Why Are People Searching for the Cheapest International Flights?
In many ways, traveling internationally is now more accessible to more people than ever before. Flights are constantly leaving, offering plenty of opportunities, but at the same time, the price of flights continue to rise, particularly if you’re traveling internationally.
Every year there are hikes seen from top airline carriers, particularly for consumers searching for international airfare.
Last year there seemed to be some relief for passengers looking for lower cost international flight offers because of the low cost of oil and labor, but those costs are expected to rise this year, which will likely also lead to a rise in airfare prices, including for international flights.
So the question becomes: how can you enjoy traveling while still finding international flight deals, even if prices do go up? Is it still possible to find cheap international airfare and international flight deals?
The answer is yes, but it takes some work.
This guide of ways to find international flight deals focuses on some tricks you can follow, as well as some tools you can use to source cheap international airfares and make your travel dreams a reality.
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AdvisoryHQ’s List of the Top 6 Ways to Find the Cheapest International Flights
List is sorted alphabetically (click any of the methods below to go directly to the detailed review section for that method on finding the cheapest international flights):
- Airfarewatchdog
- Be Flexible
- Book a Package
- Choose the Right Airports
- Fly Budget Airlines
- Travel Season and Timing
Top 6 Best Ways to Find International Flight Deals | Comparison Table
Finding International Flight Deals | How | Why |
| Airfarewatchdog | Visit the website, use the mobile app, or sign up for email alerts | Airfarewatchdog is one of the most comprehensive airfare comparison sites |
| Be Flexible | You can be flexible with dates or destinations using sites like ITA Matrix and Skyscanner | You can compare how varying your travel dates or destination can save money when traveling internationally |
| Book a Package | Use a resource such as Expedia, Virgin Vacations, or Costco | Packages combining accommodations and airfare are typically cheaper than booking separately |
| Choose the Right Airports | Use a site like Kiwi.com or research data on cheapest airports from the previous year | The airport and cities you fly into significantly impact price of international flights |
| Fly Budget Airlines | Use tools like Skytrax to choose well-rated budget airlines | You can save hundreds of dollars flying a budget airline or mixing and matching your flight routes |
| Travel Season and Timing | Choose winter travel for Europe and similar destinations and summer for the Caribbean and Australia | There are high seasons and low seasons for destinations throughout the world. Also, flying on Tuesdays and Wednesdays tends to be cheapest. |
Table: Top 6 Best Ways to Find International Flight Deals | Above list is sorted alphabetically
What Does This Guide of International Flight Deals Cover?
When you’re searching for the cheapest international flights and international flight deals, it can be a time-consuming process, and there’s not one particular answer to finding the best cheap international airfares.
That’s why we created this comprehensive, multi-faceted guide of the best ways to secure the cheapest international flights.
Image Source: Cheap International Flights
This guide of ways to find cheap international flights covers websites and online tools that you can use not just to find international airfare and the best international flight deals, but also that you can use to compare deals and monitor them to see anything that might come up.
It also includes specific travel tips you can generally follow to make sure you’re taking advantage of the cheapest international flights.
The goal is to give a well-rounded overview of how you can find international airfare deals and the best international flight deals, regardless of your budget or destination. These tips work well if you’re a single person looking for international airfares, a family planning a trip requiring international flights, or even if you’re a business traveler who wants to save money.
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Airfarewatchdog
Sometimes, one of the best ways to find cheap international flights and international flight deals is to watch them and monitor them over time, because there can be pretty significant price fluctuations in the price of international flights. Airfarewatchdog is one of the most popular options for doing that.
Key Factors That Led to Our Guide of This as One of the Best Ways to Find Cheap International Airfares
Below are some reasons Airfarewatchdog is considered one of the best ways to find international flight offers and the best international flight deals.
Search Deals by Airline
Later on in this review of the best way to find cheap international flights and international flight offers, we’ll cover discount airlines, but Airfarewatchdog is a great resource if you don’t want to fly discount airlines or if you have a preferred airline. You can use this site to search low fares based on the specific airline you want to fly, and the site will feature the current best deals available for that airline.
The site includes domestic airlines but also many of the top international airlines so you can find the best international flight deals and international flight offers based on your preferences, such as Air Canada, Air Berlin, and many more.
It should be noted that Airfarewatchdog is currently the only airfare listing platform that lists fares for all airlines.
