Almost Free Travel- Flights

When I’m itching to travel but have very little money for a trip, there are certain things I do in order to find almost free travel, and the planning always begins with transportation. Finding cheap flights is what takes up the majority of my budget. So in this series called Almost Free Travel that’s where I’ll begin.

Dirt Cheap Flights

There are tons of airline discount sites and apps to help you to find cheap flights, but there are so many it’s hard to know where to go or which ones are best. Below are a few of my favorites, including a few new ones I’ve heard a lot of great reviews about by other travel influencers.

There are tricks that you can use, but usually, you’ll have to sacrifice in order to take advantage of them. If you have specific vacation dates, you’re not as likely to get great deals. I’m lucky that I can be really flexible with my travel plans, both with my availability and choice of destinations.

To be honest, I had never had Guatemala on my bucket list but ended up going there for three days and two nights because I found a one penny crazy deal.

If you need to bring every hair appliance and beauty and grooming product, as well as four purses and matching shoes, you will have to pay baggage fees that I refuse to pay. If I only a few cute outfits with me but I can afford 36 countries in a year and a half, and you’re frustrated because you can maybe afford one trip in a year…maybe you should consider which one of us is really sacrificing more?

If you’re willing to be a bit flexible, you ‘ll be amazed at the kind of deals you’ll find.

Before you begin:

• Go to a cafe or library to check prices.  I’ve read that airlines are able to track your search inquiries through your IP addresses, so whenever you can try to use another computer, especially from a library, school computer lab, or from a friend’s laptop if possible.
• When using your phone or laptop, use incognito browsing, and clear your search every time so your cookies don’t give you away.
• Search at just the right time. If you’re looking too far in advance, or at the last minute, cheap fares are harder to find. For domestic flights, it’s best to buy around 45 days in advance. For international flights try to book 2 months before you go.

Below is a list of sites to get you started. If you can take a few hours to compare prices, you’re probably going to find something affordable.

•  ITA Matrix. Travel agents use this those in the industry use this to find the cheapest fares, and while the average traveler cannot buy directly through ITA, it does give you a really good idea of what the lowest prices are. Use your knowledge as a starting point to save you some legwork.
• Skyscanner. Make sure you search for the entire month rather than checking for specific dates. If you can be flexible, websites like Skyscanner which allows you to see prices for every day of the month, saving you a lot of time.
• Google Flights. I’m often surprised at how low the fares are on Google. However, this is just where I usually start.
• Kayak. Kayak Hacker Fares allows you to find one-way options that can be significantly lower than a round trip price.
• Expedia. I’m not a huge fan of Expedia, but I do check to see which airlines actually fly into the city or country I want to visit. Then, I go directly to the airline’s website to find cheaper fares.
• Wow Air. I cannot tell you how much I love this airline. I took the long way to get to Morocco through Wow; Newark to Iceland to England, and finally, to Marrakech, but the cost one way was less than $200, and included an overnight visit with family in London. Budget Airlines like Wow aren’t listed on Expedia or other discount fare sites, so I always go directly to the airline’s website if I know they fly into (or close to) the city I’m visiting.
• Always look on budget airline websites like Spirit Air, Norwegian, Ryan Air and Easy Jet. I LOVE each of these airlines, in spite of the fact that many people complain about their baggage fees, and because some of them don’t even offer free water, and that their seats are tiny and cramped. These things are true. But I have gotten flights from NYC to Mexico, Guatemala, and Jamaica for one penny each (really), and to London for $69. I’m serious; I can buy my own damn water if it means I’m going to save hundreds of bucks on my ticket! JetBlue, SouthWest, Ryan Air, Wow Air, Norwegian, and EasyJet are seriously the first airlines I check after Google Flights and Skyscanner.
• If you’re plan is to backpack around Asia, there are also some super cheap airlines you can check out that may not show up on Skyscanner or in other searches. Check these airlines out for prices as low as $20: AirAsia, Scoot, NokAir, and JetStar.
• Airfare Watchdog. This site is one of my favorites. Airfare Watchdog helps you find error tickets, browse flexible dates for lower fares, and will send you updates when fares drop even more. Usually, when airlines make mistakes they will honor a flight you paid a crazy fare for, so always check here first. Airlines will often catch their error flights immediately, but try here first and see what you come up with.
• Momondo is a really hot site where you can get shockingly low fares on international flights.
• WhichBudget.com, Kiwi.com, flylc.com are also sites you should check out for international fares. 
•  Adioso. If, like me, you’re more interested in finding the cheapest fares and not dead set on one specific destination, check out Adiaso. If you’re on a budget, but you can be flexible, you can be really non-committal in your search, especially if you’re open to various destinations and dates. If you’re “just looking” until the right fare crops up, you can sign up for email alerts and see if the price drops then buy.
• Flightfox. This site is sort of like going to a travel agent, only people scramble and do all the work for you online, and you choose the best option based on the fare and routes they find. There’s a fee for this, but you could end up with significant savings, especially when going to multiple destinations.

