I found the cheapest way to book flights

It’s not as expensive as you think.

Obviously I can’t start a travel blog without first telling you how to get where you’re going. I constantly hear people say that they can’t travel because it’s too expensive, but I don’t think it has to be and I’ve found ways to book flights where it isn’t. If you want to book a trip and prioritize putting money aside, I can tell you how to get there affordably.

Last year, I visited Europe four times in seven months. I was able to make those trips because I clearly have a lot of PTO, but also because I’m creative when it comes to booking flights. You can take a trip to Europe too!! Let me show you how.

First off, I get a lot of questions from friends on what day of the week is best to book a flight, what tools I use and how far in advance you should book a flight.

A quick summary.

• I don’t think the day matters, the below tips will influence the price more significantly than the day of the week you book your flight.
• My favorite tool is Google Flights because it has an amazing search function. There are tons of other great tools, just don’t book your trip through third party sites.
• Booking a flight further out is usually better, but you never know. Your flexibility can be more important than how far out you book.

If you really want to book a cheap flight, check out how I do it below. Every time I buy a flight, I ask myself four questions.

1. How much am I willing to spend?
2. Where do I want to go?
3. When do I want to go?
4. How creative am I willing to be?

For those of us who don’t live in big cities, we have to get a little creative when it comes to flying internationally. In my opinion, in order to get an inexpensive flight to Europe, you have to be flexible on at least two out of four of my questions. Let’s break it down!

How much am I willing to spend?

I like to stick to $600 or less for airfare. Obviously, the cheaper the better, but this is the magic number for me. If I can’t get where I’m going for less than this, then I need to think more creatively or compromise on one of the other three questions.

I also highly recommend getting a travel points credit card, because this could be the key to keeping your flight in budget. I use the Chase Sapphire Preferred and it’s been amazing. There are lot of cards out there, but this one and the Capital One Venture card are consistently ranked as the best cards for travel.

Where do I want to go?

We all know that the destination is the most important decision to make when planning a trip, but what if you didn’t go there directly? Or what if you planned the trip around a destination with an affordable flight?

The latter is a really fun way to plan. Head to Google Flights and search “Flights from [insert your city],” and it will show you cities all over the world and the lowest price to fly there. You’ll have the option to enter specific dates, or see flights over the next six months.

Trying to go somewhere specific? Go through my tips on the next two questions and see how you can still make it to your destination within budget.

When do I want to go?

Timing is a huge factor in the cost of a flight, and usually they go up in the summer. I’ve found my best deals on flights, when I wasn’t set on a certain date range. Having very specific dates will pretty much dictate the cost of the flight and prices rarely go down if you wait to book.

Usually, I book my trips from a Thursday through the following Sunday. This way you get a full two weekends and only have to take off six days of work.

Google flight is great because you can search specific dates or any date over the next six months. You can also search a specific location and play around with the dates, to see if leaving a day earlier or staying a day later will change the price.

How creative am I willing to be?

If you’ve gone through my questions and still haven’t found anything that fits your budget, here is where we get creative. For the most part, you can get anywhere within your budget, if you’re willing to get there slowly.

Use Google Flights to look into the cost of flying into a nearby city. Trying to go to Portugal? What if you flew into Spain, spent a night there and then off to Portugal? It could save you several hundred dollars (I don’t recommend doing this to save less than $200). Want to take a trip to Munich? Buy a flight to Zurich and take the train to Germany.

In order to make this happen, you need to make sure the timing works and that it IS actually cheaper than flying straight to where you’re going. You also need to be willing to risk missing a flight and having to buy a new one. You wouldn’t want to do this with anything less than 2 hours between flights that have been booked separately.

It’s definitely risky to book flights on separate tickets. Don’t do it if you aren’t willing to miss your flight. Remember that the WORST thing that could happen is that it takes you longer to get where you’re going or you’d have to spend more money (which you’ve already saved by doing this). And if you choose to book separate tickets, NEVER check a bag. Don’t think you can pack for a week or more in a carry on? Check out my next post on how to do it!

Searching for flights is one of my favorite things, so if you can’t find what you’re looking for, ask me! I’d love to help you make your trip happen.