How cheap flights are found? This is the question that friends often ask me and that is why I decided to write this article.
In fact, since I took advantage of the offer for Japan return ticket for € 285, my way of search for the cheapest flights and airfares it has changed a lot, since until recently it was limited only to entering the destination and the departure and arrival dates in a flight search engine and to buy the first price that was shown to me.
Patience, perseverance and above all flexibility
The watchword is patience. There is no magic potion to find cheap flights, but first of all you have to try to search patiently from day to day: without the search you get little.
If, on the other hand, you have the constancy to dedicate a few moments of your day to researching flights, sooner or later you will be rewarded. First of all try to search directly on the companies' websites, often very interesting rates come out.
Another option are flight search engines, which are now being wasted on the web.
My favorites are:
- skyscanner
- ITA matrix
- Kayak
I say it right away: if you are hoping to find an intercontinental flight at the turn of August or Christmas holidays, starting from the nearest airport possible, with fewer stopovers possible and spending less than 300 euros, then don't even try it.
It can happen to find it, in life everything is possible, but the odds are close to zero.
Instead, look for dates that are not fixed but flexible, preferring low season periods, flexible airports and, why not, even flexible destinations. in conclusion try, try, try various combinations of routes, dates and airports.
In fact, one way to find lower fares is to search from airports other than those we usually use. For example, often to buy a flight to South America, it is much cheaper to look for a flight from Madrid than from Rome or Milan: prices often turn out to be hundreds of euros lower, you can then, for example, reach Madrid with a low-cost.
I am often asked how I choose the destinations for my travels and I reply that it is the destinations that choose me: in fact, the choice falls largely on the basis of the rates I find for a specific destination. Why don't you try? It's fun, do a search and in the end choose the one with the cheapest plane ticket you can find as your destination?
Error-Fare e Open Jaw
Let's start with one at a time.
What is a error-fare? Airlines use algorithms to calculate the price of their airline tickets that are not perfect, but are prone to errors. Hence, due to these errors, extremely interesting rates sometimes come out, rates to be taken "on the fly".
However, keep in mind that errors-making, being real errors, are corrected by the airlines when they notice them: it is essential to be quick in purchasing, since often these fares, precisely because of their nature, last a few hours. . Then the company notices them, corrects them and goodbye bargain price. However, when we bought the ticket, this is a real contract, so even if it was a mistake, the airline is in any case obliged to respect it.
Sometimes, however, some airlines use mistakes as real marketing strategies. It doesn't matter, the price is still low.
How do you find the faults? Very easy, or you do a google search and then you will see a lot of sites that deal with it, or do like me and go directly to these 3:
- www.Holidaypirates.com
- Guìa Low cost (in Spanish)
- SecretFlying (In English)
Update July 10th 2015! I would like to point out a new resource, the facebook group "I'm looking for your low cost flight " where you will find really good reports from users; on this group you can also post your requests and many people will help you and give you excellent advice to find yours low cost flights!
Other excellent resources are the forums, I point out in particular one:
- flyertalk.com
- open jaw they are simply flights that depart and arrive from different destinations. For example an open jaw is a flight that makes the following itinerary:
Roma-Tokyo & Tokyo-Budapest
Sometimes the open-jaws have much lower fares than the return route in the same city and in addition, which I personally love very much, they also allow you to arrive and depart from different places.
Airline offers
In general, the prices of flights in these cases are never very low, but you can find good fares that become even better by taking advantage of the discount codes which is easy to find online.
Moreover, from today with all social networks, keeping the offers of the various companies monitored is much easier. In fact, through RSS feeds, subscribing to newsletters or more simply thanks to Twitter, Facebook and other channels we will not have to go and look for offers on the various sites, but as soon as they are published they will be immediately visible.
Beware of IP_TRACKING
Finally I give you some advice. Do you know whatIP_Tracking?
Well it is nothing more than the tracking of users' browsing habits through the network address and cookies aimed at understanding which searches a customer makes most often and his preferences, and therefore orienting a potentially more appreciated offer.
The practice of tracking IPs and storing cookies is legal - according to Article 5 of the 2009 European Directive on Internet Privacy, and should be aimed at improving the service offered.
In reality, however, it is often used to penalize those who carry out the same search more than once. In practice, through this tracking one realizes the degree of interest of a customer for a given product (in our case the plane ticket to a certain destination) and the second, third time that he does the same search, the prices are inflated.
If you want to read and understand something more read this article which among other things expressly speaks of travel companies.
Therefore always delete the cookies, and maybe even the internet history that you never know, and try to search with different ip addresses.
If you have other ways of looking for plane tickets, you know other formulas to save and you want to let me know, feel free to write to me !!! Good research then and above all GOOD TRIP!!
