Tricks to get cheap flights

What tricks to get cheap flights can and cannot do

Most tricks to get cheap flights come down to one idea: the more of your trip you are willing to adjust, the more prices you get to compare. Dates, airports, destinations and trip length are all levers. None of them is a secret, and none guarantees a low fare, because airline pricing reflects demand, timing and inventory that no traveller controls.

The limits are just as important as the tricks. A fare you see on a search page is a snapshot, not a promise. It can rise or disappear before you pay, and a cheap ticket can still lead to an expensive or impossible trip if the luggage rules, connections or entry requirements do not fit you. The useful question is not only "how do I find a lower price?" but "is this lower price real, complete and usable for me?"

Flexibility is the trick that does most of the work

Flexible comparison beats any single hack. If you can shift your departure by a few days, consider a different airport within reach, or let the destination follow the price rather than the other way round, you widen the set of fares you are choosing from. Travellers with fixed dates and a fixed destination have far fewer options, and that is worth acknowledging honestly before chasing shortcuts.

This is the angle Flare takes: it publishes deal-discovery pages organised around where a traveller departs from, so the comparison starts with your home airport rather than a single fixed route. According to its methodology page, a fare is only surfaced when its monitoring detects it at least 30% under the reference price it uses for that route. That threshold describes how a deal is flagged, not what you will pay at checkout, so treat it as a starting signal for comparison rather than a final quote.

• Compare several departure dates, not just your preferred one.
• Check every airport you could realistically reach, including the cost and time of getting there.
• Be open to more than one destination if the purpose of the trip allows it.

Judge the fare against the total trip, not the ticket

A low base fare can hide costs that appear later: checked or cabin bags, seat selection, payment fees, early-morning transfers to a distant airport, or an overnight stay forced by a poor connection. Two fares that look far apart on a results page can end up close once these are added, and occasionally the "cheaper" one costs more.

Separate tickets deserve particular care. Combining two unrelated bookings can lower the headline price, but if the first flight is delayed, the second carrier may have no obligation to rebook you. Build in generous connection time or accept that you are carrying that risk yourself. Time has a value too: a fare that adds a long layover or an extra night away should be weighed against what that time means for you.

Fare drops, mistake fares and why prices vanish

Not every unusually low price comes from the same cause. Flare's guide on mistake fares versus fare drops separates errors in published pricing from ordinary reductions on a route. The distinction matters because the two behave differently: an ordinary drop may last a while or recur, while an error can be corrected quickly and the airline's response once it is noticed is outside the traveller's control.

Either way, the practical rule is the same. Whatever a deal page shows, the price and seat availability need to be confirmed directly with whoever will actually sell you the ticket, and only the confirmed booking counts. Avoid paying for hotels, tours or non-refundable extras until the flight itself is ticketed, especially when the fare looks unusually low.

Checks that come before the booking button

The cheapest flight is worthless if you cannot board it. Passport validity, visas, transit permissions and any health-related entry conditions vary with your nationality, your destination and sometimes the countries you connect through. Two people on the same flight can face entirely different rules.

These requirements change, so rely on current official government and airline sources rather than forum posts or older articles, and check twice: once before you book and again shortly before you travel. If a route connects through a country with its own transit rules, include that country in your checks. This is general guidance, not legal advice, and official sources take precedence.

Example: a worked decision check before you book

Example (hypothetical): a traveller sees a return fare from their home city that looks well below what they usually pay. The departure is on a Tuesday, from a secondary airport an hour further away, with a connection in a third country. Instead of booking immediately, they run through the checklist below.

They find the fare still shows with the seller, but checked baggage is extra and the early departure would require a taxi instead of the train. After adding those costs the fare is still lower than their usual option, but by less than it first appeared. They then confirm that their passport meets the destination's validity rules and that the connecting country does not require a transit visa for them. Only then do they book, and they wait for the ticket confirmation before reserving accommodation.

• Is the price and seat still available when checked directly with the seller?
• What does the trip cost once bags, seats, fees and airport transport are added?
• Are connections on one ticket, or am I carrying the risk of separate bookings?
• Do current official sources confirm I can enter the destination and transit any stopover?
• Am I holding off on non-refundable extras until the flight is confirmed?