Searches Made Easy
As mentioned in this review of the best ways to find international airfare and cheap international airfares, sometimes it can take a lot of time and effort, but Airfarewatchdog is a good option because the site does most of the work for you.
The site is staffed by a team of airfare analysts who research airlines to make sure they are good deals, and they have unpublished sales and airlines in many cases as well.
The company searches thousands of airfares and millions of hotel details to ensure they’re offering the very best available domestic and international airfare deals.
Image Source: iTunes
Alerts
Also in line with the fact that Airfarewatchdog makes it easy to shop for cheap international flights is their option that lets users sign up to receive email alerts and comparisons. Airfarewatchdog will send users alerts when they find the best airfares and hotel deals right to their email inbox.
There is also a mobile app, which is free to download and provides alerts with low fares to favorite cities, routes, and shows details on how to book the lowest possible prices. It’s a great way to bring your airfare search for cheap international flights on the go.
Be Flexible
The thought of being flexible when it comes to booking international flights can be a stressful concept for a lot of travelers, but if you can handle it, it can be a great way to find the best international flights and cheap international airfare. The following are some specific ways you can be more flexible when booking international flights so you can take advantage of the best international flight deals.
Key Factors That Led To Our Guide of This as One of This Year’s Top Ways to Find International Flight Deals
Below is an overview of how you can be flexible when booking international airfares to find the best international flight deals.
Flexible Dates
Many travelers are shocked to see what a difference in pricing they can find if they’re willing to be flexible with their travel dates. This may mean that you fly on a Monday instead of a Friday, or you can use a site like ITA Matrix.
ITA Matrix is a useful search engine that lets you compare flights over an entire month. It’s not a flight booking site, but it gives you a great overview of the dates where you can fly and find the best cheap international airfare and the best international airfare deals.
You can also search based on exact dates, but using the calendar of lowest fares is your best option if you want the top international flight offers.
Flexible Destination
Another great way to source the leading international flights and international flight deals is by being flexible with your destination. You can also use ITA Matrix to find the best cheap international airfares with a flexible destination.
For example, if you know you want to visit Europe, but you’re willing to be flexible with the airport you fly into, you can go to ITA Matrix and search nearby airports within your radius to find the airport that’s the cheapest to fly into.
You can also set a city as your destination and search within a 2,000-mile radius of that city.
Skyscanner
Another great tool to consider if you want to find cheap international flights and the best international flight deals and you’re willing to be flexible is Skyscanner. Skyscanner lets you put in your home location and the dates you want to travel, and you can leave the Destination field empty.
Then when you search, Skyscanner will show you destinations all over the world that have the lowest prices.
You can accomplish something similar with the Explore feature on the Kayak website.
Image Source: Kayak
Related: Top Hotel Discounts | Tips for Finding the Best Hotel Deals
Book a Package
One of the simplest ways to save money on international flights is to book a travel package. This can include booking your flight and your hotel or accommodations together, or perhaps even going with a full international tour package. The route you take depends on your preferences and plans for your trip, and below we cover both as a way to save on international airfares.
Key Factors That Led to Our Guide of This as One of This Year’s Top Tips for Finding International Flights
Tips for saving on international airfare and finding cheap international airfares by booking packages are detailed below.
Expedia
Expedia is one of the most well-known travel sites, and along with offering options to search and compare flights and hotels, they offer discounts for booking the two together, and they also have international flight packages. Expedia says users can save up to $603 by booking their flight and hotel together, and they can search more than 320,000 hotels and 400 international airlines.
Along with just booking your hotel and airfare together, Expedia also offers guides for booking packages to popular destinations such as Europe. You can also book not only your international flights on the site but also car rentals to save even more money and take advantage of other special deals.
Costco
If you’re a member of Costco, the wholesale retailer, you can also use their Costco Travel services, featuring a variety of travel deals, including packages with international flights and accommodations combined to save money.
These packages are available exclusively to Costco members, and you can build a customized trip searching vacation packages as well as cruises, destinations, your departure city, and more.
You can browse based on destinations listed on a map, take advantage of featured and popular offers, sign up for exclusive email package offers and more. You can save even more money by looking at categories such as “$499 and under” and “Hidden Gems.”
Virgin Vacations
Another excellent and top-rated way to save money and find cheap international flights is by using a service such as Virgin Vacations. Users tend to rate Virgin Vacations well, and you have several different options, all of which are designed to help people find the best international flights and travel deals.
