Are you looking for the best travel deals to finally take that trip you’ve been dreaming of? In a world where wanderlust is common but budgets can be tight, finding affordable flights is often the biggest hurdle. We’ve found that Skyscanner is the ultimate tool for scoring amazing savings, an indispensable ally for travelers who live for budget-friendly adventures. It’s more than just a search engine; it’s a powerful key that can unlock destinations you thought were out of reach. Let’s explore some expert tips and hidden tricks to find the cheapest flights and turn your travel dreams into a tangible, booked-and-paid-for reality!
Skyscanner has a variety of powerful and intuitive features that make it incredibly easy to find unbeatable travel deals. You may be already used to the basics – searching for standard round-trips or more complex multi-city itineraries, filtering for one-way journeys, or specifying non-stop flights only to save time. These are the foundational tools that most travelers use. However, beneath this surface-level functionality lies a treasure trove of more powerful tools and lesser-known features that can help you save significant amounts of money. Mastering these advanced options is what separates the casual traveler from the savvy globetrotter who always seems to find the best fare.
From strategic price alerts to embracing hyper-flexible dates, these are our top-secret Skyscanner tricks to book the cheapest flights and become a master of budget travel.
1. Incognito Window
You might be familiar with this widely-discussed trick, but have faith, this can genuinely make a difference! While most seasoned travelers swear by it, there are some skeptics who question its effectiveness. The theory is that travel websites use browser cookies to track your searches, and if you repeatedly search for the same route, they may increase the price to create a sense of urgency. Using an incognito window prevents this by starting a fresh session without stored cookies, which can help you find cheaper flights. Here is how you can do it in your browser, step by step: Open your browser, go to the File menu, and click New Incognito Window (or “New Private Window” in Firefox and Safari). After this, just navigate to Skyscanner and use the site like you normally would, searching for flights as if it’s your first time. This is the easiest hack that you can do to potentially score better deals without too much effort, ensuring you’re seeing a baseline price rather than an inflated one.
It only takes a few seconds to open a private browser window, so it’s always worth a shot. Give it a try and you might get a positive surprise when you compare the results with your regular browser search.
2. The “Whole Month” Option
If it’s possible for you to have even a little bit of wiggle room with your travel dates, the “Whole month” option on Skyscanner is undeniably the best way to find significantly cheaper flights. This feature is built for travelers who prioritize savings over a rigid schedule and it visually lays out the price fluctuations across several weeks.
This is how you need to work this travel magic: Fill in your departure and destination cities as you normally would. When you get to the date selection, instead of picking specific dates from the calendar, click on the departure date box and then select the “Whole month” tab. From there, you can choose the specific month you wish to travel.
Once selected, your calendar will transform into a price grid, showing estimated prices for every single day of the month. This makes it a super easy and visual way to spot the cheapest days for flights at a glance. Often, you’ll find that shifting your departure by just one or two days, perhaps from a weekend to a Tuesday or Wednesday, can result in substantial savings.
For example, a round trip from New York to London from August 23rd to August 29th can cost $350, but that exact same trip could switch to $455 by simply choosing August 25th to August 31st. The price differences can be even more dramatic. To spot the cheapest flight combination even easier, you can switch the view from the calendar format to a chart format, which can make the lows and highs even more obvious.
Try to plan your trips as far in advance as possible and commit to being flexible with your dates. If you can embrace this mindset, you can save a lot of money that can be better spent on experiences at your destination.
3. The “Cheapest Month” Button
If your travel budget is pretty tight, or if you’re simply looking for the absolute best time of year to visit a destination, this button on Skyscanner will save your life. This is the ultimate tool for the ultra-flexible, price-conscious traveler.
What you need to do is enter the departure and destination airports as you would normally do, and when it comes to selecting the travel dates, follow the same initial step as the previous tip and choose the Whole Month option.
After this, instead of following the normal steps of choosing a specific month, click on the prominent green button that says “Cheapest month”. This instructs the search engine to scan its entire database of historical and projected pricing for that route. This way, Skyscanner will come back with the cheapest months to travel, allowing you to plan your trip during the off-peak season when demand is lowest.
Using this powerful option will help you find the absolute best deals for vacations without breaking the bank. It’s perfect for planning big trips well in advance. Look how easy it is to plan your trips and find a time that fits both your schedule and your budget, potentially saving you hundreds of dollars just by choosing to travel in, say, October instead of July.
4. The “Everywhere” Option
This is a true game-changer, especially if you’re struck with wanderlust but are open to exploring new and unexpected destinations. The “Everywhere” search shows you the cheapest places to fly from your chosen departure city, making it perfect for spontaneous travelers or for anyone looking to plan a budget-friendly vacation without a fixed destination in mind. It turns flight searching from a chore into a delightful discovery process.
