Hello! In this article, I will talk about how to fly around the world as cheaply as possible, knowing a variety of tricks and tricks. The article was prepared for a very long time and finally waited for the publication! All advice is based on our personal experiences or those of our traveling friends.

This post starts a series of articles on air travel. Material is being prepared for publication on a comparison of all leading ticket search engines, on the basic rules of the largest airlines, as well as instructions for searching and booking tickets on the Internet.

Well! Go!

Basic knowledge about booking flights

1.

The most profitable way to buy air tickets is through metasearch engines. They collect information from hundreds of airlines and offer you a choice in different price categories and with different conditions. The most popular search engines today are and . We use skyscanner. Competition among search engines is very high, so each service tries to offer some unique services.

For example, Skyscanner allows for flexible searches. To do this, it is not necessary to indicate the country of arrival and any specific dates. You can view great deals across the board.

At the same time, you can see ticket prices for a whole month or even a year.

Airsales offers another interesting feature - " ", which has many interesting filters to select the most successful and suitable tickets.

Aviasales also has a pleasant and convenient service "". Here you can search by flexible parameters. Including, you can specify such a criterion as: availability of a visa, length of stay, budget.

To be honest, Aviasales has never found tickets for me cheaper than Skyscanner, but to be sure, you should check tickets in different search engines. Search engines do not charge a commission for their services, so you can book through them safely and without any extra burden on your budget.

2.

It is believed that the best price for air tickets is two months (50-60 days) before the departure of the flight. The fewer empty seats on the plane, the higher their cost. Nevertheless, companies often arrange various promotions and sales, so there is no clear pattern in terms of timing. Sometimes we see that tickets get cheaper closer to the date.

In general, one can distinguish three periods to buy the cheapest tickets: for a year, for two or three months, for a few days (hot deals). The latter option is suitable for those who are ready for adventure, surprises and adventures, because. There is no 100% guarantee that tickets will appear at all in this case.

3.

Buying tickets There and back again often cheaper than a one-way ticket. It would seem that this is very strange and completely illogical, but it is true. Therefore, many people buy a round-trip ticket just to save money, and the return ticket is simply thrown away. With all the charm of this fact, it is worth noting that the most low-cost airlines do not always offer such an opportunity. Also, this scheme does not always work for very long distances.

4.

As a rule, buying a plane ticket for Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday is cheaper than for other days of the week. Weekend flights are the most expensive. There is also a nuance about the time: it is believed that prices for morning and night flights are cheaper. Therefore, when looking for tickets, look for different departure time. Moreover, there is a dependence on the time at which you are looking for tickets! For example, booking air tickets at night or early in the morning before the start of the working day will cost less. Often, ticket prices are lower at this time, and there is more choice.

5.

One more thing about dates. If you do not have iron terms, be sure to look at the offers on different dates. It often happens that even for neighboring dates the price of a ticket differs twice!

6.

The same applies to departure and arrival cities. For example, many international flights much cheaper when departing from Moscow, and not from St. Petersburg. Often people living in St. Petersburg buy air tickets from Helsinki, and they already get to it ground transport. In terms of time, this is not very profitable, but it can significantly reduce transportation costs on your trip. Try to look for flights from neighboring cities to yours.

7.

Today, flights are very developed on low-cost airlines- budget airlines. Unlike conventional airlines, they have many restrictions (for example, on baggage), on-board service is not included in the ticket price, and it is almost impossible to return or exchange a ticket. But the main thing is that flying on low-cost airlines is really very cheap! In Europe, sometimes prices start from one euro! So, tickets costing up to 10 euros between some European cities The airline almost always has one. Known for its stunning prices and.

For longer flights, you need to look at different companies. Full list all low-cost airlines in the world on each continent can be found. Then you need to look for tickets already on the airline's website.

8.

Also in some cases you can fly on charter flights. Charter flights are the flights booked by travel agencies for their tours. If there are empty seats on the plane, agencies start selling plane tickets separately from tours. As a rule, this happens shortly before departure, so such tickets are called "burning". Charter flights do not fly to all destinations, but only to popular ones. But a flight on such a flight will cost many times cheaper than on a regular regular one.

You can find a suitable flight on one of the sites:

• Charter flights from the Oneaero-GoCharter alliance (I use this site)
• Air tickets for charter and regular flights
• Company "CHARTERPAN"
• Avia-Mir company
• All charters
• Internet project "Charterbilet.ru"
• Professional travel portal (section "Exchange")

9.

Airfare prices are highly dependent on seasonality". As a rule, in the summer, during the holidays, on new year holidays, for May and November holidays(for Russia) flights are more expensive! But this primarily applies to popular destinations. Unpopular destinations at any time of the year are more expensive, due to their low demand.

10.

Do not take a lot of things with you, but if possible, limit yourself to hand luggage. Behind baggage allowance some airlines charge extra. Exceeding the norm can also cost money. Before flying, be sure to read the rules of your airline so as not to get into a mess.

Advanced knowledge about booking airline tickets

11.

If you have time and you are preparing for the trip in advance, good way save on flights subscribe to news about price reduction for the destinations you have chosen. The search engine has such functionality. To do this, you first need to search in the desired direction, then along with the search results, a window with a subscription to a price reduction will appear.

12.

In general, experienced travelers are subscribed to many different mailing lists from airlines and search engines. Such mailings are usually devoted to discounts and promotions. Thus, you can be the first to know about really cheap tickets, and immediately book them. Go through the websites of airlines that fly to the regions you need and leave your e-mail. One family we know in this way flies all over Europe for a penny. As soon as there is a promotion, they immediately book tickets. And if suddenly it is impossible to fly on these dates, tickets are simply thrown away. The ticket price of a few euros allows this.

At the same time, this method of saving has a significant disadvantage. Often, under the auspices of promotional tickets, airlines send out letters with regular prices. Because the average traveler is unlikely to be well versed in prices and cannot determine whether the price is really reduced in this promotion. That is why all prices must be double-checked. We advise you to subscribe not to all mailing lists in a row, but only to verified ones.

• There is a subscription to sales on the search engine website.
• A lot of the coolest promotions on air tickets can be found in the group " Cheap tickets and ways to fly almost for free ».
• Interesting and real promotions are often placed in the group " Make a trip ».
• If you know of any other cool resources, please share in the comments.

13.

Under this mystical number, I want to tell you about one thing mysterious reception, which is used by various sites for finding air tickets. They say that this method of knocking money out of the buyer has not yet reached the Russian online market, but it’s better to be on the alert. This is called "separate pricing" or in other words "different prices for the same product for people with different incomes."

