How to Save Money is a think fruitful series with helpful hints and tips for taking control of your finances, including budgeting, grocery shopping, traveling and eating out.
I know it’s been a few months without a How to Save Money post, but I’m super happy to be back today with a few more money-saving tips for y’all.
Take it from someone who has booked more than 5 pairs of flights in the past 6 months, buying airline tickets is no easy feat. But, there are a few tips and tricks that I can give you to make booking easier and cheaper…which means money back in your bank account. Can I get an alright?!
1. Get on Google Flights
Google Flights has saved me hundreds this year figuring out when is the best day and cheapest airline to fly with. Whenever I’m even just starting to plan a trip, I will hop on this site to see the simple calendar of prices for various days. How it works is that it aggregates all of the airline routes and prices so you can make the best decision about when to fly.
2. Be flexible on airlines
Although I wish I could direct you to one great airline that always has the cheapest rates, that just isn’t the case in this marketplace. I always end up using Google Flights to find the cheapest flights, no matter the airline. I know that there are some serious airline loyalties out there, but if you want to keep the price as low as possible, you’ve got to be flexible about who you’re flying with.
3. Buy early and on Sunday
So, when should you buy your airline tickets to get the best price? A good thing to do is to track flights on Google Flights so it lets you know when they go up or down and you can move on them quickly. I usually book flights 3 or 4 months before a trip if I can, and they say that Sunday is now the best day to buy!
4. Keep up with frequent flyer miles
If you are a “frequent flyer” as they say, then you’ll want to register for the loyalty program of whatever airline you’re using so you can rack up those points. I don’t travel quite enough to buy trips with my miles, but I know people who do and it can equate to free trips (and who doesn’t love that).
So, where are you going next?!