Where to find cheap flights: 12 best services

Finding cheap flights can be a little tricky. There are so many factors: dates, times, price, fare class, airline and more. Even if you know exactly when and where you want to fly, where to look for the best price, reports Upgraded Points.

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Unfortunately, no site has the lowest prices all the time. Most popular online travel services are usually on the same price tier, but not all offer the same benefits or search features.

More often than not, booking directly through the airline's website will give you the best price, or at least the same as online services.

Some airlines like Southwest don't even show up on sites like Expedia or Orbitz so you need to book directly on the site. It may also be the easiest way to book. If a problem occurs, you do not need to contact a third party to resolve it.

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Another reason to book directly through the airline's website is to use bonus miles for frequent flyers.

Of course, in order to book through an airline's website, you must first find out which airline has the best prices. There are many travel search engines that can help you find the best deals so you know which airline website to visit. Some services even offer privileges that make it worth booking somewhere other than the airline's website.

1.Momondo

Momondo is a travel metasearch engine similar to Kayak. The home page displays a simple search box where you can enter your trip details.

One of the things about the site that is very helpful is the visual way it shows you the price trends for your flight. You can see if you can save some money by shifting your travel dates a bit. It also offers price tracking and a lot of filtering options on the left side of the screen.

He also offers Hacker Fares, which are simply 2 tickets from different vendors packaged together in one trip to get the best deal. However, unlike other sites, to book these types of tickets, you need to go to 2 different booking sites.

Pros:

• Great price tracking tools.

Cons:

• Mix and Match rates require you to make 2 separate bookings. This is usually handled "behind the scenes" on other websites.

2. Kayaking

Kayak is a travel search engine. And since it's a search engine, it's a great place to start.

The site compares prices on many different websites in one place, so you can easily see where the cheapest options are. In most cases, you will be redirected to another site to complete your booking.

Kayak Hacker Fares is a great way to save money on flights. These are itineraries created by combining 2 tickets into a single journey (usually from different airlines) instead of a round trip with the same airline. These can be pretty good deals that don't always show up in search results on other websites.

Pros:

• Kayak Hacker Fares.
• Price alerts to keep track of airfare prices.

Cons:

• Kayak offers the most value when your travel plans are highly flexible; many of its more valuable tools help you search for deals, so this site might be less appealing if you have a specific flight in mind.

3. Expedia

Expedia is another proven service that people have been using since the 1990s. At that time, Expedia was the main source for finding and booking airline tickets. But how is it shaping up now?

In terms of price, you don't necessarily get better bookings through Expedia, but you don't pay more than you would on the airline's website.

A nice benefit of using Expedia is that it offers a rewards program. Unfortunately, the earning potential on flights is lower than on hotels, car rentals, cruises, events and tours.

While you can earn miles on a flight booked through Expedia, you often won't be able to earn miles towards status. You may also not be eligible for an upgrade.

Pros:

• Expedia Rewards (although the earning potential is greater on hotels, cars, packages, activities, and cruises than on flights).

Cons:

• When booking through Expedia, there may be a limit to the number of miles you earn towards Elite status.
• Your ability to be eligible for an upgrade may be limited when booking through Expedia.

4.Priceline

Priceline is a popular service that introduced the Name Your Own Price tool and opaque bookings. These types of bookings may offer discounts, but many details are hidden until the booking is completed. The Name Your Own Price tool was discontinued for flights in 2016, so Priceline now works like most other services.

One of the nice things about finding flights on Priceline is that it has a nice color-coded calendar so you can easily see which days have the lowest prices.

Search results on Priceline are clear and easy to navigate. If you have the flexibility to choose your travel dates, check out cheaper options right above the search results. You can then easily see the cheapest options and things like flights with no change fees or early flights.

Another way to save money is to browse Priceline Express Deals. "Opaque bookings" are those in which certain flight details, such as departure and arrival times and even the airline, are hidden until the booking is completed.

Pros:

• Express Deal flights can offer a good discount if you have some flexibility.
• Color-coded calendar and easy-to-read search results.
• Price match guarantee.
• Free online cancellation within 24 hours of booking (excluding Express Deal flights).

Cons:

• There is no bonus program.
• Express Deal flights can be good deals, but sometimes they can be even more expensive than a standard booking.

5. Orbitz

Orbitz is another reliable service that has been around since 2001. One thing that makes this site a bit different is that it offers its own rewards program called Orbitz Rewards. You can earn Orbucks by booking hotels, flights and travel packages through Orbitz. However, you can only exchange Orbucks for hotels.

When you book a flight through Orbitz, you will receive 1% back of the purchase price in the form of Orbucks (or 2% if you use the Orbitz mobile app). If you book a $500 ticket, you'll earn 5 orbucks, which is the equivalent of $5 hotel bookings. Participation in the Orbitz Rewards program is free.

Unfortunately, Orbitz sometimes charges a 1% booking fee. While earning Orbucks is great, booking fees can negate all the benefits.

Pros:

• Orbitz Rewards allows you to earn Orbucks, which you can use when booking hotels.
• 24 hour cancellation policy.
• Low Price Guarantee: If you find a lower price for your flight on another site within 24 hours, Orbitz will refund the difference.

