Traveling is probably one of the most rewarding experiences you can achieve in your life. There’s something about exploring a new place, meeting people, learning about their culture, and having the best days of your life. But behind those beautiful photos and unforgettable experiences, traveling, in reality, is very expensive.
What makes travel expensive? Is it the accommodation? Yeah sure, it will certainly get a huge chunk of your budget. But what’s the most important and quite expensive is the airfare. The thing is, most places don’t have a huge array of air transportation so that’s why I classify airfare as the most expensive. No worries, there are ways on how to alleviate the expenses. Read this article as I share the best websites to find cheap airfare.
FareDrop
FareDrop was founded by veteran travelers and YouTubers Nate and Kara. It searches airfare deals for over 100 airports in Canada, Australia, United States, and the United Kingdom. As of this writing, Fare Drop only targets economy class flights but they’re already planning of including first-class accommodation in the future. FareDrop has a proprietary tool with a good user interface. Apart from the visually appealing UI, the software is capable of searching flight combinations for hundreds and thousands, thus allowing members to have the freedom to choose the deals that fit their needs.
Customers can avail of the free trial for 30 days. The yearly subscription is priced at $47.88. FareDrop does not guarantee flight deals every week as they don’t have control over it. But if there are flight deals, it is for certain that FareDrop is a go-to when it comes involves cheap airfare websites. You need to take into consideration that deals do not last for long (on average it’s estimated 2 hours to 2 days) so it’s best if you can book quickly.
Scotts Cheap Flights
Scott’s Cheap Flights was founded by Scott Keyes in 2013. It delivers deals that are 40-90% less than the standard airfares. Compared to FareDrop, Scotts Cheap Flights may occasionally send airfare deals for business class flights. The yearly subscription is $49 and members can cancel the membership anytime.
The premium membership will allow members to get special premium-only deals, peak season and holiday flights as well as mistake fares and rare deals. Mistake fare happens when a flight ticket has been sold less than its intended due to human error, technological issues, route-specific fees, foreign currencies, and communication problems. This mistake can be done by an airline company or an online travel agency.
I love how Scott’s Cheap Flights added a guide section to its website. The section provides useful flight hacks including some information on how to travel on budget airlines, international flights, 2 in 1 flight deals, and more. Apart from the Guide section, Scott’s Cheap Flight Deals also has sections on Travel Glossary, Study Abroad Scholarship, and Merch.
Scott’s main focus is mainly on international flights. Subscribers can sign up for an email newsletter for free. There will be flight deals on the email but it’s not the same as those who have a premium membership. As The Points Guy mentioned, the free email subscription from Scott’s Cheap Flights is something you need to consider.
Hopper
Compared to the other cheap airfare websites on this list, Hopper is more of a travel app. It’s not just an ordinary travel app for it has lots of features including booking flights and hotels. It’s more suited for travel planning but it has a section for cheap airfare deals. It usually covers flights from San Francisco to Paris, Cairo, New York, Cancun, and Hong Kong.
Hopper gives you an array of cheap flight fares after you input the location and the date of the trip. It also has the capacity of predicting flight deals on the dates you are following. The good thing about the app is that it sends you notifications if there are flight deals on the location and date you’re monitoring. It saves you the time of not going into different websites and checking the flight deals manually. On the flip side, the app is not good for last minute flight deals.
Skyscanner
Skyscanner is quite similar to Hopper since it has a travel app. It also has options for hotel bookings. The difference is that Hopper relies more on the app and doesn’t have a website interface that Skyscanner has. Apart from hotel bookings, Skyscanner also allows customers to book for car rental services. Skyscanner is a huge search engine for travelers.
Skyscanner has a section for Daily Flight Deals that has 55% off its regular fare. The unique thing about using Skyscanner is you don’t need to choose a specific date to see the flight deals. It has the capability of showing the flight deals in a month and it shows its daily price. With this function, you can set up estimates for your airfare budget. Moreover, if you’re not sure which airport of your destination would be, you can always leave it blank.
Skyscanner seems organized for they usually send in one email when there are deals. It’s good if you don’t want a cleaner and less cluttered inbox.
Kayak
Kayak is part of booking.com. It has similar features as Skyscanner. It also offers bookings for hotels and cars. One of the unique offers they provide is the packages. The package contains a hotel plus flight booking. But why did I include this one on this cheap airfare websites list? It’s because Kayak also has exceptional flight deals. Kayak has daily flight deals for international and local trips. Like Skyscanner and Hooper, their search engine doesn’t require the destination as long as you specify the flight dates. This type of function is perfect for travelers who still can’t figure out what country they will be visiting.
The downside with Kayak is that it’s quite bombarded with a lot of features. Sure, it’s good to have a one-stop-shop but for those who are only after flight deals, the user interface can be a little intimidating. There are many sponsored ads too, which make it cluttered. The ads will also redirect you to other sites, thus making you confused. But beyond those, the best property for Kayak is its transparency when it comes to prices. Its search function can show you the prices for the economy and main cabin on the same page. The results are loaded fast too. Like Skyscanner, Kayak has its mobile app to fit the needs of those who are always on the go.
If you’re comfortable using the services of booking.com and rentalcars.com, you might find Kayak acceptable since they’re under one company.
Wrap Up
You just found out about five of the best cheap airfare websites that are currently on demand in the travel industry these days. Each of them has its unique feature that can fulfill the needs of a traveler. For sure, you have read thousands of mixed reviews about them. Some may be in favor of a particular cheap airfare website but some are on the other side of the coin.
Nevertheless, the best thing to do is to find what’s best for you. Perhaps you can get a better deal on this website for today but on some days, the other one might have a favorable option. If you’re more focused on flight deals only, FareDrop and Scott’s Cheap Flights are perfect for that need. However, if you want information on a potential accommodation or perhaps rental services, Hopper, Kayak, and Skyscanner has that options for you. Be practical and plan your travel because it will surely save you more money.