The price of an air ticket can be overstated in several cases:

1. You check prices again in areas that have already been explored. Most of the sites you visit remain on your computer. This information is used by ticket search websites. They see that you have already viewed these tickets, but did not buy them. So, you are slow in making a decision, and you need to hurry. Therefore, with each subsequent search, tickets to the same destinations are more expensive. You start to panic and buy tickets at a premium.

To avoid this, view prices through the "Incognito" mode, which is easily enabled in any browser. Or manually clear the cache after searching for tickets.

2. You Apple product owner. A shocking fact, but sites are able to determine from which device and which operating system you access the Internet. If you use a high-end MacBook, then you are rich and the ticket price can be increased for you. Abroad, this technique is used all the time, and many owners of apple devices are indignant when they see real ticket prices. On the Russian-speaking Internet, this has not yet been noticed. I don't have an iPhone to check, so if necessary, you can test this item and write to us about the current situation.

To avoid this ridiculous situation, look for tickets from a computer / smartphone from another manufacturer.

3. You book a ticket from a rich country. For people with an IP address of the USA, Switzerland, Australia and other countries where the standard of living is very high, ticket prices will be higher. While in prosperous, but secure Germany, prices will be adequate, because. Germans are known for their exorbitant rationality. Internet marketing is a serious thing that has long been learned to work with an online audience.

A good option to hide your data on the global network is an anonymizer. This is a special service that allows you to remain anonymous on the Internet. There are a lot of sites with anonymizers, one of them. To work in anonymous mode, you need to go to any of these sites and enter in a special form the site that you want to visit unnoticed.

In addition, some sites use such marketing techniques, like flashing bright buttons that say “two tickets left” or “this is the lowest price”. Don't believe and don't panic. This is just a trick, look for your tickets calmly.

14.

If you are planning a trip for the next holidays, try using a good search engine service. This site has a section Fly away for the holidays», where the aggregator displays a list of the cheapest tickets for certain holiday weekends.

15.

Most airlines have their own bonus systems for regular customers. This usually consists of accumulating "miles" - a virtual currency for those flights that you have already taken. Miles remain virtual until you accumulate enough miles to convert them into a completely real plane ticket. Thus, if you often fly on the same airline, sooner or later you will be able to get absolutely free ticket or even a few tickets just from the bonuses you have accumulated. This is the same as any other funded scheme, which is often offered to us in supermarkets, branded stores, and so on.

How it works? Example from personal experience

I have been a member for a long time. For each flight with Aeroflot and its partners, virtual miles were credited to my bonus account. I also received miles for purchases made with a City Bank card, because my card was linked to this bonus account. Many banks cooperate with Aeroflot. However, all major airlines have many partner banks.

In two years of hoarding, I accumulated 14,700 miles. At the same time, the cheapest flight in Russia cost 17,000 miles. I thought that I would not accumulate the missing 3000 for a very long time, and the miles also have an expiration date. That is why I donated all my miles to the Podari Zhizn charitable organization. Such a transfer is very easy to carry out directly in your account on the bonus program website. The Foundation uses these miles to fly sick children who need surgery in another country.

But I know a few people who have been more successful in this bonus program and several times flew absolutely free. This is a great way to save on flights if you manage to organize everything correctly.

Often, such programs have many pitfalls, so you should carefully study the rules when joining any program. For example, in order to receive bonuses, you need to have time to register your ticket in the system within a certain period from the moment of flight, and so on. At the same time, there are nice little things. So, some programs allow you to spend your miles not only on flights within the company, but also on various purchases in stores that are partners of the airline, on booking a hotel or renting a car.

16.

It is cheaper to fly to many countries not directly, but with transit transfer. Also, this option can be used if you want to see many cities in a short time.

If you fly through Singapore with a long transit time, you can use free tours by city, which Singapore Airport provides for those waiting for their flight.

You can pick up very interesting options for transit transfers. The main thing is to be sure that you do not need a transit visa for the selected countries. When buying tickets online, the largest transit transfers can be up to one to one and a half days. During this time, you can have a good look around in the new city, see the main attractions.

To increase the transit time, you can use a stopover. Stopover- this is the same transit stop, but stretched for up to three days. Many airlines provide stopover service free of charge, others charge extra. With proper planning, you can make several flights in a row with stopovers. It will turn out such a kind of air tour.

17.

Another way to save money is to dividing the flight into two stages: international and domestic. By the way, this works not only with airplanes, but also with all other modes of transport. The bottom line is that from the starting point you need to fly to any city in the destination country where there are the cheapest tickets. And inside the country, already get to the desired destination, either on domestic airlines(it's always cheaper than international flights, you can also use local low-cost airlines), or by bus / train / hitchhiking. Practice shows that tickets even to neighboring cities can vary greatly in price, although the distance between them can be quickly and cheaply covered by a local bus.

18.

Going to big cities, give preference secondary airport(Luton in London or the Gironde in Barcelona). Smaller airports often have government subsidies and serve low-cost airlines at good prices, which also affects ticket prices. Such airports usually have a good transport support, and getting from them to the city is not difficult. Although sometimes it can be quite difficult and expensive. You should think about how you will get from the airport to the city in advance.

19.

As you know, a direct flight usually costs more than transfer flight. You can play on this, knowing some tricks. Let's look at an example. You want to fly from Rio de Janeiro to La Paz. Direct flight costs $500. A flight from Rio de Janeiro to Lima, with a change in La Paz, costs $400. You buy a ticket to Lima but get off in La Paz. The main thing is to register a ticket not to the final destination, but to the transfer point. Also keep in mind that if you miss any part of the flight, you will cancel this ticket. Therefore, if you bought a round-trip plane ticket and missed a segment when flying there, then you will not fly back on this ticket.

20.

Before booking, check which permanent promotions the airline has. Many companies offer discounts to students, pensioners and other categories of citizens. Often, in order to receive a discount, you need to specify some special code or your individual discount number.

That's all for me. Fly safely, comfortably and cheaply! And in the comments, share with us your tricks on how to catch chip flights!

Many acquaintances are surprised how I manage to buy air tickets 2-3 times cheaper than others. Some do not believe that tickets abroad can be bought much cheaper than within their own country. Yes, there are some tricks here. I have long wanted to write this post and collect everything you need to know to buy cheap tickets. And finally :)

In this article, I will not tell platitudes about airline miles programs, and that it is better to buy tickets in advance at sales - everyone knows about this. I'll try to give more practical advice. But I'll start with the obvious... Many independent travelers ignore charters, but in vain - it can save a lot of money.

