how popular a destination is there, currency fluctuations, and so on. I personally use ExpressVPN when I travel, mostly for the security side of things when I’m on public wifi, but it’s also genuinely interesting to compare flight prices through it. There are some real deals to be found.
To track down the cheapest flight, try this. Connect from a country with a lower cost of living, like India, Thailand, or some South American countries like Argentina, these regions tend to have lower prices across the board. Try connecting to a server in the airline’s home country too, these companies sometimes offer lower fares for locals. Finally, try connecting from the country you’re flying to, whether that’s your destination or where you’re staying.
9. Travel light
If you can, avoid checking a bag. Your ticket is often a lot more expensive when you do. For most long haul flights checked luggage is usually already included, so no issue there, but for shorter flights it’s often more than 30% extra just to bring your suitcase along. I learned this the hard way in Mexico, when I had to take a domestic flight from Jalisco to Cancun and ended up paying double what I would have paid without checked luggage. That domestic flight mistake happened during my month in Mexico, a trip I loved so much I wrote a whole guide to Sayulita.
10. Check the airline’s own website too
When you find a good deal on a comparison site, go check the airline’s own website, sometimes they’re offering the better deal. Some airlines run a “best price guarantee” when you book directly with them. British Airways, for example, has a Price Promise, they’ll give you a voucher for the difference in price if you find a cheaper flight on the same day you book.
Airlines also run campaigns all year round with flight offers and discounts, and many have loyalty programmes that reward you for travelling with them multiple times. Compare what each airline offers and work out what’s best for you in the short and longer term.
Bonus tip: You can also save money using iGraal when you book your trips.
iGraal is a cashback platform that basically gives you money back on your online purchases. So when you book flights, hotels, car rentals, or even buy travel gear through their partner websites, you get a percentage of what you spend credited back to your iGraal account. It’s free to use and really easy to set up, you just activate it before you book and shop as normal.
They also have a welcome bonus: you get €5 once you’ve spent at least €10 incl. tax with iGraal partner merchants within 90 days after signing up.
It’s a simple way to save a bit extra on your travel expenses. And just like with flight comparison sites, it’s always worth checking a few options before booking, sometimes cashback or direct airline offers can end up being better than the initial deal you found.
