10 tips to book flights cheaply with search engine experience

Where can I find cheap flights on the internet? Are there any tips & tricks?

Finding the cheapest flights has become almost a competition. Booking flights has become easy. But finding the best flight for yourself, preferably the cheapest, is a challenge.

"For 300 euros to Hawaii? How did you manage that?"

Well, I also asked myself this question in the beginning when friends or colleagues spontaneously found a "bargain" spontaneously made a "bargain" on a flight booking. Because the most expensive part of travelling is often the flight tickets.

That's why I've taken the trouble to write down my experience and tips so that you can also find cheap flights. I've learned a few tricks and tips over the years that, surprisingly, not everyone knows.

By the way, I prefer direct flights and pay 100 euros more. But that's only developed over the last few years, because in times of climate change I'm trying to reduce my ecological footprint as much as possible.

My tips for finding the cheapest flights

Are there any insider tips when it comes to booking a flight? There are many rumours circulating when it comes to finding a bargain. From deleting cookies from your browser to booking a flight on a Wednesday.

Here come my tips and guidance on how I go about finding flights. The more I fly and the more often I fly, the more important it is for me to get to my destination quickly and if possible. Preferably with a night flight. That's why I'm happy to pay 100 - 200 € more for airline tickets. But I'm not a student or trainee who has to watch every cent. Fortunately, that time is long gone.

Moreover, in times of climate change, I think it is important to avoid unnecessary open-jaw flights with longer distances. Despite my job in the travel industry, I fly as little as possible. Since the war in Ukraine, airline tickets have become more expensive. Flights to Asia cannot currently take place via Russia and are also becoming more expensive due to longer detours. In addition, paraffin prices are rising. After the long Corona phase, many tickets became generally more expensive. Therefore, it is now even more important to be patient when booking.

Book flights early

I'm spontaneous and don't like to plan very much. But planning and booking early really pays off. Last-minute bargains are very rare.

Rule of thumb for domestic flights: According to a study, flights are cheapest if you book about 6 weeks in advance. I no longer fly within Germany, but take the train (climate change!).

According to this study, tickets are then 40-50% cheaper than on the day of departure. The prices increase rapidly the closer the departure is (empirical values are 21 days, 14 days, 7 days and 3 days before departure).

For long-haul flights (especially if you are travelling at a popular time), you should check the prices of flights earlier.

Example: Japan during the cherry blossom season. If we hadn't been so spontaneous and had looked for flights more than 3 months before departure, we could have saved at least 300 - 400 € per person (direct flights, flights with a stopover would have been less, but definitely more expensive).

Flexibility pays off

Be flexible about the day of departure and arrival. The cheapest departure day is not always (as often recommended) a Wednesday, but often Friday. However, only early in the morning or late in the evening. For flights within Europe, Monday is the cheapest return day. Experience shows that Sunday is the most expensive. However, if you are returning from a long-distance trip, Sunday is often the cheapest.

Therefore: Take your time and check exactly what the flights cost 1-2 days earlier or later. You also have to be flexible when it comes to departure times.

Almost all flight search engines now offer to display an entire month so that you can see how the flight prices differ day by day (examples from Skyscanner.de and Momondo):

Avoid the peak holiday season

Peak travel time is holiday time. Demand is high, tickets are scarce because everyone wants to travel. If possible, avoid school holidays or public holidays or travel from another state where there are no holidays.

Also check in the country of arrival whether there is a public holiday or holiday period.

Use flight search engines to compare flights

The best way to find cheap flights (and also the fastest way) is to use flight search engines. They search all airline platforms and websites to find you the cheapest offer or the fastest flight.

I prefer direct flights and avoid having to change planes more than once if possible. The time lost in changing planes is immense. The chance that your luggage won't make it is just as big.

In general, flights with 1-2 stopovers are of course cheaper. Therefore, I leave it up to you to decide what is more important: saving time or saving money.

I recommend these flight search engines (in that order):

• Google Flights

• Skyscanner: Here, not only airline prices are taken into account, but also prices from online travel agencies such as Opodo or Lastminute.de.