Life hack 1. The first and most obvious is to take cheap tours or charter tickets when traveling abroad. But keep in mind that in this case you are limited either by the number of days of your stay, or when using a ticket only “there”, you can buy a return ticket very expensive.

Once I was lucky to buy two tours for the price of one flight “there” - this happens especially often in regions where there are not always direct flights even to Europe, but charters fly.

On the tour, you can use only the flight, and settle down where it is more convenient, or arrange your own trip around the country. You just need to make sure that the return plane does not fly away without you - after all, charters are often transferred. To do this, arrange for a travel agent to keep you informed, or return to the base hotel the day before departure.

It is better to plan a trip in advance and buy a single ticket immediately there and back - usually such tickets are non-refundable and all changes can only be made for an additional fee, so the trip must be planned without changes.

Life hack 2. Round-trip tickets are usually cheaper than round-trip tickets, so always check round-trip tickets, not just one-way tickets.
Important! It is not necessary to take a return ticket from the same city where you arrive. The main thing is that you take a return ticket in the same airline on a single route - choose a “composite route”.

But keep in mind that having bought a round-trip ticket, if you don’t fly “there”, then the return ticket will be lost. However, you can get sick and not go at all, and then what? Then even non-refundable rate can be returned by purchasing additional insurance.

Life hack 3. Fearing that you will not be able to fly, buy travel insurance that includes not only medical services, but also “trip cancellation” - this is cheaper than buying additional insurance on the airline’s website. But carefully read in the conditions what is insured - usually insurance does not compensate for losses if you just change your mind, but if you get sick and present a certificate from the hospital, then the money will be returned even for a “non-refundable” rate.

About what is better to take travel insurance, I already wrote.

In the photo: S7 airline specialists skillfully work with each passenger

Some people think it's best to sign up for "reduced ticket prices" mailing lists on airline websites, but that's just an airlines trick to get your e-mail. Thus, you will only receive advertisements and news about promotions that are already known to everyone. Therefore, it is enough to subscribe to news and promotions from the airline in social networks - there will be more benefits.

Life hack 4. It is better to monitor low prices on your own, because. there are usually few really cheap air tickets, they are quickly sorted out and such information never reaches mailing lists.

But what is the right way to search? If there are many airlines flying from your city, then it is quite difficult to monitor all sites in search of cheap air tickets. I tell:

What is the best website for cheap flights?

You can buy cheap air tickets on the airline's website, or you can use aggregator sites. Where is better? If the price is not as important as the airline, we are waiting for sales on the airline's website; if it is important to buy cheap tickets, and at the same time you don’t care which airline, we use aggregator sites, which are also called cheap flight websites. Moreover, on these sites you can find low prices even on lowcosts! Below I will show you how and where to look.

Many people know, for example, Yandex.Avia, but not everyone knows sites where you can not only compare tickets different airlines, but also pick up the cheapest month; and if you have already chosen a month, then the cheapest direction to fly to. This is very convenient when you want to fly somewhere, but cheap.

Life hack 5. With the help of sites of cheap air tickets you can find the cheapest city where to fly, and cheapest month and not just a day!

Where to look? Where prices are not higher than on the official websites of airlines. Many times I compared prices in aggregators with prices on the official websites of airlines. So far, I like Kupibilet.ru more than others - sometimes prices are even lower than on airline websites. I don’t know how it works, but it’s always nice to buy cheaper, especially since there are no problems with such tickets. After the purchase, you can call the airline directly and clarify by the reservation number - they always confirm, you don’t have to worry.

In addition, Kupibilet has a convenient service - selection of smart routes- connect flights of different airlines, and even free of charge insure against delays at the connection.
They did not like the bonus program, but otherwise everything is fine. Good support service. After the purchase, they send SMS with flight alerts and reminders - you can feel the care for the client, it's nice.

How to buy cheap flights within the country

Don't be afraid of connecting flights. Check also flights not only to the final destination, but also to other nearby airports.

For example, when going on vacation to Gelendzhik, check flights not only to Gelendzhik airport, but also to Krasnodar - from there in just 3 hours - this way you can save a lot on air tickets in the summer season.

Before buying a ticket, remember that the lowest price usually does not include food, luggage, seat selection and airport check-in– carefully read the conditions that are included in the carriage. For example, at the Pobeda airline, you have to pay extra for all this, they even take money for luggage inside the cabin (see tariffs).

Life hack 6. To fly cheaper:
- just take it with you hand luggage so that you do not have to pay extra for luggage;
- check in online on the airline's website, not at the airport;
- get on the plane full :)

However, keep in mind that not everything can be taken in hand luggage. Read in detail:. And also keep in mind that different airlines have different conditions - you will find details only on the airline's website.

If you are flying as a family and you have a lot of luggage, then first calculate how much money you will end up with: ticket price + seats to sit next to you + luggage + food on the plane. Perhaps a low-cost flight is ultimately unprofitable for you, then choose another airline and see the conditions.

Life hack 7. When searching for cheap flights, use the filters. For example, you can exclude unloved airlines from your search results, or you can only search for direct flights.

What is a low price calendar

If you know exactly where you want to fly, then the easiest way to find the cheapest flights is by using the low price calendar. We choose from where and where, and then open the calendar (click in the “there” form) and select dates with low airfare:

So, for example, according to the calendar, it is easy to find the cheapest flights from Moscow to Simferopol or Milan, from Kyiv to Odessa and to any other destinations.

How to buy cheap air tickets for direct flights

Most often, flights with transfers are cheaper than direct flights, but this is not always convenient. Therefore, if you want to save money, but still fly a direct flight, then you need to start looking for a ticket 6 months in advance using the low price calendar. Either the city that you need, you must search among the Hidden City (intermediate city). This travel hack is based on the fact that transfer tickets are cheaper than direct ones.

Life hack 8. The passenger is not obliged to fly to the end, he can get off at an intermediate stop! Such flights are sometimes more profitable than direct ones. This trick is called Hidden City.

Let me explain what Hidden City is. For example, you need to go to Paris, and the tickets are very expensive. However, you have learned that there are cheaper flights that fly somewhere else but stop in Paris. We take such a ticket, but we check in luggage only to Paris, and in Paris we leave. Ready!
Keep in mind that this only works with a one-way ticket!!!

Example.
I'll show you how it looks and where to watch Hidden City.
You have to take a direct flight from Moscow to Paris. We look at the calendar of low prices - the lowest price is 6348 rubles, here:

In the photo: a calendar of low prices for a direct flight Moscow - Paris

If we look for flights with “hidden city” (we look at the cheapest flights from Moscow with one transfer - check the box “1 transfer” as in the picture below), then we find that a flight from Moscow to Frankfurt with a stopover in Paris costs 3,781 rubles.