For example, you can search escorted tours and packages, as well as independent packages and cruises, and you can be flexible with your searches by simply entering the range of departure dates you’re willing to take.
You can also save money by simply booking your hotel and flight together through Virgin Vacations, and they have advanced search features to book multi-city travel, as well as a wide variety of last minute deal options.
Choose the Right Airports
One of the most underused tips on this list of the best ways to find international flight deals and cheap international airfare is to make sure you’re choosing the right airports to fly out of and into. The airports you fly out of and into when booking international airfare can have a big impact on the price you pay, because not all airports are equal when it comes to pricing.
Key Factors That Led to Our Guide of This as One of the Best Tips to Find the Cheapest International Flights
Tips for finding cheap international airfares and international flight deals based on airports are below.
Google Flights
An excellent tool for choosing the lowest-priced airports as well as cities to fly into is Google Flights.
With Google Flights, users can enter a broad search term, such as “flights to Europe” or “flights to Australia,” and the tool will show the entire region or continent you’re searching for. You can then easily and quickly compare how much it would cost to fly into certain cities as compared to others.
In addition to being an easy tool to find the cheapest cities and airports, Google Flights is also great for finding the cheapest international flights and the best international flight deals because it will give you alerts when prices are about to go up and will automatically monitor flights for you that you’re interested in.
Choose the Right Cities
You can also do research and find the cheapest cities to fly into if you’re looking for international flights and international airfare.
Not all airports are the same, nor are all cities.
According to PriceofTravel.com, the cheapest European airports to fly into from New York last year, for example, were Oslo, Paris, Dublin, Copenhagen, London, Berlin, and Moscow.
You can also research based on other major U.S. hubs because that will change pricing information. For example, the cheapest airport to fly into from Chicago in Europe is Moscow, and from Atlanta, it was Istanbul and then Athens.
Also, if you’re looking for the best international flights and international airfares and you know where you want to go, try entering areas around your targeted city instead of flying into the main airport. There are often smaller and regional airports that you can fly into and find the cheapest international flights, and then you can take ground transportation to get to your final destination.
Kiwi.com
Kiwi.com is an excellent resource if you’re searching for cheap international airfares and the best international flight deals. Kiwi.com lets users submit a departure city and a date range to fly, and then they’ll receive information on costs from hundreds of countries. The list of destinations is sorted by price so you’ll quickly be able to see the cheapest places you can fly to.
Kiwi.com is unique from many other travel sites and makes a great tool if you’re looking for international airfare and the best international airfare deals because it mixes and matches airlines for the best deals, as opposed to putting you with one airline throughout your trip.
If you were to mix and match your own airlines for the cheapest international flights, you would run the risk of missing connections, and then having no recourse, but with Kiwi.com there is a guarantee that if you contact them as soon as you know there’s a delay, they’ll provide you with an alternate connecting flight or a full refund.
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Fly Budget Airlines
The competitiveness of the airline industry has increased significantly in recent years, which is good news for travelers. If you are looking for some of the best international flight offers and international airfares, you might want to think about ditching the big-name airlines and instead going with budget airlines, which can offer some of the cheapest international flights and cheap international airfares.
Key Factors That Led to Our Guide of This as One of the Best Ways to Find Cheap International Flights
Below are some specific ways to use budget airlines to make sure you’re finding cheap international airfare and international flight offers.
Mix and Match Airlines
This was touched on briefly above, but it’s a good tip to find cheap international flights, so it’s worth mentioning on its own.
When you use a site like Expedia, you’re going to get flight routes that are offered by one airline carrier, no matter how many connections the route might have. If different airlines are part of the route, they’re considered partner carriers of the primary airline. If this is how you book your international flights, you may be missing opportunities to save money by mixing and matching airlines.
You should use a site like the one named above, Kiwi.com, to make sure you have options if you miss one of your flights, since you don’t have the safeguard of having the airline to book you automatically on another flight, but if you mix and match airlines and find budget airlines to include in the mix, you can save hundreds of dollars on international airfares.
Know the Best Budget Carriers
Sometimes travelers can feel nervous about the prospect of using a budget carrier to get cheap international airfare and find the best international flight offers, but there are plenty of opportunities to research budget airlines and make sure you’re choosing one that’s safe and comfortable.
