Best source for cheap international flights?

[Hermes]

Hi all,

I have an unexpected (but very happy) 5 weeks off of work. I'm trying to find a good source for cheap, international flights. Any ideas? I'm particularly looking for places that are safe for a female to travel alone. So far I've checked kayak.com, google flights, and a local blog.

 

[Jenna]

I use a booking company that books tickets using my credit card points. It costs about $100 pp per ticket. It's a great value. Just booked Portugaul-lie flat business class using Chase Ultimate Reward points. Got $14,000+ value for about $700 total in fees/booking fee.

 

[brett]

We use itmatrix, google flights, skyscanner (great for regionals in Asia, Europe, Oz). Also look at flightconnections.com to see who flies direct on some routes.

We typically try to book through the airline but have used Orbitz and expedia in the past.

You might want to look at travelzoo to see what offers they may have.

 

[Luvdogs]

I subscribe to Going (formerly Scott's Cheap Flights).

I just received an email from them for $534 round trip from Miami to Porto (probably extra for checked bag) but as Clark Howard says, find a cheap place to fly and then decide what you want to do there. I pay for the "special deals??" but there's a free version.

Norse also has cheap flights but I'm a little concerned that by the time the flight date would roll around that they would be out of business.
Also Icelandair has reasonable flights; I read recently that Iceland is the safest country in the world. I was there a couple of years ago and saw a lot of solo travelers.

 

[Happyras]

Also Icelandair has reasonable flights; I read recently that Iceland is the safest country in the world. I was there a couple of years ago and saw a lot of solo travelers.

I got the email from Iceland Air they are having a sale again. You have to keep searching various dates, but they do have great fares. We flew to Iceland last year, did a few nights layover and on to AMS. Round trip in business was perfect, they always connect in Iceland but fly to many cities in Europe.

I really like Iceland, and their various Gin's! The Gin menu on Iceland Air is awesome.

 

[Koolau]

Maybe find another single lady to go with you to cut the lodging costs in half. It would increase safety as well. A wingman (oops - wing person) can watch your six and add a lot of safety. Two "guts" are better than one when you travel to places you've never been.

When I traveled Europe, I think I ate maybe 3 meals in a regular restaurant. The remainder were at the hotel dining room (guests only) or bag of rolls and sliced cold cuts. It can be cheap to eat if you w*rk at it. YMMV

 

[athena53]

I got the email from Iceland Air they are having a sale again. You have to keep searching various dates, but they do have great fares.

This is true of most airline "sales". Never a list of dates, destinations, prices. Always hunt and hope. Having said that, I love Iceland and I prefer to book directly with an airline. It avoids the complications of an entity in the middle and it assures that the fares are legitimate and don't violate any rules (see recent flap on "skiplagged" fares).

When I traveled Europe, I think I ate maybe 3 meals in a regular restaurant. The remainder were at the hotel dining room (guests only) or bag of rolls and sliced cold cuts. It can be cheap to eat if you w*rk at it. YMMV

Local grocery stores are great. You mix with the locals, you see new foods and you save $$. Particularly helpful if you have an Airbnb with a kitchen or even a hotel fridge.

And, as a female who's done a ton of solo travel, just about anywhere in Europe/the UK is fine - no worse than major cities in the US where you have to stay out of dodgy-looking areas and keep your wits about you. I would not bop around India on my own (and I love India) and would avoid most of the Middle East but I'm sure there will be people who even disagree on the Middle East.

 

[Surewhitey]

I have a wife who is always looking for a great getaway. She knows how to maximize points. I feel like it has been 5 years since we paid for air... We just used points for Italy last year and Portugal /Spain this year. Also our trips to Cozumel often. I think we used 45k points pp, rt for Europe (American) and 12.5k miles ea leg to Cozumel which is most times as expensive as Europe.

Otherwise we use Google Flights to start the process.