In the photo: ticket price Moscow - Paris using "hidden city"

We simply check in our baggage to Paris, and, well, we leave, respectively, in Paris! In total, we bought a direct flight to Paris almost 2 times cheaper.

Finding Hidden City is not easy, but it is possible - for example, on the Skiplagged website (eng).

How to fly abroad cheaply

We are looking for air tickets in the same way as already described above. Select the desired country and city.

Just keep in mind that tickets to popular cities can be much more expensive than less popular ones, from which you can comfortably take a bus for a penny, and at the same time see another city and.

In the photo: on the way in the Flixbus bus, wifi even worked

By the way, such bus trips are especially popular in Europe.

Life hack 9. Combine air travel with bus travel. If you are planning to visit a city where there are only expensive flights, check the ticket prices in the nearest cities, and you can get to the main city by bus - this way you can save up to 70% on air tickets!

For example, I want to fly to Vienna. Air tickets to Vienna are usually expensive. We open a regular map and find the nearest cities where air tickets are cheaper - Bratislava, Budapest (usually a flight is 2 times cheaper than to Vienna). It takes 1 hour to travel from Bratislava to Vienna by FlixBus bus, it costs 5 euros. From Budapest to Vienna it takes 3 hours by bus, it costs 14 euros.
FlixBus is quite a convenient low-cost bus in Europe, I traveled a lot with them. See instruction. In general, if without children, it is very convenient to move around. Val D'orcia - the best views and beautiful places in Tuscany, Italy

How to find out such the cheapest destinations? I already wrote about this above, but I will add a list of the most popular:

From Moscow, the lowest round-trip prices

• Bratislava (Slovakia) from 60 euros
• Cologne (Germany) from 70 euros
• Memmingen-Allgau (Germany, Munich) from 70 euros
• Minsk from 70 euro
• Milan (Italy) from 85 euro, Rome

From Kyiv, the lowest round-trip prices

• Warsaw (Poland) from 34 euro
• Tbilisi (Georgia) from 40 euros
• Prague (Czech Republic) from 45 euros

I talked about the most important thing, I just want to remind you that:

Life hack 10. If you found profitable air ticket, then it is better to buy immediately. While you make a purchase, the price is fixed for you, but as soon as you leave the site, the next time the price may change.

Also, don't be afraid to try something new! If you are tied to work and you have a vacation every year in the same month (not cheap for a flight), then at least change the place of vacation.

MOSCOW, August 24 — RIA Novosti, Natalia Dembinskaya. At the height of summer tourist season air tickets have traditionally jumped in price due to high demand and the desire of carriers to win back the winter calm. The Federal Antimonopoly Service is sure: pricing Russian airlines not transparent, but computer systems bought abroad help to confuse it. They allow you to inflate ticket prices, focusing only on demand - and all this is very similar to a cartel of carriers around the world, the regulator fears. About whether this is really so, how airlines and aggregator sites manipulate the price and how to learn how to "catch" cheap tickets on the Internet - in the material of RIA Novosti.

FAS vs sales robots

The fact that the price of goods in a market economy is determined by demand is known to everyone who is familiar with the basics of economic theory. As much as we would like, but air tickets are no exception. Companies use so-called sales robots - systems that automate the process of recalculating tariffs, which eliminates the need to do it manually. In their very application, experts do not see anything wrong.

“All over the world, antimonopoly legislation is much tougher than ours. If there were suspicions of some sort of collusion and attempts at monopolization, then long ago there would have been claims against these automated systems in other countries,” says Roman Gusarov, expert of the committee on Transport of the State Duma, editor-in-chief of the portal Avia.ru.

Automated systems really set tariffs depending on demand, and all their work is subject, in general, to the usual market laws of supply and demand, he notes.

The Secret of Early Selling

Ticket sales systems work according to a certain algorithm: two, three or four months in advance, when sales begin on specific flight, the airline sets the minimum price. It will go to those who buy in advance.

Starting to sell tickets in advance, carriers often offer them at seemingly unnecessarily low prices - often below cost. There is also an explanation for this: the company begins to bear the costs long before the flight. She pays for airport services, buys fuel - she needs funds to organize a flight.

Thus, passengers who are lucky enough to buy cheap air tickets at an early stage of sales actually lend to the airline: it is more profitable for it to reduce the cost, but not go to the bank for a loan. Almost all classic carriers do this.

Salon half empty or full

The common people are often worried about the question: why, if there are a lot of empty seats on the plane on the eve of departure, the price of tickets not only does not decrease, but, on the contrary, can grow two or even three times?

Here again purely market laws operate. Having sold a certain number of tickets, the company corrects the price upwards and starts working in profit. To pay for a classic airline flight, you need to sell 60-70% of seats in economy class. The low-cost carrier is almost 100%: it sells cheaper tickets with the expectation of a constant high load.

Therefore, with a good load, the airline will never reduce prices closer to the date of departure.

There is another reason why "last minute" fares are always high: most last-minute customers are business travelers.

They can usually afford to pay more, or their employer pays for them. This is just one of the simple examples of the complex and intricate mechanism of airline profitability management. Another tactic is that carriers may not offer the lowest fares at all on expectedly popular flights (with the exception of subsidized flights where flat fares apply).

Aircraft replacement

However, there are exceptions when at the last moment the price can suddenly drop: this happens when demand is too high - more than the airline expected.

For example, tickets for a specific flight are sold. The plane is already full, there are a few very expensive tickets. But the airline sees that requests continue to go on the flight, but there are no sales, and then it decides to put on a flight one and a half times more spacious aircraft. What's happening? Several dozens of free air tickets are immediately formed.

“When a carrier puts in a more spacious aircraft, and there is no more than a week left before departure, these tickets are no longer the last ones. There are a lot of tickets - the price immediately went down,” the aviation market expert explains.

Tricky aggregators

Popular aggregators and online ticket agencies are often accused of manipulating the price in order to force the visitor to buy a ticket as soon as possible. It works like this: the user is looking for a ticket in some direction, and with each next visit to the site, its price increases slightly. The buyer, fearing that the price will continue to rise, decides to buy a ticket right now.

“When searching in Skyscanner, users see prices from partners. As a metasearch engine, Skyscanner does not affect pricing in any way, but only loads all the fares available on a given route and ranks them by price,” said representatives of the popular airfare price comparison service.

However, experts do not exclude that various online booking systems actively use data collected about users, such as location, and the device from which the search is performed also plays a role. Based on all this, a conclusion is made about the solvency of the client.

