best tips to save on international flight that you’ve actually used?

Posted by modarasaad@reddit | Shoestring | View on Reddit | 20 comments

i plan to travel overseas (sydney to dubai/abu dhabi) to visit family during the winter. Im not too picky on the exact dates but a roundtrip from end of November until the end of January is my itinerary. any one have any advice on how to save on flight tickets for such a trip? is booking this soon better? because they’re usually incredibly expensive and i hear there are nonconvential ways/loopholes for saving a lot. curious to hear people’s tips :)

[-]

TravelTechHelper@reddit

One thing that worked for me on long-haul trips was staying flexible with airlines and dates. I once got a Sydney to Europe roundtrip for under 800 AUD by flying midweek and choosing a less popular carrier. Also, check mixed itineraries where you fly into one hub and out of another, it can save a lot. For reference, I managed two months in Europe with flights plus cheap data for less than 20 € a week, so small savings add up quickly. Safe travels and good luck hunting deals.

[-]

bink152@reddit

I’ve done Sydney → Middle East a couple of times and learned a few tricks:

Booking a couple months out usually got me the best price (I booked in Sept for a Dec trip and it was way cheaper).
Flying into Abu Dhabi instead of Dubai sometimes saved a few hundred, and it’s an easy transfer.
Multi-city routes (like via Singapore or KL) can come out cheaper than direct.
I always set Google Flights alerts and just jumped when the price dipped.

Also, try to avoid peak days around Christmas/New Year’s — shifting by even 2–3 days made a big difference for me.

[-]

LittleScore7119@reddit

Fly www.tui.com.

[-]

ZucchiniSalt7772@reddit

Use travel agents to price match online searches. They often have access to more tickets or decent deals.

[-]

DifferentEqual6976@reddit

How do you find these travel agents?

[-]

ZucchiniSalt7772@reddit

You can just ring up or visit anywhere legitimate. There are several in Australia that I’ve used.

[-]

Incon4ormista@reddit

From SYD you may be able to save a little with budget airlines, Scoot via SIN or Cebu Pacific out of Manila.

[-]

Mimisuperhero@reddit

apply for a credit card to earn welcome bonus points and use it to book flights. For the last 3 years, i barely paid out of pocket for any of my flights. All booked via credit card points.

[-]

reindeerflot1lla@reddit

Sooner is usually cheaper, try not to wait until any later than <3 weeks before leaving.
Check multiple websites (google flights, kayak, momondo, etc)
If you're real flexible, like +/- a month or more, consider signing up for Going.com (formerly Scott's Cheap Flights). They send alerts for mistaken fares, sudden drops, and uncommon changes you may be able to save huge $ from.
Don't be afraid to tinker with the options. For example, with your flight itenerary, open Google Flights and look at flights from SYD, MEL, BNE, etc. and also going to AUH, DXB, etc. Doing this will check all permutations for each set of targets and show your best deal for that day. Once you see a pattern of cheapest flights, search only that departure/arrival combo and you should be able to see the calendar and prices for each date to/from your destination.
Booking through the host website is almost always cheapest. Some sketchier sites will advertise on Google Flights for cheaper rates, but a) often they're unreliable, and b) if you have any issues, complaints, or need rebooking in your travels, you'll be screwed. Usually they can claim moderate savings, $100 or less, but in my experience it's not been worth it.
Lastly, if you're really tinkering, find a major intermediate hub and see if you can find a cheaper pair of flights instead of flying direct. Remember, if you say you want to fly SYD-DXB, Google Flights and most other carriers will offer only direct and in-partner flights. That means flights that aren't partnered will be ignored (for this example, you may find a cheaper flight to say Doha, Singapore, Kuala Lampur, etc and then find a completely different airline for the next leg. This is time-intensive to search, but can often be rewarding if $ is your biggest issue. I've used it extensively flying from the US to places in Western Asia and the Middle East, as once you're in Europe there are a ton of budget airlines that can get you the next leg, but none are partnered with the airlines I'd be flying over the pond with. I find setting up a little spreadsheet to keep track of the costs useful when going through the permutations with this method as well.

Best of luck!

[-]

Individual_Stay3923@reddit

I get my tx early on delta and then monitor prices and the. cancel, get an e credit at then buy at the lower price,,…did this over three months and saved 400$…ecredits have to be used within a year but that’s not a problem for me, ..have been watching again and prices now way up .

[-]

Individual_Stay3923@reddit

I always use the airline website, not the cheapies,

[-]

xqueenfrostine@reddit

While this is good practice, it’s also a good idea not to only limit yourself to the airline you’re flying on and to also check out prices with their alliance partners. I got a round trip ticket to Amsterdam from Dallas on Delta for $380 earlier this year that I booked through KLM. The exact same flight was going for about twice that on Delta’s own website, and since KLM’s Economy Light class includes more than Delta Main Basic, booking with KLM gave me a better boarding group and free seat selection. And since KLM codeshares these flights, you get the same protections as booking with Delta instead of the risk you take booking with third party sites.

[-]

SPNYC138@reddit

Book between 2-4 weeks from departure and combo hotel, and car with it. Was just able to get a 4 night in Bucharest with the flight, car, and hotel that was more expensive than the Marriot for under $900 total from NYC and that was on Lufthansa both ways.

[-]

Akash_nu@reddit

It really depends on where you’re planning to fly from.

For example, I’m in London, and in my experience, long-haul flights are often much cheaper from other cities in Europe. A short hop from London to one of these cities can cost me about a fifth of the price difference.

[-]

Also also easy low risk way of trying 4/7 places per week

Take caution on the rating tho they don’t lie

[-]

Worrybrotha@reddit

ChatGPTs agent mode will help you find the cheapest price.

[-]

SalamancaVice@reddit

This might be of use;

[SUMMARY] How to Find Cheap Flights