Follow these simple steps to access it: Enter your home or preferred departure city into the “From” field. Then, instead of choosing a specific destination, simply start typing “Everywhere” in your destination box and select it from the dropdown menu. When you click search, Skyscanner will generate a beautifully organized list of countries, ranked from the cheapest to the most expensive, where you can get the most affordable flight options from your departure point.
Now the fun begins. Browse through these options and see what sparks your interest. A weekend trip to a nearby country you’ve never visited? A long-haul flight to a continent you thought was too expensive? After you find a destination that catches your eye and fits your budget, you can click on it and start planning your new adventure.
The best thing is that Skyscanner also lists the cheapest cities within each country, complete with general prices and information on whether the flights are direct or have stops. This layered approach is how you can perfectly fit your budget with your travel preferences, drilling down from the world to a country to a specific city.
For maximum savings, you can also combine this function with the “Whole Month” or “Cheapest Month” button to find not only the cheapest destinations but also the absolute best dates to travel to them. This is an incredibly powerful combination that will arm you with amazing deals and help you plan your next trip with unparalleled ease and excitement.
5. The Country Feature
There is another smart trick that you can use for booking flights which builds upon the previous tip. As we said, the “Everywhere” feature will save you money, and here is where you can take it a step further to see if flying into a different city within your destination country can save you even more money, especially in larger countries with multiple international airports.
Let’s say you plan to go to Portugal and Lisbon is your final destination. It’s the famous capital, so most people would search for flights there directly. Instead of booking the flight directly to Lisbon, use the “Everywhere” feature or simply search for flights to “Portugal” as a country. This will show you the prices for all major airports, and you can check if arriving at a secondary airport is cheaper.
For example, you might find in this context that a flight to Porto is almost $200 cheaper than flying directly to Lisbon. From Porto, you can easily take an affordable and scenic train or bus to Lisbon, turning the journey into part of the adventure.
This is how you can do it and what the savings could look like:
Book the cheaper international flight, for example, from Boston to Porto. Then, add a separate, inexpensive roundtrip flight or train ticket from Porto to Lisbon – which could be around $30. Here is the potential breakdown:
Boston – Lisbon (direct search) – $750
Boston – Porto (cheaper airport) – $590 + $30 (local travel) = $620
This is what you can save by booking a multi-city journey, and it gives you a fantastic excuse to give yourself a day or two to explore the beautiful city of Porto as well, turning a simple trip into a multi-destination mini-vacation. Checking flights to nearby airports and considering a layover or a short connecting journey is a great way to see more of the world while saving significant money.
6. Check out the “Map” feature
This is by far one of the coolest and most visually engaging tools out there for discovering flight deals. It’s like a treasure map for finding cheap flights, offering an interactive and inspiring way to see where your budget can take you. As we know, there are very few other search engines that offer something quite like this, making it a standout feature of Skyscanner.
This is how it works: Start by entering your departure city and select your travel dates. You can, of course, also use the “Whole month” option here as well to keep your options as flexible and cheap as possible. After you have filled in these initial steps, click on the “Map” link, which is usually located in the top right corner of the search results page. In an instant, Skyscanner generates a world map for you that’s dotted with interactive green and red markers. As you might guess, the green dots symbolize the good deals and budget-friendly destinations, while the red ones are the pricier options for that time frame.
The awesome thing about the Map feature is the vast world of possibilities it instantly offers. It’s a fantastic tool for visual learners, introducing you to destinations you might have never considered or even knew existed. Hovering over each dot reveals the city and the lowest price, inviting you to click and explore further. Spontaneous travelers who are looking for adventure on a budget will absolutely love using this feature to brainstorm their next getaway.
Take a look around the map, zoom in on continents that interest you, and you’ll find endless options and deals waiting for you. You might just discover your next dream destination is available for a fantastically low price you never thought possible.
7. Price alerts
If flexibility is not a luxury you have for your travel dates due to work, family, or other commitments, don’t worry. You don’t have to miss out on savings. For those with a fixed destination and set dates, Skyscanner’s price alerts are an essential tool.
This is what you need to do to turn them on and let Skyscanner do the hard work for you. First, you need to fill in your departure and destination airports and your specific travel dates, then click “Search”. Once the flight options appear on the screen, look for the “Get price alerts” button, which should be located prominently in the top left corner, often accompanied by a small bell icon.
By clicking it, you’ll be prompted to create a free account or log in. The easiest way to do it is by using your email address, Google, or Facebook account. Once you’re signed up and have activated the alert, you will receive an automatic notification in your email whenever the price of your chosen flight drops or increases significantly. This saves you from the tedious task of manually checking the prices every day.
