Where's the best place to find cheap flights?

The best strategy isn't relying on just one website—it's using the right tool for the right job, and then booking directly with the airline.

The top places to search for cheap flights, broken down by what they do best, include:

Pro-Tips for Scoring the Lowest Price:

• Search, don’t buy, on third-party sites: Use aggregators like Skyscanner or Momondo to find obscure cheap combinations or budget airlines, but always click through to book directly on the airline's official site . If your flight gets delayed, canceled, or needs a change, dealing with a third-party budget broker is a nightmare.
• Be flexible with airports and dates: Flying on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, or Saturdays usually saves cash, and checking nearby alternate airports (e.g., searching for all NYC or LAX area airports rather than just JFK or LAX) can slash the price.

If you want to share where you're flying from and to (or your general dates/flexibility), I can give you a custom breakdown of the best routes, expected price ranges, and when to book.

If your goal is the cheapest airfare, I’d use a few tools together rather than relying on one:

• google.com — best place to start. It’s fast, has excellent date/price charts, lets you compare nearby airports, and has price alerts.
• skyscanner.com — best for flexibility. Its “Everywhere” search and broad budget-airline coverage can uncover fares Google misses.
• kayak.com — good second check. Particularly useful for filters, fee-aware comparisons, and its price forecasting tools.
• going.com — best if you’re flexible on destination. It sends alerts for unusually cheap fares, flash sales, and mistake fares rather than requiring you to search for a particular flight.

My strategy

Google Flights → Skyscanner → airline's own website.

Find the cheapest dates on Google Flights, cross-check Skyscanner for budget carriers, then check the airline directly before purchasing. A third-party site can sometimes display a fare that disappears at checkout or has extra baggage/seat fees.

If you tell me where you're flying from, destination, approximate dates, and whether you're flexible, I can also help you figure out the cheapest strategy for that specific trip.

Finding the cheapest flights isn’t about using a single "secret" website—it’s about using the right aggregator tools to compare prices, then booking smartly.

1. The Best Search Engines & Aggregators

• Google Flights: Widely considered the gold standard for starting a search. It is lightning-fast, ad-free, and has the best date-grid and price-graph tools to see when it's cheapest to fly. Pro tip: Use the "Track Prices" toggle to get email alerts when fares drop.
• Skyscanner: Excellent for flexible travelers. If you know when you want to go but not where , you can search "Everywhere" to find the absolute cheapest destinations from your home airport.
• Momondo: A powerful meta-search engine that often digs up lower third-party OTA (Online Travel Agency) prices that Google Flights or Skyscanner might occasionally miss.

2. Niche & Alternative Tools

• Hopper App: Great mobile app for predicting whether flight prices will go up or down in the coming weeks, helping you decide whether to buy now or wait.
• Skiplagged: Specialized in finding "hidden-city" ticketing (where you book a flight with a layover at your actual destination and get off early). Use with caution: Don't check bags, and never do this on round-trips (as missing a leg cancels the rest of the itinerary).

3. Golden Rules for Scoring the Lowest Price

• Book directly with the airline: Once you find the cheap fare on an aggregator like Google Flights, go directly to the airline’s website to purchase it. Booking through a shady third-party discounter to save $5 isn't worth it if your flight gets delayed or canceled and customer service won't talk to you.
• Be flexible with dates: Mid-week flights (Tuesdays and Wednesdays) and flying on the actual holiday (e.g., Thanksgiving Day) are almost always cheaper.
• Check budget carriers manually: Some ultra-low-cost carriers don't show up on every aggregator, so do a quick separate check on airlines specific to your region.

If you tell me your departure city, destination (or if you're open to anywhere) , and approximate dates , I can help you figure out the best strategy or look up general price expectations for that route.

The “best” place depends on how flexible you are, but these are the spots I’d check first:

• google.com — best overall starting point

• Fast searches, flexible date calendar, price tracking, and easy comparisons.

