Have you ever dreamed of a distant trip, but given up when you saw the prices of plane tickets? Many believe that exploring the world is only a privilege of the wealthy. The good news is that this is not the case at all. The era of expensive plane tickets is over, provided you know the tricks that professional travelers and savings masters have been using for a long time. Now we will reveal the 10 most effective secrets with which you can save significant amounts on your next adventure. Are you ready to travel smarter?
Timing and Flexibility are Worth Their Weight in Gold
One of the most important rules is that the price of plane tickets is not static. It constantly changes depending on demand, occupancy and a dozen other factors. If you understand this, you are already halfway there.
1. Be flexible with your departure dates! Most people want to travel on weekends, so Friday and Sunday flights are the most expensive. In contrast, the middle of the week, especially Tuesday and Wednesday, is usually a much cheaper travel day. If you can slide your departure and arrival by a few days, you can already save thousands of forints. Use the +/- 3 day option in the unifly.hu search engine to immediately see the best combinations.
2. Book at the right time! Booking too early or at the last minute is not ideal. According to the golden rule, it is worth booking 1-2 months in advance for domestic or European trips, and 3-5 months in advance for transatlantic flights. This is when prices are most balanced.
3. Travel in the off-season! Every destination has a peak season when prices are sky high (e.g. the Mediterranean region in July and August). If you can, time your trip for the period before or after the high season, the so-called “shoulder season”. You get the same experience, only with fewer crowds and much lower prices.
Smart Search Tricks That Save You Money
It’s not enough to be flexible, you have to search smartly too. Technology is your friend if you know how to use it to your advantage.
4. Use flight search websites! A reliable aggregator site like unifly.hu compares hundreds of airlines and providers’ offers in seconds. This way, you don’t have to browse the airlines’ websites individually, but you can see the cheapest options in one place.
5. Consider alternative airports! Many large cities have multiple airports. It often happens that a ticket to a nearby, smaller airport, where low-cost airlines arrive, is much cheaper. Check if your destination city has such an option and how much time and money it takes to get from there to the center. It may be worth it even then.
6. Delete cookies, use incognito mode! Airline websites use cookies to track your searches. If you search for the same route multiple times, the site can detect increased interest and artificially raise the price. You can avoid this by searching in your browser’s incognito window or by regularly deleting cookies.
7. Subscribe to price alerts! Have you spotted a specific route but find it too expensive? Don’t search every day! Set up a price alert on unifly.hu and we will notify you immediately by email as soon as the ticket price drops below the desired level. This is the lazy saver’s best friend!
Travel Smarter, Not More Expensively
The last few tips are about fine-tuning the booking and packing. These little things give the savings its true flavor.
8. Combine one-way tickets! Don’t cling stubbornly to return tickets. It may happen that buying two separate one-way tickets – even from two different airlines – comes out cheaper than a single return ticket. Our search engine can also help you find such combinations.
9. Take a layover! Direct flights are comfortable, but almost always more expensive. A flight with a longer, reasonable layover can not only be cheaper, but also give you the opportunity to make a flash visit to another city.
10. Travel with carry-on luggage only! The business model of low-cost airlines is based on additional fees. The price of checked baggage sometimes costs more than the plane ticket itself. Learn to pack efficiently, only the essentials in a carry-on sized bag, and you’ll be surprised how much you can save.