Thus, according to the system, it shows a higher tariff for more solvent customers, and a minimal one for those who are conditionally "poorer".

What to do? You can, for example, use various anonymizers that allow you to log in from IP addresses different countries, and then compare rates and choose the most profitable one.

"In addition, it is better to access these sites without authorization. Much more is known about registered users: the personal account saves the history, how often and where a person flies, at what price he has already taken a ticket. By going anonymously, you can see lower fares", Gusarov recommends.

Round trip is cheaper

Practice shows: if you buy a round-trip flight from one airline, the price of each ticket is lower, and if you buy from different carriers, it is higher.

This happens because any airline is interested in getting a passenger twice. But when, for example, a Russian flies on a Moscow-Berlin flight in only one direction, she understands that he will still fly back, but already as her competitor. Therefore, he no longer wants to give a discount. This approach is practiced by absolutely all airlines in the world.

Booking a trip in advance is a guaranteed way to save money. In addition, if you have to give return ticket, the buyer will lose less money than if he bought it at the last moment.

— Travel in antiphase. Tickets are always more expensive for holidays and vacations - due to high demand. For example, tickets for the New Year holidays: it is better to buy them not from December 30 to January 10, but, for example, from January 7 to 15 - the savings will be significant.

- For the high season (summer), tickets must be purchased at least two to three months in advance, even better - six months in advance.

- Buy on sites, not from aggregators. The airline website is more likely to show an alternative: for example, an evening or night flight at low fares. The aggregator may not show this.

- Correct and shift dates. For example, on Wednesday a ticket can cost 20 thousand rubles, and on Thursday - already 10 thousand.

- Consider alternative options with a transfer, especially if it is short. By spending two or three hours of extra time, you can save a serious amount of money.

Mega instructions on how to find and buy plane tickets for the cheapest price! 15 tricks that will help you significantly bring down the price of air tickets.

• How to learn how to search and book tickets correctly?
• How to break the system and force the airlines to turn their cunning tricks against themselves?
• How to deal a crushing blow to the empire of air transportation, to know the Force and use it for the benefit of free travel?

The answers are in this article!

I love to travel, I fly often and I always try to do it cheaply, and even better for free. For ten years active travel and six years of work on the MAKE-TRIP website, I have accumulated a lot of experience and knowledge. In this review, I will tell you everything I know about finding the cheapest plane tickets. And if you're still not subscribed to my blog SINITSYN ▲ TRAVEL, subscribe! It contains a sea of ​​life hacks and personal travel experience - all for free.

The article is long, so please be patient. But it will definitely change your life, significantly increasing the time you spend traveling.

Go!

But nothing! Let's solve the problem :)

I hasten to convey space knowledge to you :)

1. Use search engines 100%

Where to look for cheap plane tickets? On sites that compare prices of different airlines and agencies. These services are called search engines. In 10-15 seconds they will find you the best price and the most convenient flight.

The two most popular and convenient search engines are Aviasales and Skyscanner. If you use them when looking for cheap flights, this is about 80-90% success. However, to get the full benefit from search engines, you need to use their capabilities at 100% - and not everyone does this: even travelers who are well acquainted with them do not know about a number of excellent features of these aggregators. Next, I will talk about all the cool features of search engines.

If you are looking for tickets only on airline websites or, God forbid, go to the aunts at the ticket office, then do not expect a meeting with cheap tickets.

Before buying tickets, check the price on both search engines for greater reliability - this way you will increase your chances of finding the cheapest plane tickets. Usually they find the same options, but sometimes there is a difference in price - 2-5%.

It is useful to have a search engine for cheap tickets always at hand. I advise you to install mobile app to your smartphone. Aviasales has convenient applications for Android(download), and for iPhone(download). In 2020, more than half of users are already looking for and buying tickets through mobile applications.

Let's remember! Cheap flight search engines are the easiest and most reliable way to find tickets at the lowest price.

Learn to cheat and fly cheap! Photo: © jrpboo / flickr.com.

2. Fly where it's cheaper

You will save: ≈ 20-70%.

: for the direction you need and specific dates, prices are always evil. I've dealt with this a thousand times already. The real law of meanness! But the system can be deceived - give up specific plans and fly to rest where it is cheaper. If you like this approach, then you will save a lot on tickets.

Advanced Search is Skyscanner's coolest search feature. I start many of my travels with it - I study all the cheapest tickets from the desired country / city and decide where to fly.

Do this:

1. In the window "Where" indicate the whole country or city from which it is convenient for you to fly. Plus, you can check the "Add nearby airports" box.
2. In the window "Where" write "Everywhere" or leave the field empty - now the search engine will search for the cheapest tickets to all countries of the world.
3. In the fields departure and return dates specify "Entire month" or "Entire year".

Aviasales also has a similar tool: low price calendar >>

Or use the low price map for Aviasales and Skyscanner - the essence is the same, only all low-cost flights are displayed on the world map. There is something inspiring about it!

Let's remember! Be flexible in your choice of destination and travel time, and you will save a lot.

Here is an example of how to fill out the search form on Skyscanner:

Search form for cheap air tickets in all directions at once.
List of cheap tickets from Moscow (round trip).
Photo: Eva Tushenkina © fishki.net.

3. Watch for price drops

You will save: ≈ 10-40%.

Ticket prices fluctuate like the pressure of a hypertensive patient - they change every day, and sometimes even within an hour. You need to start hunting in advance and catch a ticket when the price drops as much as possible.

It is not necessary to check price changes daily or hourly, search engines can do this. Subscribe to Aviasales news by e-mail or to their bots in social networks. Set the direction and time of departure, set the size of the desired discount or the maximum price - the robot will send you an email as soon as the ticket price drops to the desired level. Convenient and efficient!

Stick to the rule: as soon as there is a chance to buy cheap tickets, you need to take it. Don't hesitate - buy.

Remember the periods when plane tickets can be bought the cheapest:

1. a year before the planned trip;
2. 2-3 months before departure (especially for low-cost airlines);
3. a few days before departure (for charters and with large a / c for flights in an unpopular season).

The rule is not an iron one - it is rather a trend.

Relying on the latter option is always risky, so it is suitable only for the freest: who is ready to fly anywhere, anytime, or not to fly anywhere at all, if not lucky.

Let's remember! Start tracking prices 2-3 months in advance, or better, six months or even a year before the trip. Sign up for price drop notifications to buy the best cheap ticket to the right point.

I believe in cheap flights and budget travel! This is me on the island of Penang in Malaysia, my first wintering in Asia.