This is how you can monitor a specific flight and lock in the best deals without constantly checking the prices yourself. This is an incredibly handy tool for planning trips in advance, especially for popular routes where prices fluctuate often. This feature will allow you to book with confidence when a good deal pops up, and it feels like you have a personal travel assistant that diligently monitors flight prices just for you.
As we said, Skyscanner would be our top choice when it comes to scoring amazing flight deals. It’s a comprehensive platform, and typically people can save between 30-40% on flights thanks to their creative and powerful search features. It empowers you to think outside the box.
With these invaluable tips in your arsenal, you will have all the tools you need to hunt down the best prices, outsmart the algorithms, and fly all around the globe for less than you ever imagined.
Are you ready to uncover more tools to snag great travel deals? Let’s go!
While Skyscanner is a fantastic starting point, the savviest travelers know that comparing a few platforms is key. Most popular online travel agencies (OTAs) have similar prices, but each of them has its own set of unique benefits, search engines, and reward programs.
Booking directly through the airline?
Sometimes, after you’ve used a search engine to find the best option, it’s worth checking the airline’s own website. This might get you a better offer or, at the very least, allow you to match the greatest deals you found out there. More importantly, booking directly will significantly simplify things for you if you encounter any issues like flight cancellations or changes. Here you will have the distinct advantage of dealing directly with the airline’s customer service and not a third-party OTA to solve problems, assuring you a much smoother and less stressful resolution process.
Furthermore, booking directly is often the only way to get full credit for frequent flyer miles, especially when it comes to earning points that count towards elite status. It can be a great way to earn and redeem points for future flights, upgrades, and other perks that OTAs might not offer.
If you want to find out which airline has the best prices for your route, you should absolutely use a travel search engine or OTA first. These aggregate tools are indispensable for comparing prices across dozens of airlines in seconds, so you know where you can get your best deals. Once you’ve identified the cheapest flight, take the extra two minutes to check that price on the airline’s official site. Some OTAs may offer perks like additional discounts or bundled services, and it can be worth going for, as a plus compared to the other airlines with similar prices.
So, yes, booking directly through an airline can be more simple and cost-effective in the long run, especially when you factor in customer service and loyalty benefits. However, always start with a metasearch engine to ensure you’re not missing a hidden deal on another carrier.
If you’re exploring options beyond booking the cheapest flights directly, we have more powerhouse search engines for you:
1. Momondo
This is a user-friendly metasearch engine known for its clean, colorful design and a straightforward search box where you can add your travel details. What’s particularly cool about Momondo is its visual price trend feature, presented as a bar graph above the search results. This allows you to quickly see if shifting your travel dates by a few days could save you a significant amount of money. This intuitive price tracker, combined with plenty of other useful filters that you will find on the left side of the screen, will help you easily refine your search by number of stops, duration, airline, and more.
A feature that truly makes Momondo stand out is the “Mix & Match” fare, more commonly known in the travel community as “Hacker Fares.” This clever trick can combine two separate one-way tickets from different airlines to get you the best possible price on a round trip. For instance, you might fly out on United and return on JetBlue. Unlike other sites that practice these combined fares behind the scenes, Momondo is transparent about it, but you’ll often need to visit two different websites to book the two separate tickets.
The main advantage of Momondo is this excellent price tracking and its ability to uncover “Hacker Fares” that spot trends and potential savings for you. It consistently finds some of the lowest prices available. A potential limit of Momondo resides in the Mix & Match feature that requires booking on two different sites, which can be a bit more work and adds a layer of complexity if you need to make changes to your itinerary.
2. Kayak
This long-standing travel search engine is another amazing starting point for virtually any flight search. As a metasearch engine, its prices are pulled from hundreds of other websites—including airlines and other OTAs—and aggregated into one convenient place, so you can easily compare all your options and find the best deals. Similar to Momondo, once you select a flight, you will often need to click through to another site to finalize and pay for your booking.
Kayak is also well-known for its “Hacker Fares,” where it can combine two one-way tickets from different airlines to create a single round-trip itinerary. This is one of its core strengths and helps you score great deals that most likely won’t show up on other travel search sites or airline websites.
They have also introduced some innovative new features in 2024 to stay ahead of the curve. For example, their Kayak PriceCheck tool is a game-changer: you can upload a screenshot of a flight itinerary you found on any other site, and Kayak will automatically compare the prices across their hundreds of partner sites to see if they can find you a better deal. Another impressive new tool is Ask Kayak, an AI-powered assistant that enhances your planning experience by answering any specific travel questions and giving you tailored advice, from visa requirements to itinerary suggestions.