Many people also use Twitter and phone apps like Hopper and Hitlist as well, but I’m not a fan of either. No reason, I’m just not on Twitter, and Hitlist doesn’t seem to offer me the deep discounts other sites have, but I’ve gone to blogger conferences and heard people rave about finding great deals this way.

Multi-City/ Open Jaw Tickets

Whichever website or airline you use, always check the box that says “Multi-City”. This is called Open Jaw tickets. You’ll be surprised at how much of a discount you can get if you’re willing to be flexible and take the long route. I’ve had really cool stopovers in Miami, Taiwan, Singapore, Iceland, London, and so many other places, plus I’ve gotten cheaper tickets by doing this.

Find the Cheapest Connecting Flight/ Airport

For example, if I’m going to Mexico, Guatemala, any place in the Caribbean, the cheapest way for me to get there is for me to fly out of is Fort Lauderdale where Spirit’s headquarters is located. I type in From NYC (all airports) to FLL (Ft. Lauderdale), and from FLL to Mexico. I also use this technique to get incredible deals around Europe and  Asia. I paid $20 from Bali, Indonesia to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and I’ve gotten crazy cheap prices to other places by checking where an airline’s hub is located.

Sign Up For Airline Newsletters

I don’t really read newsletters from airlines, but I do get Spirit’s newsletter to be alerted to Bare Fare Sales. However, I almost always find great fares by simply going to their site anytime I’m planning a trip. Spirit is able to offer the best deals because they offer bare fare deals without all the frills. While many don’t consider a bottle of water or at least one free bag or carry on as a “frill”, by charging extra for these things Spirit is able to offer unbelievable deals. Don’t wait for their special sales to check fares, but sign up for their email list anyway.

$9 Fare Club

I’m not a member of Spirit’s $9 Fare Club, but if you travel often to cities they fly to, it is worth it. However, you don’t actually have to sign up permanently. Before you actually pay for your flight you will usually be given the opportunity to sign up for a 60 day trial period for a small fee. You can either remain a member or just cancel within two months and be able to take advantage of the special rates.

Buy Your Ticket at the Airport

This won’t always work for me because in NYC if you take public transportation it will cost almost $3.00 for the subway, plus $5.00 for the AirTrain shuttle, so $16 plus the time it takes to get there and to stand in line. However, you’ll save at least $35.00 by always buying at the airport.

Never Pay to Choose Your Seat

I never pay to choose my seat, unless I’m going on a 17-hour long haul flight to Asia. But for domestic trips, I have a little hack that often works.

When you get to the gate, ask the person there if they need any volunteers to sit in the Exit Row seats. I get there early and let them know right away that I’m willing. There’s so much extra room, and you can often get a window seat.

Flight Attendant Gifts

Now, this is something I do because I think flight attendants have an extremely difficult, stressful job. I don’t do it to get upgraded or special treatment. However, they’re often really stunned that someone is thinking of them and let’s just say that sometimes I have ended up in first class unexpectedly. And although I don’t do it expecting that, I do have an ulterior motive. I put together a little goodie bag and include my business card so that they might check out my blog. If you’re going to give them a gift, just know that they’re not able to accept anything edible.