4. Buy last-minute tours for tickets

You will save: ≈ 20-40%.

Traveling on your own is more interesting, but last-minute tours promise us good savings. Often a ticket to the most popular resorts(Sochi, Crimea, Turkey, Thailand, Greece, Dominican Republic and others) can be bought very cheaply - a full tour package, sometimes it costs cheaper than airfare. In this case, the flight will always be direct, and the bonus is accommodation, transfer and insurance. This is worth using!

Feel free to buy the most cheap tour to the shabbiest hotel just for the round-trip flight. No one forces you to live in a Zadripan hotel - book yourself what you like and relax there.

Look for last-minute tours for a penny on services and - they compare prices for tours among all the most popular tour operators.

Let's remember! Check last-minute tours to the resort you need. If the ticket is cheaper than tickets, buy it.

Such prices are not uncommon, especially in the off-season.

5. Make a complex route

You will save: ≈ 30-70%.

: flying abroad from Russia is not cheap, especially if you live in the regions (like me). For each flight you have to pay a tidy sum.

But flying between different cities and countries abroad can be very cheap. Therefore, I always try to capture several countries in one trip. It is much cheaper to visit 2-5 countries in one trip than to fly from Russia to one country after another every time. So I save tens and even hundreds of thousands of rubles a year on flights.

My experience. For example, on a trip to Asia in the spring of 2019, we spent 160 thousand rubles on air tickets for two. A huge amount, at first glance. But let's count. We flew from Perm, returned to it, visited 5 countries: Georgia, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Indonesia, South Korea. In total, we got only 16,000 rubles per person for each country. It's very, very cheap! If we flew 5 times to each of these countries separately, we would spend 2-3 times more on tickets.

So make complex routes and save!

This feature is available on Aviasales and Skyscanner search engines. It allows you to create routes with three or more flight segments and fork routes when the city of arrival and subsequent departure differ (non-closed flights). Also, thanks to this function, you can purchase tickets with a stopover (connection longer than a day).

• Simple route example: Moscow - Barcelona - Moscow.
• Complex route example: Moscow - Barcelona, ​​Barcelona - Paris, Paris - Moscow.
• Fork example (open-jaw): 1) Moscow - Barcelona, ​​Madrid - Moscow; or 2) Moscow - Barcelona, ​​Barcelona - St. Petersburg.

My experience. I use this trick on almost every trip. At times, it allows you to visit a place for free. For example, having bought tickets Moscow - Bangkok with a stopover for 4 days in the UAE, I.

Such manipulations are especially beneficial when traveling around Europe and Asia. For a flight from one country to another, you can buy very cheap air tickets - from $10. Of course, you will not always find a ticket for $10, but for $30-100 you will fly anywhere.

How to make a complex route easily. Let's look at the example of Europe.

1. We go to Skyscanner, set departures from Moscow to "Everywhere" for the desired month in one direction. Usually for 2000-4000 rubles there are tickets to Hungary, Bulgaria, Germany, Italy, Slovakia. Suppose we are particularly interested in Hungary and Italy.
2. Now we will open two new search windows on Skyscanner: in one we will indicate the country of departure - Hungary, in the other - Italy. In the "Where" field, write "Everywhere" again. Now we see a list of places where there are cheap plane tickets from these countries. The list of destinations will be huge: all of Europe, North Africa, Middle East - choose what you want. The main thing is that from the last country you fly to, there should be cheap flights home.
3. Now you just have to choose interesting countries and cities and dock flights by dates.

An impressive example of a "fork". My friend flew to me in Asia, having bought very cheap tickets from difficult route: Moscow - Manila, Hong Kong - Minsk. Paid only 10 thousand ₽. It is very cheap for a flight over such distances. Of course, he still needed to buy tickets for domestic flights in Asia, but it still turned out to be inexpensive for such an interesting route.

Let's remember! Fly to several countries in one trip, buying the cheapest flights between them.

Knockin 'on Heaven. Standing with a friend on the shores of the South China Sea.

6. Extra segment

You will save: ≈ 10-20%.

By adding an extra final segment to your itinerary, you can sometimes get cheaper tickets. For example, the airline Etihad several times appeared tickets "Moscow - Asia - Moscow - Yekaterinburg" for 14-20 thousand rubles. It is not necessary to fly to Yekaterinburg on the way back - a flight through Moscow, and you can get off there. Saving about 3-5 thousand rubles. Here is the news about it. This rarely happens.

Once we were especially lucky with an extra segment. For reasons unknown to science, tickets from Moscow to Penang (via Doha and Kuala Lumpur) were much cheaper than similar tickets just to KL. And we just needed it on the island of Penang. They took tickets to another part of the world for only 8700 rubles. The beauty!

Durian is one of the main reasons why I fly to Asia every year. I fly from Russia to some place (Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, Colombo), and then I fly inexpensively from country to country in Asia on low-cost airlines.

7. Forget airline stocks

Ticket promotions are often a scam.

The belief that they will help save money is self-deception.

Reason #1. Most of the promotions are a stupid marketing ploy of the airline to remind you of yourself and make you buy tickets as soon as possible. The price drops slightly, the dates with cheap tickets are inappropriate and there are few of them, the destinations are uninteresting, and so on. Airlines are not going to be your sponsors, they just want PR and sales growth. To find profitable proposition for your dates and interests is almost impossible.

Reason #2(most important). Groups on social networks about airline promotions bombard their subscribers with a flurry of news. This flow of information clogs the brain, confuses and burdens a person with a sense of missed opportunities. You see tens, hundreds, thousands of stocks, but the trouble is that they always don't fit in some way. And you start to feel like you're missing out. Pain and disappointment come. An avalanche of information in social networks, instant messengers, and news sites falls on each of us every day. To maintain peace of mind, we must filter this flow.

Reason #3. Yes, sometimes you can buy a cheap air ticket for a promotion, but get ready - it will entail inconvenience and expenses. An overnight flight, a distant airport that still needs to be reached, a tedious transfer, inconvenient departure and arrival dates that cut off part of the vacation, and so on. Like? I don't.

I fly a lot, but I don't buy promotional tickets. At first I followed them daily, and then I quit, because none of them ever came up to me. I no longer waste time on news about promotions, but myself find inexpensive tickets to the right place.

Let's remember! Do not subscribe to news about airline promotions - this is a deceptive prospect. It is better to subscribe to notifications about price changes for the routes you need, look at the price calendar or a list of countries where you can fly cheaply from your city. You will save time and nerves, and this is more valuable than anything else.

8. Fly in low season

You will save: ≈ 50%.

