Best way to get Cheap Flights

[natshar]

I figure you guys are so good at finding ways to save money on college you might know about saving money on other things too.

What your best tips/tricks/airlines to fly/advice, etc. to save money on domestic flights within in USA?

[bjcheung77]

Now we're talking! I love this as I have scored a lot of "cheap flights" since 2004 and I fly so often overseas.
Just like reading the forums, I'm reading travel blogs/forums as well for "pricing errors" and hot flight deals.
For flight searches, I use Google Flights, Kayak, SkyScanner, and some cover overseas LCC's (low cost carriers).

[mysonx3]

I don't fly all that often, but when I do I find Google Flights to be extremely helpful for finding a good deal (especially since I don't care about specific airlines)

There's also credit card churning, but that's not for everyone

[eriehiker]

I click to the fly from a city and fly to a city search functions on airfarewatchdog.com:

https://www.airfarewatchdog.com/cheap-fl...om-a-city/
https://www.airfarewatchdog.com/cheap-fl...to-a-city/

I also monitor sales at flyfrontier.com and spirit.com.

The best deal going right now is on Frontier Airlines. Midweek to Saturday, they have kids fly free and friends fly free. I have kids who are 6, 6 and 9. We ended up buying 6 round trip non-stop tickets from Cleveland to Seattle for $900. The trip dates are June 19-26.

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https://www.flyfrontier.com/kidsflyfree?mobile=true

[dfrecore]

One thing to beware of with Spirit & Frontier is that they trick you with low fares, and then make you BUY seats. Seriously, the price you're quoted is for getting on the plane, and then you have to purchase seats for each leg of the journey. So I've not found them to have great prices when all is said and done. Plus it is SUPER irritating to be nickel & dime-d to death.

Southwest is our go-to airline for cheap flights, and we are on their email list, so they send stuff when they have their $39 sales and we loved it back when they had their DING! sales (when you get the email, you'd better book now because they'll be gone in an hour!). But they don't usually come up on the low-fare-finders.

But it really depends on where you live as to which airline has the best prices - it's very airport and region specific. For instance we love Alaska airlines, and we live in San Diego - we can get all kinds of places on it on the west coast, including Hawaii, Cabo, Monterey, Sacramento, Seattle & Portland. But we would almost never use it to get back to the Eastern US, because they either route you through Seattle which is WAY out of the way, or they have 2+ stops. No thanks. So then we switch to United.

It's always better to see which airlines service the airport(s) you want to fly out of, and then pay close attention to those particular airlines. You'll find that there are probably 1 or 2 that are your best bet. Then, you can do everything else everyone has discussed (above).

[eriehiker]

I always feel a sense of great accomplishment when my six, six and nine year old children walk through an airport with all belongings for a week of travel in a school backpack. Haha!

[natshar]

One thing to beware of with Spirit & Frontier is that they trick you with low fares, and then make you BUY seats.  Seriously, the price you're quoted is for getting on the plane, and then you have to purchase seats for each leg of the journey.  So I've not found them to have great prices when all is said and done.  Plus it is SUPER irritating to be nickel & dime-d to death.

I've flown both Spirit and Frontier and you don't have to purchase seats. But if you don't you could be separated if you are flying with a group. I've flown both as a single traveler so it didn't apply to me. I just chose the option to randomly give me a seat for free and of course it was a middle seat in the back of the plane, but I didn't mind.

[Learnfordegree]

When your travel dates are flexible, try this. Download the Kayak app. Go to the very bottom of the screen and select "Explore the world" and do a search. It will be very interesting to see the options. You can enter your home airport or alternate airport under "Flights" in the beginning. You can also change the home airport and travel month to see the available rates and dates. Move the world map by making it larger or smaller to see the best options. This may be possible to do in Google flights too but I really like to see it in the Kayak app. I recommend buying direct from the airline though when you are ready. As my professor on MS just told me (watch this video as often as you like) on the Clep Principles of Mgmt class, I would like to say - Explore the world as often as you like because there is more to see.

[natshar]

I click to the fly from a city and fly to a city search functions on airfarewatchdog.com:

https://www.airfarewatchdog.com/cheap-fl...om-a-city/
https://www.airfarewatchdog.com/cheap-fl...to-a-city/

I also monitor sales at flyfrontier.com and spirit.com.

The best deal going right now is on Frontier Airlines.  Midweek to Saturday, they have kids fly free and friends fly free.  I have kids who are 6, 6 and 9.  We ended up buying 6 round trip non-stop tickets from Cleveland to Seattle for $900.  The trip dates are June 19-26.

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https://www.flyfrontier.com/kidsflyfree?mobile=true

Never used that website! I'll check it out. I'm looking for traveling by myself so although that's a good deal, it doesn't apply to me.

[Joeman200]

I use skiplagged to find the cheapest days and flights and also the frontier deals.  

https://skiplagged.com/r/Joeman200
https://www.flyfrontier.com/deals/flight...obile=true


(Edit: I prefer skiplagged over airfarewatchdog because the former doesn't spam your inbox all day long.)

Southwest may be the best bang for your buck, but being very frugal, I can do without a soda. Also, depending on the flight, they may charge more than spirit/frontier would have charged with an added bag and then give you your "free" bag.

Last thought: don't limit yourself to just your local airport. For example, I have Atlanta, Charlotte, Greenville, Ashville, Charleston, and Myrtle Beach near me. A friend I'll be backpacking with later this summer has Long Beach, Burbank, LAX, Santa Ana, Ontario, San Diego, and Palm Springs. Sometimes the extra drive time is worth it (or if you have friends/family that can take you the extra mile).