Finding Cheap Flights from the U.S.

I am absolutely obsessed with finding cheap flights. Since I want to travel all over the world, I am very open to places to explore so finding cheap flights from the U.S. may dictate where I go on vacation. 

• Google Flight–My favorite tool to use is google flights. The key to searching is to put your closest airport or an airport that’s even a few miles from you (LAX instead of SAN for me will result in a cheaper flight).   For me, it’s worth it to drive a couple of hours to save money on international flights.   For the destination, if you are interested in going to Italy for example, I would recommend searching for Europe in general if you can handle one more flight to take.  The flights in between Europe are usually pretty cheap ($20 and up) so it might be worth it to buy the cheapest ticket to Europe.  Also, you can select the specific date you want or if you’re flexible, I would search for a specific month and indicate how many weeks you’d like to travel to get a better result.  This has saved me a lot of money.  In 2017, I went to Europe for $420 round trip and $530 round trip in 2018.   The $530 includes a round trip seat selection worth $90 so the flight would have only cost me $440 if I wasn’t picky about my seat.  Such a bargain especially when traveling in the summer!

• Discounted Airlines–Check out the websites of the budget airlines such as Spirit (US) and Air Norwegian, Iberia, WOW Airlines (Europe).   My personal fave is Norwegian.  This is how I scored my cheap flight in 2018.  I selected LAX, reviewed places in Europe that they service non-stop from LAX and clicked the “Show Low Fare Calendar” option to determine the cheapest month/day to travel.  I found a good price for Denmark (arrival) and Sweden (departure).  Yes, be open to getting two one way tickets in order to get a cheaper ticket.  In the illustration below, see how 12/2/18 is only $180 for a one way flight to Barcelona from LAX? That’s such a good price!

•  Use Points — the cheapest flights are the ones that are almost FREE. It should only cost you the taxes and fees.  There are a variety of credit cards that offer a companion pass, bonus points, credit card points travel reward. Refer to the main menu–Travel Tips–Using Points for cheap flights via booking with points.  Also, several credit cards offer a companion pass.  Southwest offers your companion a free flight anywhere with the same itinerary but you have to earn 110,000 qualifying points.  Alaska Visa Card offers one companion pass after the minimum spend within months of opening the card.  The companion pass for Alaska is just a discounted code to use. Therefore, you will essentially be paying for just the taxes for a second ticket on the same itinerary.  In the following year, it’s $99 plus taxes.  Overall, just keep an eye out on credit card deals. There might be a card worth pursuing in order achieve your travel goals.

If you have any travel tips in finding cheap flights from the U.S. and fellow readers, please comment below.. 

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