Travel doesn't have to be expensive for families with kids, but airlines tickets often are. These are my favourite tricks for how to find affordable tickets and get best flight deals for your next trip.
1. Use airfare metasearch engine
These websites search for tickets across many different airlines and offer helpful tools like price map based on destinations, price predictions, fare alerts by email, and so on.
2. Sign up for fare Alerts
Sign up for sites that search the internet for the best deals possible, as they are doing all the work for you.
secretflying.com
3. Search for flights in incognito or Private browsing
Based on the cookies in your browser, ticket prices do increase when a particular route is repeatedly searched, as the site wants to scare you into booking the flight quickly before prices get even higher.
Your browser cookies are reset every time you open an incognito window. So, if you want to start with a clean slate for each flight ticket search (so your previous searches aren't “remembered,” potentially inflating costs), close all your incognito windows, open a new one and then perform your flight search.
4. Be flexible with date/time
Try to book in advance. The suitable time to book a flight is usually between 4-12 weeks in advance of your trip. Select off-peak day to travel, i.e., Tuesday, Wednesday or Saturday as these days tend to have fewer passengers and lower fares.
Fly during offseason when there is less demand.
Early morning flights and overnight flight tend to be cheaper as well.
Remember while searching for the perfect ticket that flights with long layovers are also cheaper.
Book your tickets in January or February.
Airlines seem to love offering cheap flights during those months. Probably because people run out of money after the holidays and they’re trying to boost demand.
5. Consider flying with Budget Airlines
They offer significantly cheaper tickets than their full-service counterparts. It should be obvious, but this comes with compromises such as less leg room and no “free” food/drink on-board.
Always purchase the appropriate luggage and use a scale to check ahead of time.
Check the airport location before purchasing your airline ticket to make sure it is not too far out (which could increase transport fees on arrival).
Get sealed food/drink at the airport if you want to save some cash on in-flight meals.
Check for any extra charges such as credit card surcharges.
Here are some popular budget airlines in Canada:
In the USA: Southwest Jetblue Frontier Sun country airlines