How We Find the Best Flight Deals

I was doing one of my routine just-taking-a-look browses of Google Flights this weekend when I came across a deal from Florida to Scotland for $600 per person over our spring break.

A better woman than me would’ve walked away and said ‘let’s put that money into our 401(k)’. But I am not a better woman so we’re going to Scotland.

In the last two years we’ve gone to Europe for a month, Australia for a month, New York City at Christmas, and Banff in the peak summer season and just about every time I’ve found an incredible deal on Google Flights.

If you thought my DIY obsession extended only to my house you’d be dead wrong, so let’s break down how I DIY my vacations by finding the best flight deals so you can, too.

Finding the best deals on Google Flights takes a little bit of strategy and a lot of flexibility. In my experience, unless you’re really lucky you need to be flexible on either timing or location to snag a great deal.

For our March trip, we knew we had to follow school spring break dates so we just decided we wanted to go somewhere, set our dates, and stayed open to wherever the Gods of Google™ thought was in our future. Here’s how we did it:

Utilize Google Flights’ Explore Page Like A Pro

Whether you’ve got a set date in mind or a set location, you can use Google’s explore page and find a ton of great options.

First, head to google.com/flights and enter your starting airport. You can then enter specific dates and search, or stay flexible and even just say ‘a week in March’ or ‘a week in the next six months’ for example.

The search result will pull up a map on desktop, (or you can press the map on your phone) and from there you can scroll around to see the different flight prices for each location.

You can also filter if you have airlines you want to exclude (like the one that rhymes with Schmirit) or lessen the flight duration to avoid crazy layovers but I urge you not to do that and I’ll tell you why soon!

EXAMPLE

As an example, I did a quick search starting from Atlanta for a week in March anywhere and found that flights for four people to Prague are as low as $2,500! You can see that Google will tell you if it’s a good price compared to usual (the price being in green), and if you click ‘date grid’ on the right, it’ll show you other departure dates within a couple of weeks either side that may be a better price, too.

Here’s another example of how Google Flights will show you if it’s a good time to buy, if the prices are high or low, etc.:

Play the Long Game

Maybe file this one under ‘no sh*t’, but generally the earlier you start tracking flights, the better. It gives you a feel for what a good deal looks like and an understanding of how prices fluctuate which is annoyingly a lot.

If you’ve got some time to browse or have your heart set on a destination and are happy to wait out the price fluctuations, use the price tracker on Google.

Set up your search like normal, adding in your dates, and click on the slider next to ‘track prices’ and it will save a search for you and email you when the prices go up or down for your trip. The thrill that comes from snagging a good deal when that price is green is unmatched.

Pro tip: Tuesday and Wednesday flights are usually cheaper so if your schedule is flexible, aim to fly on those days!

Sign up for Newsletters

I know, I know – newsletters sometimes feel like spam (except ours of course), but hear me out. There are some really great newsletters specifically for tracking flight deals that I’ve been signed up to for years now.

The first one is Scott’s Cheap Flights and the second is Dollar Flight Club. Both send out curated lists of flight deals (based on your closest airports) and they have kind of a cult following.

They’ll send out insane deals like ‘New Orleans to Amsterdam for $200’ but the thing about them is you’ve gotta be ready to hustle when they pop up and you usually have to be super flexible on timing.

Still, they’re worth it if you’re hunting for deals and can be a good launching point to search for a destination.

Be Ready To Pounce

I kind of feel like the people who get a thrill from finding a flight deal and impulsively booking it are the ones that love spending weekends sorting through other people’s junk at the thrift store (aka me). In the same way, if you find something good, you’ve got to be ready to go.

We’ve been burned so many times from finding a flight deal and waffling on it for a few days then going back to find it’s like three times the price literally about 48 hours later.

Be Flexible with Airports

Obviously a flight out of the closest airport is convenient, but it’s not always the cheapest. If you’ve got multiple airports within a few hours’ drive, search them all because you might find something good hidden in a smaller hub.

Obviously, you’ve got to weigh the added expense of parking your car or the transit needed to get there, but sometimes the deals are worth it!

Be Flexible with Layovers

Sensing a theme here? Don’t immediately discount flights with long layovers!

At least take a squiz because it will sometimes be, like, 11pm to 4am in LAX (the biggest of nos), but other times it’s a full day in a fun city which can be like a mini second holiday.

When we came back from Australia earlier this year, we did a 28-hour layover in Fiji and stayed a night at a resort. It was so nice to break up the trip (especially traveling with kids) and was honestly such a relaxing day that felt like a whole different vacation.

We’re doing this again for the Scotland trip with a 20-hour layover in London where we’re planning to get a hotel near the airport and spend an afternoon sightseeing.

You’d be surprised how much you can see in just a day or a half-day (and you’re usually saving a ton of money on the flight because long layovers are not ideal for most people).

Final Thoughts: The Deal Is Out There

We often tell friends and family the price we paid for international trips and they’re so surprised we could go somewhere like Spain for a month for the price it costs them to go to California for a long weekend. I don’t know whether that says more about the cost of traveling domestically these days or how handy stalking Google Flights is, but I do know international travel isn’t as out of reach as most people think.

It may seem kind of daunting to hunt down flight deals on Google Flights (honestly sometimes I think it’s a full-on hobby), but it’s so worth it when you see the savings for the flexibility and time you put into it!

We haven’t even touched on things like travel credit cards to use points (we started using the Chase Sapphire one a couple years ago), or savings on accommodation (we love HomeExchange), which is a whole other conversation, but this is a great start.

If you found a great deal with these tips please let us know, and make sure to follow along on Instagram and sign up to our newsletter.

Oh, and if you happen to find yourself in the Scottish Highlands in March, look for us. We’ll be the ones chasing toddlers through castles and trying to pronounce “Eilean Donan” without embarrassing ourselves.