The most expensive tickets are in the summer, on New Year and for May. Don't fly during this time if you want to save money.

You can buy cheap tickets to any country during the period when the demand for flights drops as much as possible. For example, fly to Europe in winter or off-season, and to Thailand in summer. In addition to low prices for flights, you will receive discounts on accommodation, excursions and entertainment - in the low season, all prices fall. The third bonus is few tourists.

Read about the weather in the destination country in the desired month, and everything will be cool.

Let's remember! Fly on vacation in the low season, or at least in the velvet.

My trip to Maldives- float on Indian Ocean. I flew to the Maldives from Sri Lanka to save on airfare. I specially chose the very end of the high season for the rest: the weather is perfect, and there are few people.

9. Fly cheap charters

You will save: ≈ 40-80%.

Charter flights are flights ordered by a tour operator at the height of the tourist season to popular destinations. Package tourists fly by charters, but an independent traveler can profitably buy a ticket for some of them.

Charters have situations when there are several days left before departure, and the plane is not fully loaded. In this case, the airline may throw a portion of very cheap air tickets on the market. Most often these are one-way tickets. Such options may appear in the high season, but especially often - at the end of the season. For example, every September you can buy cheap tickets to Bulgaria, because half-empty planes fly there to pick up vacationers. Tickets cost 1000-2000 rubles. The savings are especially great when you fly to Asia or the Dominican Republic - tickets are available for 10-12 thousand rubles. True, it will be necessary to conjure over a return ticket: from Europe to find inexpensive option easy, from distant countries harder.

Let's remember! Fly on vacation in the high season with charters.

Cheap charter to Bulgaria at the end of the season. Only 1300 rubles!
Cheap charter to the Dominican Republic at the end of the season. 12,000 rubles for a 12-hour flight is almost free.
Cheap charter to Thailand at the end of the season. 3900 rubles! For such money, even in Sochi, you will not always fly away.

(Photo © Rennett Stowe / flickr.com)

10. Fly from a neighboring city

You will save: ≈ 20-50%.

Always check how much tickets cost from neighboring cities. Residents of St. Petersburg can save money by flying from Moscow, Helsinki, the Baltic countries. It is often cheaper for Perm residents to fly from Yekaterinburg. Siberians - from Novosibirsk or Irkutsk.

Muscovites shouldn't yawn either. Yes, in 9 out of 10 cases, air tickets from the capital's airports are the cheapest, but there are exceptions. Before booking, check the prices for tickets from Pulkovo.

You can get to neighboring cities by train, bus or car.

Let's remember! Check ticket prices from nearby cities.

(photo © cheelah / flickr.com)

11. Cycle through different arrival cities

You will save: ≈ 20-50%.

Tickets to the city you need can cost significantly more than to neighboring cities. Therefore, it is worth looking at the prices for flights and up to them.

• Flying to Bratislava is cheaper than flying to Vienna. Between the two capitals, only 80 km, they are easy to overcome by bus for a few euros. We do so often.
• Pobeda flies to Karlovy Vary, from which it is easy to get to Prague.
• European low-cost airlines and Pobeda fly to Bergamo airport. You can almost always buy tickets to Bergamo cheaper than to Milan or Venice.
• Etc...

Let's remember! Check tickets not only to the city you need, but also to neighboring ones.

(photo © sewyerown / flickr.com)

12. Low-cost airlines: good or evil?

You will save: ≈ 10-50%.

Lowcosters are low cost airlines, their tickets can cost as little as 10€. To reduce the cost of their flights, low-cost airlines refuse additional services: food on board, luggage, free check-in at the airport and others. All this can be bought additionally, but the flight will no longer be so cheap.

There is only one low-cost airline in Russia - Pobeda, a subsidiary of Aeroflot. There is no monopoly in free countries, and there are many low-cost airlines - there is competition between them, which means the lowest possible prices and the best quality. But we are not complaining! Previously, we didn’t have budget airlines at all, but now we have Pobeda, and it helps a lot. Plus, other airlines have introduced super-economy fares in recent years and have become sort of semi-low-cost airlines.

All horror stories the fact that low-cost airlines deceive people, scoff and almost force them to fly standing up is complete nonsense. Every year, two-thirds of my flights are low-cost airlines. Never had a problem or a scam. Just read the rules of the carrier, and you will not get into an unpleasant situation.

My experience. I have flown many times with Pobeda, Wizz Air, Ryanair, Air Asia and other state employees. My cheapest tickets cost $10-20 for 1-2 hour flights.

How to fly low-cost airlines correctly:

1. Read the rules of the airline carefully!
2. Take a minimum of things and do not pay for luggage.
3. Check your hand luggage for compliance with the allowable dimensions - see them on the airline's website.
4. If you cannot do without luggage, add it to the order when buying tickets - then it will cost 500-2000 rubles more. When traveling with a group, take one luggage space for everyone.
5. Buy tickets 2-4 months before departure - at this time usually the lowest prices.
6. Find out the check-in rules for the flight. If it is paid at the airport, register yourself on the carrier's website and print out your boarding pass.
7. When buying tickets from low-cost airlines, a commission of 1-5% for payment by card is almost always added to the final price. There is nothing you can do about it, just accept it as a fact.

Let's remember! Feel free to buy cheap flights from low-cost airlines, read their rules and enjoy impressive savings.

A typical dialogue between a passenger and a Pobeda employee.

13. Fly with a group

You will save: ≈ 5-20%.

Some airlines are ready to give passengers discounts if they fly with a company and book tickets for several people at once. I know such examples:

1. Low-cost airline EasyJet usually gives a discount of 7-10 euros per passenger when flights are booked for two or more people.
2. Wizz Air has a loyalty program - Wizz Discount Club. Membership costs €30 for two, €60 for up to 6 people. It gives the right to purchase any tickets for at least €10 cheaper during the year and other benefits. Membership pays off in 1-2 flights, and then there are savings.

In addition, when you fly with a company on a low-cost airline, you can save a lot on luggage - check in one bag for 2-3 people.

Let's remember! Fly with a group to get a discount and save on luggage.

(photo © demandaj / flickr.com)

14. Cunning deceptive zigzag

You will save: ≈ 10-20%.

Airlines like to make money on direct flights, because many are willing to overpay for convenience and time savings. Let's use this to our advantage and get the airlines to sell us the cheapest tickets. All it takes is to pretend. Pretend we don't want to go where we really need to go.

Let's say we need to go to Riga. The best price is 7341 rubles (direct airBaltic flight).

Expensive ticket to Riga for 7300 rubles.

