Booking
How to find cheap flights: 11 strategies ranked by impact
By the TSA Wait Times team · Updated · Published June 2026
Booking guide · reviewed June 2026
The biggest levers are flexible dates, flexible airports, and booking at the right time. Everything else is marginal. Here are the 11 strategies ranked by how much they can actually move the price.
The big three: where the real savings are
1 — Fly on the right dayImpact: High
Domestic US: Tuesday and Wednesday are the cheapest days to fly; Sunday is the most expensive. The gap runs about 14–15% — on a $350 ticket, that is roughly $50 saved just by picking a different departure day on the same route.
Best days to book: Tuesday and Wednesday evenings — airlines often post fare sales Tuesday nights, and competitors match by Wednesday morning. But this booking-day effect has narrowed to 1–3%; when you fly matters far more.
2 — Be flexible with datesImpact: Very High
Use the Google Flights date grid: select your departure and return city, click the date fields, and view a grid showing prices for every combination. Shifting 2–3 days can save $100–$300 on a round trip — more than almost any other single tactic.
The “Flexible dates” view shows ±3 days from your target. This is the single most powerful feature in flight search. If you have a vacation week with no hard start date, the grid can surface a $180 fare where adjacent dates show $390.
Cheapest domestic months: January, August, September. Most expensive: December, June, July.
3 — Book in the right windowImpact: High
Domestic US: 1–3 months before travel is the peak savings window. Google Flights data finds fares bottom out around 39 days before departure. Do not book more than 6 months out — fares start high and decline. Do not wait until 1–2 weeks before departure — prices spike again as seats fill.
International: 2–6 months before departure is ideal. Transatlantic routes in particular reward early planning.
Last-minute deals exist on specific routes but are not reliable. Do not plan a trip around them.
Tools that actually help
4 — Google FlightsImpact: High
The most powerful free flight search tool. Four features worth knowing:
- Date grid (calendar view): shows the cheapest dates at a glance across every combination of departure and return
- Price tracking:click “Track prices” on any search to receive free email alerts when prices drop or are expected to rise
- Explore: no destination yet? Enter your home airport and browse prices on a world map — the cheapest fare to anywhere you can fly
- Nearby airports: Google Flights auto-includes alternate airports in results — always confirm the cheaper option is not routing through an inconvenient hub
google.com/flights — always free, no booking fee.
5 — Fare alert servicesImpact: Medium-High
- Going (formerly Scott's Cheap Flights): $49/year sends human-curated deal alerts and verified mistake fares from your home airports. Best for proactive long-haul international deal discovery.
- Kayak Price Alert: free — alerts when a specific route drops below your set threshold
- Hopper: mobile app that predicts whether prices will rise or fall and recommends when to buy; claims 95% accuracy up to one year out
- Google Flights price tracking (free): best for monitoring specific routes you have already identified
Many airfare drops last only 2–6 hours — especially on international routes where price swings of $200+ are common. Services with near-hourly monitoring catch far more deals than daily checks.
6 — Incognito modeImpact: Zero (myth)
Airlines and OTAs do not systematically raise prices based on your search history. This is a persistent myth that has been thoroughly tested and debunked by consumer researchers including NerdWallet and The Points Guy.
Booking in incognito will not change the prices you see. What prices do vary by: your departure airport region, and occasionally time-of-day promotions — neither of which is affected by your browser mode.
Route hacks
7 — Fly into or out of a nearby airportImpact: High
Budget carriers often serve secondary airports at materially lower fares. Weigh the fare difference against the extra drive or transit time:
- London: Heathrow (LHR), Gatwick (LGW), Stansted (STN), Luton (LTN)
- New York: JFK, Newark (EWR), LaGuardia (LGA), Westchester (HPN), or even Philadelphia (PHL) or Hartford (BDL)
- Los Angeles: LAX, Burbank (BUR), Long Beach (LGB), Ontario (ONT), Orange County (SNA), San Diego (SAN)
Google Flights auto-suggests alternate airports in results. Always confirm the price difference is worth the inconvenience before booking.
8 — Add a layover on purposeImpact: Medium
Sometimes booking two one-way tickets through a hub is cheaper than the direct round trip. Airlines occasionally misprice connecting itineraries below the equivalent nonstop — always check both options before paying for the convenience of a direct flight.
Caveat: connecting flights carry more delay risk. Never use this strategy for a tight schedule, a short layover at a busy hub, or any trip where missing a connection would be costly.
9 — One-way tickets vs. round tripImpact: Low-Medium
Round trips are almost always cheaper on legacy carriers (Delta, United, American). One-way tickets offer better value on budget carriers (Frontier, Allegiant). Note: Spirit is defunct as of May 2026.
Mix-and-match is a valid move: book outbound on one airline, return on another when prices are better. Just know that if one leg is cancelled, the other carrier owes you nothing.
Timing and booking hacks
10 — Book early for peak, later for off-peakImpact: High
- Holiday travel (Thanksgiving, Christmas, Spring Break): book 2–4 months in advance — these fill up and prices only rise. Book Thanksgiving flights by mid-October; Christmas flights by Halloween.
- Off-peak travel (January, February, September): prices sometimes drop close to departure as airlines try to fill seats. Flexibility rewards you here.
- Summer travel(June–August): book 3–6 months ahead — summer is always a seller's market for airlines.
11 — Use credit card points strategicallyImpact: High (if you have points)
Chase Ultimate Rewards and Amex Membership Rewards transfer to airline partners at 1:1 — most valuable for international business class awards.
- Simple approach:pay with a travel card, redeem points through the card's travel portal at 1.25–1.5 cents per point (Chase Sapphire, Capital One Venture) — effectively a 25–50% discount on the cash price
- Advanced: transfer points to airline programs for 2–5+ cents per point on premium cabin awards, where cash prices run $3,000–5,000+
Even a basic 1.5x portal redemption on a $400 ticket effectively costs you $267 in points — a 33% saving on the cash price without any advanced transfer knowledge required.
Cheapest days to fly in 2026 →How to avoid checked bag fees →Airline cancellation fees and change fees →
Common questions about finding cheap flights
What is the absolute cheapest day to book a flight?
Tuesday and Wednesday tend to have the lowest fares to fly on. For booking, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings are historically when airlines post sales and competitors match. But the difference has narrowed — flexible dates matter more than which day you book.
Does incognito mode show cheaper flights?
No — this is a persistent myth. Airlines do not raise prices based on your search history. Incognito mode will not change the prices you see.
How far in advance should I book a domestic flight?
For domestic US travel, booking 1–3 months in advance typically gets you the best prices. Booking more than 6 months out often means paying a premium.
Is it cheaper to book through the airline directly or through a third-party site?
Usually similar. Booking directly with the airline is better for flexibility — easier changes, cancellations, and seat upgrades. Third-party OTAs sometimes have promotional prices, but check the fine print.
Know when to leave — not just when to fly
A cheap fare only helps if you actually make your flight. Get your Leave-By Time based on today's real TSA wait at your airport, your drive from home, and your airline's check-in cutoff.
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