Some of the world’s best budget airlines right now according to Business Insider include Jetstar Asia, WestJet, Jetstar Airways, Easy Jet, and Virgin America.
A lot of the low-cost carriers are ramping up their efforts not just to provide cheap international airfare, but also to improve customer satisfaction and experiences, and many of them are excelling in ways their big-name competitors aren’t.
One of the built-in benefits of discount carriers is something talked about earlier on this guide of the best ways to find the cheapest international flights is that these carriers often fly into cheaper airports, so you don’t have to worry about researching that.
Skytrax
If you’re worried about booking international flights on a discount carrier, visit airlinequality.com and use their Skytrax tool. This handy website is an excellent tool if you want to make sure you’re finding the best international flights.
First and foremost, Skytrax offers in-depth reviews of airlines, as well as airline review scores and flight reports. You can also use this tool to read reviews of specific airline seats on different airlines and reviews of airline lounges.
There are also airport reviews and ratings.
Skytrax gives out awards in categories including the best airlines and cleanest airlines, and the best economy class seats.
Travel Season and Timing
A lot of finding international flight deals and cheap international airfares comes down to timing. This timing can include the season when you decide to travel, as well as the time when you buy your tickets. Every destination is going to have a high season and a low season, and if your primary concern is finding the cheapest international flights and the best international flight deals, you should try to fly during off seasons.
Key Factors That Led to Our Guide of This as One of the Best Ways to Find Cheap International Airfares
The following are some of the specific things to keep in mind when you’re searching for the cheapest international flights regarding season and timing.
Seasonal Peak
According to CheapAir.com, there can be a tremendous disparity in pricing when you book international flights during the high tourist season versus the low tourist season. The site says high-season flights can be as much as double the price of their low-season counterparts, so if you have the opportunity to fly during the low season for your travels, do it.
In Europe, the high season tends to be during the summer. This is when flights prices are likely going to be the highest, and it will also be harder to find those coveted, last-minute international flight deals.
If you can fly during the winter, you can not only get cheaper international airfares to places like Europe, but you can often find last-minute deals on unsold seats.
On the other hand, there are some places where the high season is the opposite of Europe. If you’re looking for international airfare to the Caribbean for example, winter is the high season. The same can go for Australia since their seasons are the reverse of what we experience in the U.S.
According to Hopper.com, the cheapest international airfares for U.S. travelers are in February and March, with summer prices going up substantially.
Best Days to Fly
As well as considering the best season to book international flights and find international airfares, the actual days you choose to fly can also have an impact. You’re most likely to find cheap international airfares if you fly on a Tuesday or a Wednesday.
According to Hopper.com, fliers who left the U.S. on a Tuesday or a Wednesday for an international trip tended to pay less than travelers who left any other day.
As an added bonus, if you fly on a Tuesday or Wednesday, you’ll also get the benefit of less crowded airports.
Best Days to Buy International Flights
In addition to knowing the best times and days to fly, also relevant to timing are the actual days you book your international flights. If you want to find the best international airfares regarding pricing, research shows you should look on Thursdays.
Image Source: Cheapair.com
A great tool to use in terms of finding cheap international airfares and the best international flight deals is available on CheapAir.com. The site has put together a guidewith data on more than 8,000 locations and 1.3 billion trips showing the best time to buy a flight.
Conclusion—Top 6 Best International Flight Deals
International travel doesn’t have to be out of your reach, regardless of your budget, if you’re willing to do research to find the cheapest international flights and international flight deals. If you’re looking for the best international flight deals, consider the following tips:
- Use a tool like Airfarewatchdog to monitor and compare flights before you make the purchase of international flights.
- Be flexible with both the times you’re willing to travel and your destinations. Using Google Flights or a similar tool can make this easier when you’re looking for international airfare and the best international flight deals.
- Book a package when possible. Many websites and companies offer discounted pricing to travelers who book their international flights and accommodations together.
- Choose the right airports. Some international airports and cities are going to be cheaper to fly into than others.
- Fly budget airlines. Do your research using a tool like Skytrax to find budget airlines that offer great international flight offers without requiring you to sacrifice safety or comfort.
Finally, to wrap up this list of the best ways to find international flight deals and cheap international airfares, make sure you’re traveling during the right season, flying on the right days, and booking your international flights at the right time.
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