Unfortunately for us avid travelers, booking a flight is more than just inputting your travel dates and picking one of the first ones you find. If you really want to get the best flight at the best price, it pays to shop around.
There are so many websites out there for booking cheap flights, it’s hard to know where to begin. So, after many years of late nights scouring the internet for my next adventure, I compiled this list of 15 of the best flight booking sites so you can find the cheapest fares!
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1. Book Direct Through The Airline’s Website
There are three types of airfare search sites you might use on your flight booking journey:
- Online travel agencies (OTA)
- Flight aggregators
- Airline websites
An online travel agency typically has access to special pricing on certain flights which you can then book directly on the website.
A flight aggregator, on the other hand, rounds up flight pricing from all over the web and sends you either to the airline’s website or the OTA for booking.
The airline website is almost always the best option when it comes to booking flights. And I typically find the flight I want to book using a flight aggregator. I generally recommend that you stay away from OTAs, unless you find a crazy good deal.
That’s because when you book directly through an airline, you have more flexibility to cancel, change, or refund your trip. OTA cancelation policies are typically very, very bad. Airlines are much more likely to work with you when issues arise, whereas OTAs are known for having pretty poor customer service.
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You’re saving yourself a potential headache down the line, should anything change.
So, here’s what I recommend: When searching for your next flight, start with your preferred website—like Skyscanner, Momondo, or another—and search for your flights. If you have flexible dates or airports, play around with the filters to compare prices.
Once you’ve found cheap airfare, head to that airline’s site to look up the flight. Sometimes flight aggregators will have the option to automatically take you to the airline website anyway.
If the best price in the flight search results is not available on the primary airline, then use one of the booking websites I mention in this article.