• Momondo

• Kiwi.com

• Kayak

• Flights.com

The best search engine for a first overview is Google Flights. You can easily enter several departure airports, open-jaw flights and alternative nearby destination airports. The search is very simple and clear. Nevertheless, I have noticed that not all airlines are always listed.

The search engine for flights is simple and really easy to use. As usual, you enter your departure airport, your destination and select a specific date or "flexible travel dates". When you mouseover the date, the search engine shows you directly on which day you can get your flight ticket cheapest.

You can even see directly how much a First Class flight would cost.

You can also add other departure or destination airports. Sometimes it's worth travelling to another airport. For me, Stuttgart and Frankfurt are convenient. I always search for departures from Stuttgart and Frankfurt and then decide which one to choose.

• Screenshot of the flight search engine Google Flight

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What is the difference between Google Flights and Skyscanner or Momondo?

The usual flight search engines get their prices from travel agencies. This means that they are not always completely up-to-date. In contrast, Google Flights accesses airline data directly. Google claims to be able to undercut every offer with the cheapest flight.

You also have to be careful with the flight search engines, as sometimes high fees are added when paying by credit card, bank transfer or PayPal when booking.

The last time I helped friends book a flight, this was the case and we used Skyscanner to find another cheap provider that didn't charge high fees for bank transfers.

Book with or without luggage?

The cheapest way to fly is to travel with hand luggage only. This is not a problem in Europe, but it is often a big problem on long-haul flights, as you are usually travelling for longer.

In addition, there is the problem that flight search engines show you the cheapest price, but not that this supposedly cheap flight ticket does not include checked baggage.

This happened to me when I was looking for cheap flights to the USA (Frankfurt - New York). Skyscanner showed me really cheap tickets with KLM, AirFrance (operated by Delta). I booked this flight for 2 friends. Afterwards, it turned out that Delta didn 't have any luggage to check in. The confusion was great.

According to the website, you can only add luggage at the airport when you check in. The information on how much it costs varies from $50 to $80 per flight. Bingo.

The next day I booked another flight for a friend. This time the first flight was already sold out and the cheapest one was surprisingly with Lufthansa. Except that they now also offer flights with hand luggage only.

I booked anyway, because Lufthansa offers the service of being able to book the luggage directly for €50 per flight. Great! So this was still the cheapest direct flight from Frankfurt am Main to New York (and back).

So: Pay close attention to whether the price includes hand luggage only. All flight search engines are working on a solution, as they are aware of this problem and do not want to annoy any searchers.

Note: A frequent flyer card from Miles and More (Lufthansa) is worthwhile here. The status allows you to check in 2 x 23 kg of luggage and your companion to fly with hand luggage only.

Use the Google Flights radius search

As you can see in the screenshot, you can directly display the airports in the vicinity. Use this function.

Google Flight is a great flight search engine that I like to use.

Example: Nuremberg. Here, a departure from Munich or Prague could also be worthwhile, as in the example mentioned in the introduction with the cheap flight to Hawaii (departure was cheapest from Prague).

Test: Test a different departure and destination airport or arrival and departure location. These do not necessarily have to be the same. Sometimes you can fly up to 50% cheaper.

CO2 emission at Google Flights

As I mentioned before, I try to avoid flights in Europe. Sometimes it's not possible, so I think it's great that Google Flights (I mean the only flight comparison site) shows you theCO2 emissions of the flights. So you not only see the price and the duration of the flight, but also how muchCO2 is emitted.

Check the prices directly on the websites of the airlines

Directly after the flight search engines, I visit the website of the airline with the cheapest price. Sometimes you will then find the cheaper price. Unfortunately, not very often anymore, as flight search engines often have contracts with airlines (supposedly) so they can offer the cheaper tickets.

Example booking via flight search engine: I found my flight from Jordan via Dubai to Denpasar (Bali) for more than half less at kiwi.com. With Emirates directly, it would have cost twice as much.

Also my flight to Florida was half the price at Skyscanner.de than at Lufthansa direct.