 

[sengsational]

One technique I've found helpful is to put in your destination as your origin and find which airlines have a lot of planes flying there. You can do an "explore" and maybe find an airport you could fly through. For east coast US to Europe, I've found business class for 1/3 the price of business class out of my local airport. And it doesn't show on any booking site since it's got to be two tickets.

 

[athena53]

One technique I've found helpful is to put in your destination as your origin and find which airlines have a lot of planes flying there. You can do an "explore" and maybe find an airport you could fly through. For east coast US to Europe, I've found business class for 1/3 the price of business class out of my local airport. And it doesn't show on any booking site since it's got to be two tickets.

Ooh, I like it! I don't live near a hub airport so I always have to connect somewhere in the US before a transatlantic. I will definitely be trying this. It does mean you might have to schedule a long layover since you can't check bags through and you're on your own for a missed connection but I do that anyway.

 

[imbatman]

Google Flight Alerts and Skyscanner....I also am trying to clean out my frequent flyer points, the redemption prices are generally going up (devaluation) and the difficulty in finding availability just makes it a not pleasant activity.

 

[check6]

For cheap airfairs consider marrying someone in the airline industry. The more senority they have the better. Even though I was already employed by an airline, I married my wife for her senority. It also helped that she was kinda cute too.

"Marry me and fly for free."

 

[REWahoo]

For cheap airfairs consider marrying someone in the airline industry.

Anyone else read that as "cheap affairs" ?

 

[brett]

It all comes down to where you are going and when you book.

This fall, air for us to Europe was on par or slightly higher than previous years. Fare to Portugal in June 22 was a bargain. Air to Mexico in March was the same as usual. Domestic air for a July trip was 25 percent or more higher that we would normally pay. We are flying to Morocco in two weeks. We booked the direct flight mid May for $625 USD. Had we booked a few weeks earlier it would have been $560. USD.

OTOH, we often spend winters in Thailand/SE Asia. Air fares for us are up about 60-70 percent and have been for months. We keep shopping for better rates. None so far. We are hoping for a sale of some sort.

Our domestic fares are up considerably. Booking in advance has been the answer for us.

 

[Humbooster]

If you have a Capital One card their travel app is useful.

 

[Koolau]

Anyone else read that as "cheap affairs" ?

Heh, heh, good catch. A near Freudian slip??

 

[brett]

In the past we have done a fair amount on one ways to Europe because we were not sure of when we would be returning or from where.

There are a few airlines that offer good one way fares IF they serve your area.

We have also been very fortunate snagging one way tickets on BA through consolidators. We have had two one way flights to Istanbul that were priced at half the price of the best return that we could find.

We also shop by European gateway. We can fly to London or Paris, and then a LC ticket to get to Athens, Cyprus, Italy at a much more attractive total fare.

It takes a little work. Since retiring I do this on a regular basis. We are going to Morocco next week. It was far less expensive for us to fly to Montreal on a single ticket and then pick up a fare to Casablanca. On the same airline no less.

Last year our one way fare on TAP to Toronto-Madeira (via Lisbon) was less expensive than a one way to Lisbon. Coming home five weeks later, our flight on Transat from Faro, Portugal to Toronto had a base fare of $300CAD ($225USD). The best part....it eliminated the need to travel back to or fly from Lisbon, or buy a connecting TAP flight from.through Lisbon at a considerably higher price.

It does take some shopping though but my time is cheap.

 

[CosmicDreamer]

For cheap airfairs consider marrying someone in the airline industry. The more senority they have the better. Even though I was already employed by an airline, I married my wife for her senority. It also helped that she was kinda cute too.

"Marry me and fly for free."

I traveled the world while working. I accepted jobs in different countries, and they gave me free plane tickets. Sometimes I got a good salary, and other times not so good, but I still accepted the jobs, especially if I hadn't been to that country before. I did this for several years, until the COVID-19 pandemic happened.

 

[yakers]

Iceland Air is about the cheapest regularly scheduled airline and we stay over a few days’free’ on each trip