• Great for finding the cheapest days to fly and then booking directly with the airline.

• skyscanner.com — best for bargain hunting

• Especially useful for international trips, flexible destinations (“Everywhere” searches), and some budget airlines that may not always appear in other searches.

• going.com — best for surprise deals

• Sends alerts for unusually cheap fares and mistake fares rather than making you search constantly.

• hopper.com — best for app-based alerts

• Useful if you want notifications and fare predictions while searching on your phone.

A good cheap-flight routine:

1. Search your route on Google Flights.
2. Try nearby airports and flexible dates.
3. Check Skyscanner for lower-cost carriers.
4. Set price alerts.
5. Before buying, compare the final price (including baggage fees) and consider booking directly with the airline.

If you tell me your departure airport, destination, and travel dates (or flexibility), I can suggest the best way to search that specific trip.

The absolute best website for finding cheap flights depends on your specific travel needs, but Google Flights is the top overall choice for speed, powerful filtering, and price tracking.

To get the absolute lowest prices, it is best to compare results across a few different platforms, as each excels at different search strategies.

Top Booking and Aggregator Sites

• Google Flights : Best for overall research. It allows you to view a calendar of the cheapest dates instantly, track price trends, and filters out hidden fees. It redirects you to book directly with airlines, which makes customer service issues much easier to handle.
• Kayak : Best for comparing multiple third-party travel sites at once. Their "Hacker Fares" feature combines one-way tickets from different, competing airlines to create a cheaper round-trip total.
• Skyscanner : Best for flexible travelers. If you do not have a specific plan, you can type "Everywhere" in the destination box to see the cheapest countries and cities to fly into globally from your home airport.
• Momondo : Best for finding the absolute lowest third-party vendor prices. It searches smaller, alternative online travel agencies (OTAs) that larger search engines sometimes miss, though booking through these smaller agencies can make ticket changes more complicated.

How the Top Features Compare

If you have a specific trip in mind, tell me your departure city, destination , and travel dates so I can find the best flight options or set up a price alert for you!

If your goal is the cheapest airfare, I’d use a combination rather than one site:

• google.com — best overall starting point. It’s fast, has excellent date/price graphs, lets you compare nearby airports, and offers price tracking.
• skyscanner.com — best for bargain hunting. Its “Everywhere” search and broad coverage of budget airlines can uncover fares Google Flights misses.
• going.com — best for deal alerts. Instead of searching yourself, it sends you unusually cheap fares, flash sales, and mistake fares.
• kayak.com — good for a final price check, particularly when you want to account for baggage and other fees.

My favorite strategy

Google Flights → Skyscanner → airline's own website.

Use Google Flights to figure out the cheapest dates and normal price, Skyscanner to hunt for an even cheaper budget-carrier fare, then book directly with the airline when the price is comparable. This also helps avoid problems with questionable third-party agencies and “ghost” fares that disappear at checkout.

If you tell me where you're flying from, where you want to go, and roughly when, I can also help you hunt for the cheapest options.

According to travel experts and community consensus, Google Flights and Skyscanner are consistently rated as the best sites for finding the cheapest base airfares. Because no single website holds a monopoly on the lowest price, the standard best practice is to use "metasearch aggregators" to compare hundreds of airlines simultaneously, and then book directly on the official airline website to protect your tickets against cancellation or change issues.

Top Sites for Flight Searches

Step-by-Step Strategy to Snag the Lowest Price

1. Use the "Explore Everywhere" Feature : If you don't care exactly where you fly, leave the destination blank in Google Flights or Skyscanner . They will display a global map pinned with the cheapest locations to fly to from your current airport.
2. Consult the Price Graphs : Use the calendar grid features on Google Flights to instantly spot which specific days of the week drop significantly in price.
3. Cross-Check an All-in-One Dashboard : Use a platform like FlightsFinder to pull comparative side-by-side search columns from Google, Kayak, and Skyscanner at the exact same time.
4. Book Direct : Once you locate the cheapest itinerary via an aggregator, open a separate window and buy your ticket straight from the airline (e.g., Delta, United, Ryanair). This avoids hidden processing markup fees and ensures easy customer service if your flight gets delayed.

