Fact: Nobody likes paying for airline tickets.
But what if tickets were so cheap that airlines were basically paying you to fly?
What if the miles you earned from those tickets were worth just as much as the money you paid, essentially making your ticket free?
What if you could fly:
- New York to Madrid for $250.
- Philadephia to Shanghai for $550.
- New York to Milan for $160.
In the last year and a half, I’ve flown all of these flights, and I have one website to thank for it!
Today, Matt, co-founder of The Flight Deal, comes on the podcast to talk about how you can score cheap airfare all around the world.
So instead of paying full price next time you step on a plane, learn tricks from the pros and start immediately saving THOUSANDS of dollars on airfare so that you can travel more and spend less!
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In This Episode:
- How to calculate whether a ticket is a good deal or not.
- Finding the “baseline” of what you should pay.
- The BEST website to search for paid tickets.
- How often airfare prices change per day.
- Finding “mistake fares” and pulling the trigger.
- One important airline cancellation policy and how to take advantage of it.
- Geography can save you hundreds of dollars.
- The beauty of low cost carriers and the best website to finding them.
- Look local when looking for accommodations
And much more!
Links Discussed in This Episode:
- The Flight Deal
- ITA Matrix
- Google Flights
- Skyscanner
- GowithOh
- @TheFlightDeal
- The Flight Deal on Facebook
- @PackofPeanuts
- Extra Pack of Peanuts on Facebook
I Need Your Help
Matt has just given us some amazing information on how to score the cheapest airfare. Show him some love by clicking “Tweet This” below:
Thanks to @TheFlightDeal & @PackofPeanuts I learned all the best tips for finding the cheapest #airfare #travel http://bit.ly/1lhOZBy
It was cool to hear some of the discussion about saving on travel once you’re in the destination region, such as low cost carriers and budget lodging. You guys forgot to mention Allegiant and Spirit in your podcast.
One thing I would add to this is to make use of long-distance buses such as Megabus, especially if you find a flight deal a few hundred miles from your intended destination. Going off of your example in the podcast, you can get a flight deal to Brussels and then take a bus to Paris for as little as $20 round trip. There are also plenty of long-distance buses in southeast Asia.
My question, which was sort of covered in the podcast: how can I get instant alerts from either The Flight Deal or other sources? I mostly follow The Flight Deal using their Daily Deals Letter by e-mail subscription. While that has often been timely enough, I’ve also found out about certain deals after they’ve ended (most notably the United mistake fares from last fall). I recommend adding a sound effect (like a ringing noise) on The Flight Deal’s website that goes off whenever you find a new deal. That way, I could have The Flight Deal’s website open for hours on my computer or phone, and be instantly alerted. Another piece of advice on how to make alerts more timely and accessible: maybe send an e-mail and text alert to subscribers whenever you find a new deal, in addition to the Daily Deals Letter.
@bmaus09- Allegiant and Spirit are great low cost carrier options, for sure. Really helping to open up some new markets in the US.
Also, I think your idea of a long distance bus is a great one that many people don’t think about. I’ve also seen some really cool rideshare programs between cities in Europe, although I haven’t tried them yet. Basically, someone is driving, they put up how many seats they have and a price per passenger, and you pay them directly. Even cheaper than buses most of the time! The best ones I’ve found are Carpooling and BlaBlaCar.
I’ll talk to Matt to see if they could have some sort of real-time alert. That is definitely an awesome suggestion, and would really, really help!
@bmau09, we are working on adding more timely alerts to our site. At the moment, the most timely way is via RSS. They are delivered pretty much when a deal is posted. We know that doesn’t work for everyone and are actively working on something for email. Thanks.
@TheFlightDeal- Good to know!