Tips for finding cheap flights

By Gabriela Simionato

When you live abroad, especially in Europe, people tend to think that it’s easy to find low cost flights. Well, it’s not as easy as it seems, but there are some tricks that can help you find the cheapest flight tickets to make the trip of your dreams.

First of all, it is important to always look up flights in an Incognito window or a Private browsing window. Yes, it is possible for the companies to track what flights you’ve been looking for and, unfortunately, some of them use this information to increase the cost of tickets – when you’re checking the same flight again (the cookie in your web browser tells them that you’ve looked at this same flight previously).

So when you find the ticket, buy it right away, otherwise the next time you look at the same flight its price may go up! Of course, it should not happen if you clear your browser’s cache or return via an Incognito window. And the price may also go up naturally as demand for that flight increases…

There are some aggregator websites and mobile apps, like GoEuro (www.goeuro.com) and SkyScanner (skyscanner.ie) that show the best options for those who want to travel.

GoEuro shows the cheapest bus and train options, and SkyScanner is for flights. SkyScanner also has a feature for those who want to travel in a non-specific month or for those who don’t even have a destination. When you choose your destination, you can select “Everywhere” and you can also choose “The Cheapest Month” as your month option. This way it’s easier to find where to go for the lowest fares.

When it comes to Ireland, Ryanair (www.ryanair.com) is the most famous cheap airline. But its website is very smart! If you don’t use an Incognito window, it will raise the ticket prices – sometimes even while you’re in the process of booking your flight, so, be careful.

The Ryanair website also has a cool feature called Fare Finder (www.ryanair.com/ie/cheap-flights) – it is one of the best tools on the website, so make sure to check it out!

If you’re travelling to another city in Ireland or want to travel to some nearby destination like the UK, then a good option is BlaBla Car (www.blablacar.com) – a ridesharing community.

Log on to the website, and you will find plenty of people leaving Dublin to go to different places, like Cork or even Liverpool. The idea is to unite affiliated drivers with travelers that don’t want to spend a fortune on flights or train tickets.

So go ahead and explore all these options – I am sure you will find ways to save a fortune on your next trip!

Originally published in SEDA News