I can pull up real-time route pricing for you if you share your departure city , your intended destination , and approximate dates or season.

For most people, the best strategy is not using just one site—use a few that are good at different things.

Best places to find cheap flights

1. Google Flights — best starting point

   • Great for seeing the cheapest dates, nearby airports, price trends, and setting price alerts.
   • Best if you’re flexible about when or where you fly.

2. Skyscanner — best for “anywhere” searches

   • Good for finding unusually cheap destinations and budget-airline options.
   • Try the “Everywhere” destination search if you just want a deal.

3. Momondo — good for international and complex trips

   • Often useful for comparing many travel sites and finding less obvious combinations.

4. Going (formerly Scott’s Cheap Flights) — best for deal alerts

   • Instead of searching, you get notified about unusually cheap fares from your airport.

A simple cheap-flight routine

1. Search on Google Flights to find the cheapest dates.
2. Check the same route on Skyscanner and Momondo.
3. If the price is close, book directly with the airline (often easier if changes or cancellations happen).
4. Turn on price alerts if you’re not ready to buy.

A few money-saving tricks:

• Search nearby airports (for example, compare multiple airports in a region).
• Be flexible by a few days—Tuesday/Wednesday departures are often cheaper, though it varies by route.
• Compare one-way + one-way combinations, not just round trips.
• Watch the total cost after bags and seat fees.

If you tell me your departure airport, destination (or “anywhere”), dates, and number of travelers, I can suggest the best way to search that specific trip.

For most people, Google Flights is the best place to start. It’s fast, excellent for comparing flexible dates, and has price tracking and fare-trend information.

I’d use this approach:

• Google Flights — best overall for finding and comparing fares.
• Skyscanner — especially good if your dates or destination are flexible; its “Everywhere” search is useful for finding cheap destinations.
• KAYAK — worth checking as a second comparison, particularly for alternative booking sources and fare alerts.
• Going — good if you want deal alerts rather than searching for a specific flight; it can flag unusually cheap fares and sales.

My rule: search Google Flights → cross-check Skyscanner/KAYAK → then check the airline's own website before buying. The cheapest third-party fare isn't always the best deal once baggage, restrictions, and customer service are considered.

If you tell me where you're flying from, destination, and approximate dates, I can also help you figure out where I'd search and what would count as a good fare.

Finding cheap flights comes down to using the right aggregators, tracking tools, and timing strategies. Here are the best places to search and how to use them effectively:

• Google Flights is the gold standard for fast, flexible searching. It features a robust grid/calendar view for comparing dates and a price tracking toggle that alerts you when fares drop. Access it via Google Flights.
• Skyscanner excels at broad, open-ended searches. If you type "Everywhere" into the destination box, it will show you the cheapest countries and cities you can fly to from your origin during a specific month or year. Check it out at Skyscanner.
• Kayak is great for its "Hacker Fares," which combine two one-way tickets on different airlines to save money, and its comprehensive filter options. Explore options on Kayak.
• Hopper is a mobile app that analyzes historical pricing data to predict whether you should buy now or wait for a lower price, sending push notifications when fares are at their lowest. Learn more at Hopper.
• Going (formerly Scott's Cheap Flights) is a subscription email service that sends hand-curated flight deals and mistake fares straight to your inbox. Sign up or browse on Going.
• Momondo often finds lower prices for international or multi-city itineraries by scouring smaller online travel agencies (OTAs) that other major search engines might miss. Compare prices at Momondo.

If you want, tell me:

• Your departure city and destination (or if you are open to anywhere)
• Your approximate travel dates or season

I can help you figure out the best tool to use or give you a ballpark of what a good price looks like.