Cons:

• Flight booking fees.

6. agoda

Agoda is a service owned by Priceline. This website offers nothing more than a simple search with limited filtering options when searching for flights. If you're looking for unique accommodations like an apartment or private villa, Agoda is worth checking out, but it doesn't offer much when looking for flights.

A hallmark of Agoda is that the site is multilingual. You can select your language by clicking on the checkbox in the top menu bar.

Pros:

• Simple search function.
• Multilingual option.

Cons:

• Limited options for filtering flights.

7.Hotwire

Hotwire is a popular service that has been around for almost 20 years.

A simple home page offers a main search box for entering departure and arrival cities, as well as desired travel dates. You will need to click on the third tab in the main search box to access the flight search.

Hotwire can offer great rates when booking a hotel with a flight. Many times during the booking process, you will see pop-ups or tips advertising big discounts when booking a hotel at the same time.

When searching for a flight, you may encounter a Hot Rate flight. These are flights where the exact time, number of stops and carriers are hidden until your purchase is complete. This requires quite a bit of flexibility, and we found that the price difference was only $20.

In many cases, the savings are small.

Another thing to keep in mind when using Hotwire to find great flight deals is that booking fees are sometimes charged.

Pros:

• Package deals that include hotel stays can save you money.
• 24 hour cancellation policy.
• Low price guarantee.

Cons:

• Hotwire may sometimes charge a booking fee.
• Hot fare flights don't always offer huge savings.

8.Skyscanner

Skyscanner is another travel search engine that doesn't sell flights directly. It shows you a list of flights and links to the airline's website to complete your purchase.

This site is great for travelers with flexible schedules. In the search box, you can select "Everywhere" to find the cheapest destinations on your chosen dates.
If you have a destination with specific dates, Skyscanner works just like most other travel search sites.

Pros:

• Flexible search.
• Easy to change language and currency.
• Price Alerts.

Cons:

• There is little that makes this site unique. All features offered are available on other sites.

9. Travelocity

Travelocity is another service that has been around for a while and is very similar to the other websites we have reviewed.

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On the plus side, there are some good filtering options available to help you find the best flight for your needs. On the other hand, prices may change between selection and booking. The specialists made a bogus booking, and by the time they got to the payment section, the price of the flight had gone from $157 to $338!

Like other online travel agencies, Travelocity may also charge you for bookings, so keep an eye on the payment section during the booking process.

Pros:

• Price Guarantee: If you find a lower price for an identical itinerary within 24 hours, Travelocity will refund the difference in price.
• Free flight cancellations within 24 hours of booking (with most airlines).

Cons:

• Travelocity sometimes charges a booking fee.
• Prices may change between flight selection and payment.

10. Google Flights

Google Flights is not a service. Rather, it is a metasearch engine similar to Kayak. Once you find a flight, Google Flights will link you to the airline's or agency's direct website to complete your purchase. It is a powerful search engine built on the ITA Matrix, which was originally designed for travel agents.

This site shows you price trends and how your travel date may affect the cost of your ticket. In addition, it allows you to track the prices of the route, so you can use the low prices when they appear. These features make Google Flights a great tool to help you make sure the price you're getting is right.

Pros:

• The price chart shows the pricing trends for your itinerary and lets you see which days it might be cheaper to fly.
• The service will send you an email when the price of your flight increases or decreases.
• There are many filtering options so you can customize your search.

Cons:

• Because this search engine is so powerful and offers so many options, it can be daunting for a novice traveler.

11. CheapOair

cheap air is a service that offers its own credit card. Before applying for a card, it's a good idea to consider choosing a better travel rewards credit card in order to receive better and more flexible rewards.

This site may not be as cheap as you think. This is because it can charge expensive "agency fees". For most flights, fees can be as high as $35, however, once you read the fine print, you'll see that they can actually be as high as $200 per ticket!
In addition, CheapOair charges a fee for changing or canceling any ticket, including within 24 hours, which is free on many other sites.

Pros:

• Price Match Promise: CheapOair will refund the price difference if you find a lower price on the same itinerary within 24 hours of booking.

Cons:

• CheapOair charges hefty booking fees in addition to flight cancellation or change fees.
  The price match promise is very limited. The warranty is only valid for identical Expedia, Orbitz, Priceline and Travelocity flights.

12.Hopper

Hopper is an application that tries to predict the right time to buy an airline ticket. It claims that using the app can save up to 40% on flights. A simple interface and color-coded map show you the cheapest and most expensive times to fly to your chosen destination.

You can also set up alerts to keep track of prices for specific dates and for the entire month if you have flexible travel plans.

Pros:

• Easy to use.
• Choose to view prices for a specific trip or view prices for the entire month.

Cons:

• There is no desktop search option.
• Several filtering options.
• There is no universal service that would find the lowest prices for a flight every time. Most sites and agencies are on par when it comes to pricing.

If you have flexible schedules, many of these sites can help you find travel dates and the cheapest destinations.

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If you prefer a more traditional booking, start with a travel search engine like Kayak or Google Flights to search all other sites. This will give you a good idea of ​​the best website to use to save the most money on your next flight.

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