How to find cheaper flights: habits that work, and myths that don't

Flight prices look random. The same seat costs one amount on Tuesday and another on Wednesday, and a friend swears they got the same route for half the price by booking at midnight on a Sunday. Most of the folklore does not hold up. What does is a handful of boring habits that, together, make a real difference.

None of this guarantees the lowest fare. It makes you more likely to pay a sensible one, and less likely to be caught out by extras.

Be flexible about the day

The single most useful thing is flexibility. Prices change with demand, and demand follows patterns: weekends, school holidays and the days either side of public holidays are usually the most expensive. Midweek flights are often cheaper, and so are the early-morning and late-night ones.

Most flight search tools let you look at a whole month at once or at "flexible dates". Use it. Moving a trip by a day or two can change the price more than anything else you do, and it costs nothing to look.

Be flexible about the airport

Large cities often have more than one airport, and nearby cities can have others within an easy train ride. Searching all of them at once sometimes shows a much cheaper option. Do count the cost and time of reaching the airport, though: a cheap fare to an airport an hour and a half out of town can lose its advantage after a train or taxi.

The same applies to where you fly into. If you are planning a route through several places, check whether flying into one city and out of another saves backtracking and money.

Book early enough, but not obsessively

There is no magic day to buy. In general, fares for popular dates tend to rise as the date gets closer, and waiting for a last-minute bargain is a gamble that works less often than people hope. For holidays and busy periods, book earlier. For quieter trips, a few weeks to a couple of months ahead is often enough. How far in advance to book goes through the typical windows.

A sensible approach:

1. Start looking early so you know what a normal price for your route looks like.
2. If you see a fare that fits your budget and your dates are fixed, book it.
3. If your plans might change, pay attention to the change and cancellation terms before the price.

Read the real price

The price you see first is not always the price you pay. Many cheap fares are built so that you pay extra for things you assumed were included:

• Bags. Cabin bags, checked bags and even larger carry-ons can all cost extra on some fares. Baggage rules differ between airlines and change, so read the terms for your exact ticket.
• Seat selection. Sitting together may cost more, which matters for groups.
• Meals and boarding. Optional on some airlines, extra on others.
• Payment and booking fees. Some sites add them late in the process.
• Getting to the airport. A cheap early flight can mean an expensive taxi.

Compare the total, with the bags you will really take, not the headline. A slightly dearer fare that includes a bag can be cheaper overall. If you want to avoid checked bags altogether, carry-on-only packing shows how.

Search in more than one place

Different search tools show different results. Try a comparison site, then check the airline's own website. Sometimes the airline sells the same fare directly, with simpler terms for changes and refunds. Booking directly can also make problems easier to sort out if a flight is cancelled; see flight delayed or cancelled.

Price alerts are worth setting if you are flexible. They email you when a fare on your route moves, and save you checking every day.

Think about the whole journey

A direct flight is not always cheapest, but connections cost you time and add a risk of missing the next leg. If you book flights separately rather than on a single ticket, the airline is usually not responsible when the first one is late. Leave generous time between separate tickets, or book the whole journey as one.

Overnight flights can save a night of accommodation. Long layovers in interesting places can be a bonus rather than a cost. Check the layover is long enough to be worth it.

Be wary of tricks

Some money-saving tricks are worth ignoring:

• "Clear your cookies and the price drops." Fares change because seats sell, not because the site remembers you.
• "Book exactly this many days before." Patterns exist, but not a rule you can rely on.
• "Skip the last leg of your ticket." Hidden-city ticketing breaks airline terms and can cause you to lose the return, your loyalty points or worse.
• "Always buy on a particular day." Fares move all week.

Spend your effort on flexibility and total price instead.

Flying as a group

A group makes everything harder: more people means fewer seats at the lowest fare, and the price can jump as soon as the cheapest seats are gone. Decide dates early, check how many seats are available at the price shown, and book together so you are on the same booking. If people join from different cities, agree on a meeting point and a flight everyone books themselves, and log each person's cost so settling up stays simple.

Before you book

Check flexible dates and nearby airports, add the bags you really need, compare the total, and read the change rules. Then book and put the confirmation with the rest of your plans, so it is easy to find on the day.