Example booking with airline: My direct flight to Japan I booked directly with Lufthansa, although I flew with ANA. This has the advantage that Lufthansa showed the cheaper price and I could pay part of it with miles (Miles and More Gold credit card).

Note: In case of a rebooking, you have the least stress if you book directly with the airline. By the way, this is one reason why I avoid cheap flights à Ryanair. These low-cost airlines only cause trouble. Besides, I'm not a fan of their practices. But that is up to each person.

Save with one-way tickets

Ok, one-way tickets usually cost as much as a return flight together. Sometimes (though very rarely) it pays to book two individual one-way tickets. Since my Mexico trip, I always check whether the flights are cheaper if I book the outward and return flights separately. This really happens very rarely, but it has happened to me and I was able to save over 150 euros on direct flights.

As a rule, however, they are more expensive. Sometimes you get lucky, as we did with our flights from Frankfurt - Cancun and Cancun - Frankfurt with Condor.

Use programmes to collect miles

It has become really difficult to earn miles nowadays. If you haven't signed up for a bonus programme yet, you should do so anyway. You earn miles every time you fly. If you fly regularly or often on long-haul flights, you will quickly have accumulated credit with which you can get your next flight cheaper, treat yourself to an upgrade or even fly for free.

The reason why there are no really good credit cards for collecting miles in Germany is that the EU has regulated "interchange fees". This means that banks are no longer allowed to charge such high fees for credit card transactions. That's why there's not so much money left over to invest in miles. In America it's completely different, because they have really good mileage earning credit cards.

Since Air Berlin went out of business, my favourite credit card for collecting miles has long been the Miles and More credit card from Lufthansa. I recently got the American Express Platinum Card (here my test report). I collect so-called Membership Rewards points by paying my mobile phone bill and all purchases (for example in the Apple Store) with the Amex credit card. Since then, the points have been multiplying by themselves. I can then transfer them to frequent flyer programmes such as Miles and More. Even before Corona, I got Frequent Traveller status, which has now been extended to me for two years thanks to Corona.

I now use the free Revolut current account to pay all my bills (mobile phone bill, rent, electricity...). This way I collect Miles & More miles (with the M & M Gold credit card). Recently I was able to pay for a return flight to Kenya with Lufthansa thanks to miles. Great, isn't it? However, this card and also the Miles and More credit card from Lufthansa really not worth it for everyone.

Earn miles with Revolut, Paypal, Miles & More Gold and American Express Platinum credit cards, that's how! Subscribe to newsletter

Subscribe to the newsletters of airlines or flight search engines. Especially in Asia (e.g. AirAsia) or renowned airlines (Qatar, Etihad, Lufthansa) this is worthwhile. Here you can often find attractive offers for a limited period.

Search for cheap flights on bargain portals

Due to errors in the calculation of the software, it can happen that flights are too cheap. Then you make a real flight bargain and can even find long-haul flights for less than 100 euros (by the way, some claim that this is sometimes a marketing measure by airlines).

How do you find such fares? On blogs that specialise in finding and publishing these error fares. Point 2 also applies here: Be flexible.

You have to be extremely careful with these error fares: It has already happened that the ticket was declared invalid directly at the check-in. By the way, the cheap ticket to Hawaii in the introduction was an error fare and everything went well.

Link tips for error fares with bargains:

• Holiday Pirates

• Secret Flying

When are flights cheapest?

Again and again I find that you just have to observe long enough. One study supposedly says that you find the cheapest flights on a Thursday.
I've also found a cheap flight on a Wednesday.

Is it worth flying to small airports? Are they cheaper?

Large airports have a higher frequency and load factor. This means that the airlines also have a higher load factor. Fees are lower as a result. In addition, several airlines fly the same routes at large airports. This increases the pressure of competition. That's why the flights are often cheaper. With low-cost airlines you often have hidden costs or problems when rebooking. I avoid them.

Where can I find cheap flights to anywhere?

Are you flexible about your destination? Then use the "All Places" function on Skyscanner. Go to the flight search engine, enter your departure city and select "All Places" for destinations. You'll find the best flight deals around the world.