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Travelling is one of the most fulfilling things one can experience, albeit costly. With the average long-haul flight costing hundreds of dollars, knowing useful hacks can be a great way to save your money for fun activities, accommodation, and other travel expenses.
Here are 6 ways to cut your costs on flights or, if you’re lucky, travel entirely for free!
1. Opt for longer layovers
A lengthy layover may seem like a waste of time, but it can save you big bucks if you have a few hours to spare. Usually, the more layovers your route has and the longer your stopovers, the cheaper the flights become.
If you have time, it could be a wonderful opportunity to explore the city or pass time in an airport lounge or restaurant.
2. Book on a Tuesday
Research suggests that the cheapest day of the week to fly in the US is a Tuesday. However, there is some debate as to whether or not this is true. To make sure, use a flight search engine to look at the cost of flights throughout the week and find out which days are cheapest for your particular destination.
3. Search in “incognito” mode
Airlines increase their prices based on your browsing history to entice you to act fast and buy a ticket before the prices increase even more. To avoid this, always search for flights in incognito mode. If you’re using Google Chrome or Safari you can do this by hitting Control (or Command), Shift, N. If you’re using Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox, you can enter incognito mode by hitting Control, Shift, P. Remember to close all windows (including those in incognito mode) and reopen them to completely delete all search cookies for any given flight.
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4. Get compensation for delayed or canceled flights
When you’re traveling, there’s nothing more annoying than a delayed flight – or, even worse, a canceled flight. However, when flying in and out of Europe, a delayed flight can be a blessing in disguise. Passengers are entitled to up to $700 compensation under EU law, which could cover the entire cost of your flights in some cases. If find yourself in this situation, use a company such as AirHelp to assist you in claiming your EU flight delay compensation.
5. The closest airport isn’t always the cheapest
Your closest airport might be convenient, but it isn’t always the cheapest option. It may take longer, but if you don’t mind the hassle of getting to another airport by bus, train or car, it’s sometimes cheaper to fly out a neighboring airport rather than your closest one.
6. Book a “hidden city” flight
It sounds crazy, but sometimes it’s cheaper to buy a ticket that connects at your destination, rather than buying an airline ticket that flies directly to it. In these cases, people who book “hidden city” tickets will simply leave the airport during their layover and not return for their connecting flight (which would be to a destination they’re not intending on visiting anyway).
Although this is a great way to save money while flying, it can be risky too – especially if you have check-in luggage. Also, you may not be allowed to leave the plane if the same plane is continuing to the final destination on your ticket.