There are some clear pros and cons in this case too. The good part is that they can combine two one-way flights into one itinerary to help you save money, as well as let you set up detailed alert prices so you can keep track of price drops. Kayak also offers you some of the best deals and even provides careful and close help with your travel planning through its new AI features.
On the other side, Kayak’s best features are better suited for people with flexible travel possibilities. When you are looking for a very specific scheduled flight on a particular airline, its “Hacker Fares” might not be as relevant, and it may not necessarily be the most helpful tool compared to booking directly.
3. Expedia
This go-to online travel site has been a major player since the 1990s, and it’s still a solid and reliable choice when it comes to booking flights, hotels, and package deals. While it may not always snag the absolute rock-bottom prices on every single search, and booking through a specialized metasearch agency probably brings you a slightly better deal, you can be confident you won’t end up overpaying. It consistently offers competitive rates, a mistake you can easily make with some less reputable travel search engines out there.
A nice feature Expedia offers is its comprehensive rewards program called One Key. This unified program works across Expedia, Hotels.com, and Vrbo, offering special member pricing and allowing you to earn points (called OneKeyCash™) on flights, hotels, cruises, car rentals, and a lot more. A major advantage is that you can still earn your regular airline miles when you’re part of an airline’s frequent flyer program and you book that airline’s flight through Expedia, allowing you to “double-dip” on rewards.
The primary advantages of this platform are that you can earn valuable points for extra savings and rewards with their versatile One Key program, and you have access to a vast inventory of travel options and deals, often with attractive package discounts. However, the cons are that booking through Expedia might be limiting when it comes to how many miles you earn towards elite status with a specific airline. You could also miss out on certain perks that are only available when you book directly with an airline, such as complimentary seat upgrades, priority boarding, or more flexible change policies.
Expedia is an amazing and trustworthy choice for one-stop shopping, rewards, and travel deals, but you need to be aware of their potential limitations as well, especially if you are loyal to a specific airline.
4. Priceline
This is another well-known travel site that has been around for decades. It used to be famous for its unique “Name Your Own Price” tool, which offered incredible discounts but kept many details of the flight hidden until after you booked. That specific tool was discontinued in 2016, but Priceline still has some unique and exciting features for finding great deals, particularly for the flexible traveler.
A beloved feature is their color-coded calendar which makes it very easy to spot the days with the lowest prices for your chosen route, similar to other platforms. This user-friendly platform will also allow you to easily see the non-stop best flights and filter for options that are available with no change fees, which is a huge plus in today’s unpredictable travel landscape.
Priceline’s flagship feature now is its “Express Deals.” These offer huge discounts—up to 50% off—but they operate on a principle of mystery. They keep certain details like the exact airline, layover times, or precise flight times hidden until after you book and pay. If you have a little flexibility in your schedule and the willingness to trade off some information for a deep discount, you can score super deals that are unavailable anywhere else.
The pros of Priceline are the potential for huge savings through Express Deals if you are flexible, their robust Price Match Guarantee, assuring you of getting the best prices, as well as free online cancellation on many bookings within 24 hours (with the notable exception of Express Deals, which are non-refundable).
There are some limitations to be aware of. Priceline does not have a traditional reward program for earning points or benefits on flights. Also, the mystery of Express Deals can sometimes lead to inconvenient flight times, and while rare, they can sometimes cost more than a standard booking on a budget airline, so it’s not a guaranteed win every time.
5. Orbitz
This go-to travel site has been a reliable booking engine since 2001 and has long been known for its own unique reward program. Previously called Orbitz Rewards, it now operates under the same powerful umbrella as Expedia: the One Key program. Whenever you book hotels, flights, and vacation packages through them, you earn “Orbucks” in the form of OneKeyCash™. These points can then be redeemed for discounts on future hotel bookings and vacation rentals, but not directly on flights.
The system works by earning a percentage of your booking total back in reward currency. You generally earn 1% of everything you book in Orbuck form. (By using the mobile app, you will often get a higher rate, sometimes up to 2%). For example, booking a $500 flight will bring you back $5 in OneKeyCash™ that you can apply to your next hotel stay. You should be aware that sometimes they charge a small booking fee on certain airlines, so always check your trip summary before finishing your purchase to see if the overall deal is affected by any added fee.
There are some other interesting pros when it comes to Orbitz. You have the benefit of a 24-hour cancellation policy for most flights, which provides peace of mind. Additionally, under their Price Match Guarantee, if you find a lower price on an identical itinerary on another site within 24 hours of booking, they agree to refund the difference.
Orbitz is a solid choice, especially if you value earning rewards from your travel planning that can be used to offset hotel costs. Its integration with the One Key program makes it more valuable than ever. However, always keep an eye on their potential booking fees on the final confirmation page to make sure you are still getting a good overall deal.
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