Besides fat wallet, passport, visa, ideally packed suitcases and other necessities, travelling internationally requires flight booking in advance (to be on the safer side). If you can book international flights for a cheaper rate, it would be the icing on the cake. You will be left with more money to spend on your stay and shopping abroad without disturbing your budget.
Let us dwell deeper into what is the best time to buy international airline tickets so that you can avail the maximum discount:-
There does not exist any best time to book international airline tickets as there are different circumstances for different countries/ destinations. International flights are also affected by different factors like long term planning, high tourist season, holidays, festivals, carnivals, etc. Lot of airlines offer cheap flight alerts which you can subscribe too.
As per general rule- It is best to get international plane tickets book in between 120 to 160 days before the scheduled flight day. Although, the rule is not applicable for every destination yet it is mostly true for travelling to continents like Asia and Europe.
How to get your booking done for cheap international flights?
To book the cheapest international flight, make sure you do your research work timely. Look for the best days to travel to your destination and search your airfares from reputed search engines/ aggregator sites. Check sites like InsanelyCheapFlights to get good deals.
Tip – Make sure to search your flights’ fare in incognito or private mode. Because these travel search engine collects data of your search and tends to show a higher price for the tickets owing to their tie-up with the flights. Sites use cookies to adjust or increase prices.
As a good option, you can look for budget airlines or carrier flights that offer the best option for travellers who want to travel with cheap international flights – travelgooru compromising slightly with comfort.
Which are the cheapest days to buy international flight tickets?
As a general rule – Tuesday is the cheapest day to buy international flight tickets because airlines announced special deals on Monday evening and to maximize your savings you can encash these deals on Tuesday. Also, competitive airlines tend to match those deals and you have a greater chance to book cheap international flight tickets.
However, this is not the time and tested phenomena as there is no evidence to support this fact. There is no fixed rule that Tuesdays will offer cheaper international ticket only. Other cheaper days to fly internationally at the cheaper flight tickets rate are Wednesdays and Thursdays that are comparatively cheaper than the weekends which are usually costlier.
Tip – Subscribe for the newsletter and price alerts from the various airline and aggregator sites. This will help you stay updated with their deals, coupons, codes and price slash reflected on their sites.
The rule says that you cannot book cheap days for your entire international trip but at least one leg of the cheapest day during your international flights can help you save a good amount, bringing down your total travelling cost, considerably.
Top budget airlines that offer cheapest international flights along with luxurious international flights include names like:
- Air India Express
- Wow air
- Buddha Air
- Air Asia
- Frontier airlines
- Qatar Airlines
- Thai airlines international
- Lufthansa airlines
- Emirates airline
- Singapore airlines
- Qantas airways
- All Nippon airways
- Korean air
- Virgin Atlantic airways
- Air New Zealand
- Cathay Pacific Airways
Booking your international flight online at cheaper prices
For booking your international flight tickets online, you can either download various flight booking apps on your smart gadget or visit their website. There is a tab on the left side of the home page of these websites with the flight option. You need to enter the ‘from and to’ the destination, select the date and type of travel class you want to choose according to your budget and suitability.
A list of options would be available in front of you from which you can select what suits you the most. To customize your ticket search you can apply various filters such as price, preferred airlines, preferred airports (if any), stops, etc.
Find cheap international tickets online
Booking cheap international flight tickets is very simple on these platforms and apps. Numerous amazing discounts and deals on tickets are rendered by aggregator sites and airline websites. You can book your flight without burning a big hole into your pocket using its user-friendly interface and the guide. A lot of options are available through which you can compare the timing and the price of the tickets which are available on different portals and choose the most suitable one, as per your requirement and the budget. To avail concession on rates, you can look for various coupons, festival vouchers, discounts and daily deals on specific credit and debit cards floated on the flight booking sites.
The benefit of booking online for international air tickets is that you can use the price filter and choose the suitable price bracket according to your budget.
Choosing amongst direct flight or indirect flight to grab cheap international flights
Direct flights connect destination with or without stop and do not require any change of aircraft or terminal. While direct flights with no stops are expensive as they take a low duration compared to the flights with one or multiple stops.
Indirect flights are those flights that include stopovers in different cities and there is a need for changing the terminals and the change of aircraft to reach the destination. These are inexpensive flights compare to direct flights.
Tip – If you want to save money, you can choose indirect flights and avail discounts on your international flights.
More tips for booking cheap flights
Here are a few more tips to help you fetch air tickets that more reasonably priced:-
1) Book early
The price of air tickets keeps fluctuating and tends to hike during the final three weeks before the actual flying day. If you are booking sooner (within three months to 30 days from departure) possibly you will fetch the lowest price at the best rates. With booking early, you can get the seat of your choice. For instance, you may need to pay the same price for a seat at the front of the cabin or for one in front of the bathroom.
2) Have scope for adjustments
While travelling internationally, leave scope for adjustments with dates and flights. Save money inculcating flexibility in your travel plans.
Choose the mid-week or on the actual holiday (i.e. Thanksgiving Day or Christmas Day) flights because lesser people travel these days. Weekends are usually expensive for ticket booking. Look for alternate airport or travel dates (if possible) to your airfare costs.
3) Discount Airlines as an option
Usually, major airlines charge a hefty cost for flying with them. Alternatively, choose for discount airlines and save money on international flights:
4) Compare and evaluate
Before booking directly with carrier airlines, compare price with at least one third-party flight booking site’s prices. Sometimes, a better and lucrative deal can be found here. Few of the best third-party sites include names like Momondo, Google Flights, and Priceline.
Also, these sites have advanced and excellent research tools that help to lay hands on cheap flight routes.
5) Look for red-eye flight options
A redeye flight is quite helpful in saving bucks, especially on international flights.
But be ready to cope with the fatigue and sleeplessness!
Alternatively, if you are daring enough to wait for booking until the last week before the actual flying day, you might grab the best last-minute deals directly from the carrier.
6) Use Award Miles
Depending upon how you booked, there are two ways to calculate award miles: According to the traveling fare or According to the distance flown and the booking class.
You may spend accumulated award miles over cash or a combination of two on your expensive international flights to make them come cheaper to you.
Miles can be most valuable when redeemed for expensive cash flights. Pool your award points from a co-branded airline miles credit card for the ultimate reduction in flight costs.
Also, redeem your award miles through the credit card travel portal. Or transfer them to your airline loyalty program to avail top-off from your balance and book a flight directly from the carrier.
7) Use Your Credit Card Travel Credits
Premium credit cards with high annual fees have made the common practice of rendering credit card travel credits. Reimburse these credits to avail discounts on travelling expenses including international flights.
Earn bonus points with each airline purchase and redeem it for future award flights. Also, you may use credit card benefits like your air travel credit to pay for baggage fees and in-flight purchases with the renowned premium credit cards.
And there you have a discounted international flight ticket/s!
Round up
With all the tips and tricks for getting cheap international tickets, search with the right flight search engine as these have a strong network with travel agents. Through these travel search engines, you can book not only flight tickets but also the hotels, bus tickets and holiday packages at a reasonable and cost-effective price.
With cheap international flight tickets, Bon voyage for your next trip!
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