10 Ways to Get Cheaper Flights

Even with today's online search engines, choosing a flight is anything but a walk in the park. Being spoilt for choice often makes it difficult to settle on the best option. Choosing the airline may be easy enough, but that’s just the first of a long list of choices you’ll have to make before getting where you want to go.

What departure and arrival times make the most sense? Which day should I fly? Would I get a better deal booking last minute or six months in advance? The questions seem endless.

Every airline has its own pricing system, and prices can change radically based on services offered, consumer demand, crude oil prices, and a host of other factors. But while many complex elements affect ticket prices, there are some rules of thumb that are worth noting.

1. Plan your flight way ahead of time if possible

The first rule of thumb says that the closer a plane gets to takeoff, the more you will pay for the tickets. This is especially true for established business air routes, which enjoy a steady flow of short-notice business travelers willing to pay top dollar, as well as flights to popular vacation spots.

Travel experts recommend that you book high-demand flights four to five months ahead of traveling. The recommended booking period Flights within Europe is one to three months, depending on your destination.

2. Fly off-season

Depending on your destination, the season can play serious games with airline ticket prices. As a rule, flight prices are substantially higher during peak travel seasons.

3. Compare flight prices for a number of departure and arrival dates

Some flight search engines give you the option of clearly viewing all airline ticket prices for flights across multiple days of the week. If at all possible, try to fly when most people do not.

4. Compare flight departure and arrival hours

The actual departure and arrival times can impact airline prices as much as the day of the week. It pays to be flexible. Here too, supply and demand influence the price.

5. Do not do all your flight deal hunting on one day

The airline ticket prices you get may vary depending on what day and time you look them up. That’s because flight booking platforms are capable of spontaneously raising ticket prices for flights that generate a lot of user interest.

6. Clear your web browser's cache before searching for flights

Some travel booking websites may raise ticket prices based on your personal profile. For example, a platform may raise its prices based on your location or how often you visit the site.

Emptying your web browser's cache and deleting cookies can help prevent this. If you are tech-savvy, you can go a step further and use an anonymity service like Tor or a VPN to prevent websites from tracking your location.

7. Compare ticket prices across several travel websites

You will not likely find all available flights on just one travel website. It is also worth checking out actual airline websites.

8. Check ticket prices on portals outside of Switzerland

Many airlines and travel websites quote higher prices for users in financially strong Switzerland.

9. Compare multiple airports

The biggest requirement here is a willingness on your part to add an extra leg to your journey (a railway trip, for example).

10. Take advantage of airline miles programs

Note that the value of the miles you collect can vary broadly depending on how you redeem them. You can find detailed information in the moneyland.ch guide to earning and redeeming airline miles.

More on this topic:
How to travel the world for free
Frequent flyer programs: Making the most of your miles
Using credit cards to earn free flights
Swiss travel Insurance: Helpful tips
How to take cheap family holidays