When it comes to travel, one of your biggest cost is getting from one spot to another. Generally, plane tickets are pricey, buses are cheap, and trains may be cheap or expensive depending on what part of the world you are traveling in (ditto cars).
Here’s a look at some ways to get the most out of your flight money:
Go Incognito
I got this tip from ThriftyNomads.com and have been using it since. Ever notice an airline ticket price jumping up crazily even though you just searched for the same ticket a few minutes ago and it didn’t show any reason to do so? Some airlines use cookies (i.e. bits of code automatically downloaded to your computer) to track your airline searches. They then jack up the price that you see to pressure you to buy sooner than later. Crazy! Right? To be safe, always search in an incognito window for more consistent pricing.
Pro-tip: Make sure to close all of your incognito windows every time before you search for prices in order to start with a clean, cookie-free slate.
Kayak.com
It’s one of the best price aggregators out there. With Kayak, you can easily compare tickets to and from a destination of your choice. And with a tick of a box, you can also compare rates to Priceline, Orbitz, and other ticket intermediaries. As with many ticket aggregators, Kayak might not include every budget airline out there so if you’re not seeing a budge airline
Pro-tip: Use price alerts to receive daily emails on how ticket prices are faring. Using data on previous ticket prices and trends, Kayak will even recommend whether to buy or to wait a little while longer.
Aggregating the Aggregators
OK. Kayak is great, but you also have a number of other aggregators at your disposal. For a cursory overview of flights, check out Google Flights. If you’re looking for a more in-depth breakdown, check out Skyscanner. Cheapoair and JetRadar are two other great other deal-hunting options.
StudentUniverse
If you’re a student at an accredited college or university, StudentUniverse will help you save big. It functions similarly to Kayak, but has special deals for–you guessed it–students.
Pro-tip: Still check budget airlines they may even be cheaper.
The Icelandic Connection
If you’re going to Europe from the states consider stopping in Reykjavik. The government subsidized IcelandAir offers a stopover in Iceland–for no additional airfare–when taking an IcelandAir flight to any other European destination. That means, depending on where you’re going, you’re getting two destinations for the price of one! Of course, you’ll still have to pay for accommodations once you land in Iceland.
Pro-tip: To avoid the heavy prices of the Reykjavik, head to the country. Accommodations and beer are cheaper outside of the nation’s capital.
One day there may be a quick and easy way to teleport from one spot into another, but until that science-fiction-esque day, airplanes will have to do