Don’t Check a Bag

Don’t check a bag unless you absolutely must. However, if you’re on Spirit, a carry on bag is not free, and it is actually cheaper to check a bag than it is for a carry-on. But I don’t usually even take a carry on. I use the biggest purse I can find for my personal item. I also bring an extremely lightweight raincoat that rolls up in a tiny ball, but I wear it on flights because it has tons of pockets that I can stash shit in. I look like a crazy person with stuff bulging all over the place, and I’m certainly not going to have any fine men hitting on me at the gate. But once I get on the plane I roll that baby up and stuff everything, including the raincoat, into a tiny travel bag.

If you aren’t as ghetto-fabulous as I am and want to pay a little bit in order to save in the long run, consider buying a travel vest or jacket. These are specifically made for travelers who want to avoid paying luggage fees. But still, I recommend just buying a mesh photographer’s or fisherman’s vest, which also have tons of deep pockets for you to carry everything.

Be Prepared for Taxes/ Fees

Of course, ultra-low-cost carriers like Spirit and the other airlines do charge taxes and fees. But when I went to Mexico and found one penny fares each day (make sure you’re flexible with travel dates) I ended up paying almost $50 once the government taxes and fees were added in. But $50 to go to Cancun was a pretty sweet deal. Especially when I had a really amazing time by sitting in on a timeshare spiel and ended up getting a free trip to Xcaret Eco Amusement Park, including an all you can eat lobster/ seafood buffet.

So if you are willing to put in the time and effort this takes and you’re aware of the conditions you can find fantastic deals, maybe not always for a penny, but pretty damn cheap.

For more tips, tricks and travel hacks, check out these articles here and here.

Time Shares

Time Shares get a bad rap. Now wait a minute; I’m not suggesting you actually buy one or join a Timeshare group. I’m saying they get a bad rap because the salespeople tend to be so damn pushy, and their high-pressure sales tactics tend to wear people down. But if your budget is similar to mine, you might not even have a credit card.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t take advantage of the amazing benefits you get just for listening to the spiel that they always promise will take just one hour and a half, but plan on three.

The trick with getting free shit from Timeshares is to just say no. Kinda’…not a hard no, but a maybe. I don’t mean don’t buy into a Timeshare (I wouldn’t, but some people do love theirs), I mean play hard to get. Don’t say no exactly…be a tease. Say maybe. Hum and haw and string them along as if you could be interested, but you’re not sure. The more reluctant you are, the more they offer you. And never give in to the first person you talk to. Wait for them to go talk to their manager and then they will come back to you with a much better deal.

When you are approached in touristy destinations like Cancun (and you will be), act like you’re curious and mildly interested but that you could take it or leave it. If you show enough interest, they’ll start their hard sell with you. Just keep saying, “Well, I’ll think about it, maybe later,” they will then begin adding incentives to sweeten the deal.

When you sense they’re almost ready to give up and hang up on you, then agree to listen to a timeshare spiel. As long as you make the decision beforehand to not purchase a timeshare (ever), you can get really cool things like free accommodations, all you can eat lobster and seafood buffets, tickets to amazing places like Xcaret, an eco-archaeological amusement park in Mexico, and sometimes even free flights.

Timeshare hustlers (and I say that lovingly; I’m from Brooklyn) usually offer you something you have to pay for but at a “bargain” price.

Make sure you keep stringing them along and not the other way around. I absolutely love exchanging an hour and a half of my time for the freebies timeshare hustlers give. Just stick to your guns and don’t let them keep you longer than the time you negotiated, don’t give in and buy!

And be prepared; they’ve got an answer for everything. I once sat with my friend (she’s the one who had a credit card) and in the end, after they discounted the price ten times from $35,000 to $5,000, I “confessed” to them that she only had a few months to live, and they had a comeback for that, too.