But do you remember that for the pleasure of flying a direct flight, a passenger has to pay more? The solution to this problem is simple: knowing that Riga is a hub (base airport) airlines airBaltic, and the fact that tickets for her flights from Riga to Tallinn are usually quite inexpensive, we will just check the cost of air tickets from Moscow to Tallinn. Voila, they ask for only 6099 rubles! Flight on the same day and at the same time. The plane flies with a connection in Riga - we arrive there, pick up our luggage and forget about Tallinn. Congratulations, we saved 17% from the cost of a ticket for a direct flight to the city we need!

A cheaper ticket to Tallinn via Riga for 6100 rubles.

How to find such cheap flights? To do this, you need to be a little in the subject:

• know which airlines fly to the city you need;
• whether its airport is the main one for them;
• in what directions these airlines fly from the city you need at the lowest fares (in order to correctly substitute the destination city in the ticket that we will buy).

Use this knowledge and logic to design similar detours.

Attention:

1. Check in your luggage not to the final destination, but to the intermediate one. You can come up with any argument: you are carrying a gift that you want to transfer along the way, in a bag you need a thing, etc. Better yet, fly light, without luggage.
2. If you miss any segment on the flight, remember that after that the ticket will be canceled. Therefore, if you bought a round-trip plane ticket and missed a segment when flying there, then you will not fly back on this ticket. For example, you have an air ticket "Moscow - Riga - Tallinn - Riga - Moscow": by refusing to fly from Riga to Tallinn, you deprive yourself of the opportunity to fly later from Riga to Moscow. Therefore, for such purposes, you need to separately buy a ticket there, separately - a ticket back.

Let's remember! Buy cheap flights with connections in the city of your choice and get off halfway.

(Photo © benjaminlansky / flickr.com)

(Photo © caribb / flickr.com)

15. Earn miles from all airlines at once

You save: up to 100%.

I have been a client of Tinkoff Bank for over three years. I think he offers Better conditions for travelers. With his debit cards, I withdraw cash around the world without commission, and with a credit card I get a 10% cashback on all hotel reservations, 3% on air tickets and a free annual medical insurance. Cashback is miles that can be spent on paying for air tickets of any airlines.

My personal experience . Thanks to the miles accumulated on the All Airlines card in 2017-2019, I flew for free to Istanbul, Phuket, the Maldives, Bali, and South Korea. I have also been receiving a free insurance policy for the third year already - also a good saving of money and time for those who often fly abroad.

This bank is scolded only by financially illiterate people who did not bother to read the rules and study the rates. They take cash from a credit card, exceed the limits, delay the payment deadlines, connect unnecessary services, and the bank is to blame for them. Well, what to take from fools?

Let's remember! Make it profitable for travelers bank card, earn miles and fly for free.

Be careful with night flights. Tickets are usually cheaper, but do not forget that you will have to spend money on a taxi to / from the airport.

Buy tickets when you plan the entire route and connect all flights. It happens that you buy inexpensive tickets to one city, but in order to fly from it somewhere else on the right dates, you will have to spend a lot of money.

Take an external battery with you on a flight to charge your phone - you can not always find an outlet at the airport. Check out our reviews: and .

Do not buy insurance that the airline imposes on you when booking - a waste of money.

It is often cheaper and more comfortable to rent a house or apartment instead of a hotel - a lot interesting options from the owners can be found on the popular Airbnb service. This is definitely beneficial if you are traveling with a family or a group.

Rent a car to see all the most interesting and beautiful without excursions and public transport. Skyscanner Car Hire compares prices from different car rental companies and finds the best one.

Friends, I travel a lot and willingly share my experience and knowledge with anyone who needs it. Join

It would seem, what kind of question? The sooner, the better. But this statement is only partially correct, because there are other factors besides the margin of time. Let's figure out when it's cheaper to buy plane tickets.

There are many authoritative studies that convincingly demonstrate how profitable it is to buy tickets as early as possible. Because of this, many travelers go out of their way to plan their next trip in a year, and then are very disappointed to learn that they would have saved the same amount (and sometimes more) by making a purchase a couple of months before departure. Why is this happening?

When can I buy the cheapest flights

If you buy a ticket a year before departure, then it is beneficial, first of all, to the airline, and not to you. The carrier receives a guaranteed passenger and working capital, and you get a headache, because, you see, it is not easy to predict the date for such a long time.

• Do not miss:

Experienced travelers are advised to start thinking about buying an air ticket no earlier than 4-5 months before the desired date. It is at this time that airlines, based on the percentage of flight occupancy, begin to “throw out” interesting offers on the market.

Most tourists consider the optimal time to buy 90 days before departure, plus or minus 10 days. American journalist and traveler Peter Greenberg claims that the cheapest way to buy plane tickets is 50-60 days in advance. In his opinion, it is at this time that the actualization of statistical data and a temporary decline in prices take place. But the long-term statistics of the company CheapAir even names the exact date - 54 days.

When less than 50 days remain before departure, the chances of buying a ticket at a profit are rapidly fading. Apparently, not everyone knows this, because it is then that the peak of demand begins. According to statistics, most tickets are bought 30-40 days before departure, when they are almost the most expensive.

If you missed the 50-day milestone, then there is one more chance to get a cheap air ticket. True, the chance is rather risky, so it should be resorted to only if the flight is not critical. You need to calmly wait for time, and on the eve of departure, start “live” on the airline’s website, in the hope that someone will cancel the reservation and the ticket will be put up for sale at a bargain price. This happens, however, like miracles, very rarely.

What days can you buy the cheapest flights

Yes, don't be surprised. The day, and even the hour, of buying a ticket plays no less a role than the time remaining before departure. The cost of the same air ticket purchased, say, on Thursday evening and Friday morning, may differ by 10-20%.

The most profitable days for shopping are Tuesday and Wednesday, when the airline databases are updated. The aforementioned Peter Greenberg argues that the ideal time is one after midnight, on a Wednesday. Whether this is true or not is unknown, but there is a certain sense that it is more profitable to buy plane tickets at night.

• Read also:

Most people are looking for cheap flights on so-called aggregators, such as Aviasales.ru. These are sites that collect information from different agencies and operators by downloading prices from their pages. If you go to such a site during the day, when the load is increased, there is a possibility that he simply will not have time to load all the data in the time allotted to him. As a result, some of the tasty options may simply not get into the search results. At night, the load is minimal, which eliminates this possibility.

Thus, knowing when it is cheaper to buy plane tickets, you can save from 10 to 40% of their cost and fly more often to the countries you plan to visit.

Additional tools for finding cheap flights: