How to Get Cheap Flights and Save Money (Still Works in 2021)

Airlines and booking agencies continuously improve their technology and algorithms to boost profits — which makes flights much more expensive. They can easily tell the country that you’re booking from and gather your personal information to cause price fluctuations. Because of this, it has become much harder to find cheap airfares, however, there are still some ways around it.

After testing several money-saving methods to see which are still relevant, I found that the easiest way to get cheap flights is to use a VPN. A VPN allows you to change your IP address to another location while keeping your browsing activity anonymous — this way, you can browse flight deals from around the world without booking sites tracking your data and increasing prices.

My team and I tested over 100 VPNs to see which works best for saving money on plane tickets. Based on the results, I’ve put together a list. My top recommendation is ExpressVPN; it has a huge server network and is super secure, so your real location will never be exposed to travel sites. You can even try it risk-free with the 30-day money-back guarantee.

Get Cheap Flights with ExpressVPN Today!

Ways to Get Cheap Flights (Tested in May 2021)

1. Use a VPN to access worldwide fare deals

A VPN lets you compare fares from different countries by tricking travel sites into thinking you’re browsing from another location. A VPN is a private network of servers available through an app — it hides your IP address while providing you with a new one (from the country of your choosing). This way, it prevents them from tracking you and inflating fares accordingly.

You’ll often find better flight deals in lower-income countries like Mexico and India than you will in higher-income countries, such as the US or Norway. With a VPN, you can quickly compare rates from around the world by simply changing your virtual location.

Downloading a VPN is super easy and can help you save money on flights within minutes. Once it’s installed, you can quickly bounce between server locations to compare fares. My top recommendation, ExpressVPN, even lets you get it risk-free for 30 days with a money-back guarantee.

During my tests, I noticed the US consistently had some of the priciest tickets. I decided to look at a flight between Chicago and New Delhi — first without a VPN, then while connected to India. As soon as I used the VPN, Skyscanner’s “cheapest flight” dropped from $715 to $651. What’s more, the booking site suddenly had more airline options for me to choose from, resulting in cheaper flight deals.

My tests revealed that booking sites won’t show you every airline available — what you see depends on your location

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2. Clear cookies and go incognito

Clearing your cookies often prevents booking sites from tracking you and raising ticket prices accordingly. Cookies are pieces of data stored in your browser based on your internet use. Websites analyze cookies to create a digital profile for you and determine your location— this information determines the price you’ll see for a flight.

It isn’t difficult to clear your cookies and only takes a few seconds. I use Chrome as my browser and found the option under Chrome > Clear browsing data, which pulled up the option for me to clear browsing history and cookies/data (so travel agencies can’t use this information to raise fares).

I recommend clearing your cookies often, especially when revisiting a booking site multiple times

You may have noticed that the more you revisit a site to look at a ticket, the higher the fare becomes. This is because Airlines and booking agencies also use trackers to find out which flights you’re interested in. Even a simple page refresh can cause the price to increase!

To avoid fluctuating rates, I advise browsing in Incognito mode (Chrome), or Private mode (Safari). Using Incognito mode allows you to browse sites without them analyzing your previous internet use. This offers a degree of privacy, however, it won’t fully hide your geo-location or private data. For this reason, I recommend downloading a VPN to completely block trackers.

Keep your browser history fresh by going Incognito and regularly clearing your cookies

3. Check flight comparison sites

Some of my favorite flight comparison sites include Skyscanner, Kayak, and Expedia. They’re easy to use; you just enter the details of when and where you’re flying, and you’ll be presented with a number of fares. This lets you view each in terms of price, layover times, stops, and so on.

Keep in mind that each flight comparison site has different deals to offer, so I’d recommend comparing a few before booking. For instance, I found the exact same flight on Kiwi and Skyscanner — however, they had differing prices. Skyscanner offered a roundtrip ticket for Finnair between Stockholm and Moscow for $245, while Kiwi listed it for $306.

Flight comparison sites don’t always have the same rates — so compare as many as possible

Another way to save money is by using these sites to mix and match airlines and stopovers. Skyscanner combines different airlines between departing and connecting flights to find you the best deal possible. I found out that by flying with United and Lufthansa, versus only United for both legs of the trip, would save money.

If you’re flexible with which airline you fly, it can oftentimes save money on roundtrip tickets

4. Consider budget airlines

You’ll usually find flights for much cheaper with budget airlines. In the US, Spirit and JetBlue are known to consistently have low-cost fares. Europe has RyanAir and EasyJet. These are sufficient for short, quick flights as they typically don’t include many amenities like meals, seat selection, or baggage check.

You can stay on top of their latest deals by signing up to receive regular notifications. These alerts are usually sent through social media and Email. Whenever there’s a last minute or seasonal discount offered by budget carriers, you’ll be one of the first to know!

When I was looking for a trip from Berlin to Mallorca, I found it was unbelievably cheaper to book with Ryanair. Not only that, but the flight was direct and much quicker than the one offered by Air France.

By choosing Ryanair, you’d not only save on money but also time as there’s no layover (like with Air France)

5. Be flexible on times, dates, and destinations

Choose a flight during a time when most people won’t want to travel. Consider flying on holidays, weekdays, and low seasons for your destination. Plane tickets for these dates prove to be significantly lower than those during the more desirable travel days (weekends, Christmas break, etc.).

Off-peak hours also have the lowest prices. Most travelers try to avoid super early flights, between 5 a.m. and 7 a.m. The same goes for overnight or “redeye” flights departing after 8 p.m.

Unfortunately, there is still some inconsistency in this and it can be difficult to predict when flights will be cheapest. However, I found that some flight comparison sites will give you a broad overview of the cheapest dates to fly. For example, you can do this with Skyscanner by following these simple steps:

1. Navigate to Skyscanner.com.
2. Select “one way”. Even if you need roundtrip tickets. This just makes it easier for you to look at rates for individual dates before booking the complete trip.
3. Click to view the daily prices. Instead of entering specific dates under “Departure”, select “Whole month”, then “Cheapest month” to see which dates are cheapest to fly each month.
4. Save money on your flight! Repeat this process for your return flight for roundtrip savings.

Now, repeat for your return flight for savings on your roundtrip ticket

If you’re flexible on your destination, you can save even more on travel expenses. Peak seasons vary from one location to another. So if you’re not set on your destination (e.g. for work or family reasons), you can begin by checking the best available deals for the time you want to travel — then choose your trip accordingly.

Kiwi makes this process easy — you just enter your travel dates, departure city, and “Anywhere” in the destination box. When I tested this out, I looked at the cheapest vacation locations coming from Costa Rica. I found out that the best deal for these dates (May 13-20) is a 7-day, roundtrip ticket to Cancun for $247.

Check rates from around the world to see which are at lowered or discounted prices

6. Know when to book

Airlines have created a fluctuating price system based on the specific timeframe in which you book tickets. Reserving tickets too far in advance can sometimes end up costing you almost as much as waiting last minute.

According to a study conducted by CheapAir, there’s a “Prime Booking Window,” for domestic travel which is the ideal time to purchase your low-cost ticket. The research suggests that the perfect time to buy a domestic plane ticket is between 20 and 115 days before departure.

However, for international travel, it’s advised to purchase your ticket between 2.5 and 6 months in advance (according to a separate study by CheapAir). Additionally, when booking trips around holidays, it’s better to buy your ticket far in advance, as demand for these dates is going to be much higher.

7. Purchase tickets individually

Booking flights for groups can cost you more money than booking tickets separately. Airlines typically give the same ticket price for every seat in the group, even if some are cheaper than others. For instance — if I reserve 3 tickets: a window seat ($300), middle ($200), and aisle ($250) — I’d most likely be charged $300 for all 3 tickets since it has the highest price point.

You can easily get around this by purchasing individual tickets and choosing your seats afterwards. However, you can’t book individual tickets for children, as they require an accompanying adult to fly.

But if you’re booking a multi-leg journey, I recommend getting all of the legs on one ticket — this ensures that you’re not liable for rescheduling expenses for your remaining trip, should one of the legs fail.

8. Use airline booking ploys

There are a few loopholes that can save you money when booking a flight. I don’t condone the breaking of laws or rules — I recommend checking that you’re not breaching a contract and consider any penalties that may follow. This isn’t always an issue, as some airlines have failed to include information regarding booking ploys in their carrier agreement.

That being said, these two loopholes are pretty straight-forward and difficult for airlines to penalize:

Throwaway Tickets

Usually, you can get a roundtrip ticket for significantly cheaper than one way. This is a major money-saver if you plan to move abroad or will be staying in another country for an extended period. All you have to do is book a roundtrip fare and “throw away” your return ticket. However, this only works if you board the first flight — so if you aren’t present for the first trip, the airline will likely cancel the return ticket.

Before booking a one-way ticket, check to see if roundtrip will save you money and skip the return flight

Hidden City Tickets

With this method, you’d book a flight with a layover in your desired destination and end your trip at this stop. Since ticket prices vary on the popularity of the destination, there are times this can save you money. Plus, it’s almost impossible for airlines to penalize because travelers regularly miss flights. Just note that it doesn’t work with checked baggage since your luggage will end up at the final destination.

Skiplagged automatically finds these deals for you, when you enter your departing city and desired destination. For example, I looked at a trip from Seattle to Dallas. Skiplagged showed me that it was cheaper to book a ticket from Seattle to Phoenix with a layover in Dallas. I compared the same trip on Kiwi, but with Dallas as the endpoint of this journey which turned out to be $62 more expensive.

The same leg was cheaper when it was connected to a flight with the end destination in Phoenix

9. Use points to fly for free

As one of the most uncomplicated ways to save money, you can sign up for rewards programs that earn you free trips. These programs are typically offered by airlines, as well as some credit cards.

As an example, Southwest Airlines has a program called Rapid Rewards that gives you points each time you fly. These points never expire; when you’ve collected enough, you can convert them into free flights!

With the Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card, you earn points through your spending that can be applied to your next flight. After spending $4000 with your card in the first 3 months, you will have already earned $1000 worth of points. That’s enough to cover the price for most international flights!

10. Plan your own layover

Making multiple-day layovers can sometimes save you hundreds on roundtrip flights. This is a great money-saver if you’re flexible with time and are interested in combining multiple destinations into one vacation.

Keep in mind — this method saves money on flights only — you’ll likely accrue additional costs for accommodation, food, and other travel expenses.

Airwander is a travel site that lets you plan your stopovers as a way to save money and enjoy seeing a new location while doing so. You just enter where you’re traveling to and the site presents you with money-saving layover destinations.

By taking a 3-day detour in Auckland, you can save $375 roundtrip between New Zealand and France

11. Look for error fares

You can often find error fares on social media groups, online forums, and websites like Secret Flying. These are mistakes made by booking sites and airlines offering incredibly low prices on their flights — usually a result of human error, such as a typo or misunderstanding. It’s helpful to bookmark a few of these pages to ensure you’ll never miss a deal. When you come across error fares, it’s best to act immediately as companies catch these mistakes quickly.

I advise checking Secret Flying daily to ensure you don’t miss out on the latest errors — it takes seconds

Should you encounter one of these deals, be aware that the airline reserves the right to cancel and refund your trip at any time — so I recommend waiting at least 2 weeks before making further travel arrangements. However, this is rarely the case.

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How a VPN Can Help You Get Cheap Flights

A VPN gives you access to cheaper airfares by disguising your personal information and identity to travel companies. It provides you a new IP address and redirects your browsing activity through a server in another country (of your choosing). Plus, it encrypts your internet activity and uses additional security protocols to ensure you’re completely anonymous.

Various factors, such as the economy, political/current events, and the airline’s origin, cause airfares to be different in each country. Since it’s impossible to be in every country at once, a VPN lets you buy the cheapest airfares from different countries by changing your virtual location, so you never have to leave your house!

To see if VPNs truly can help you find cheaper flights, I recorded the price of a flight without a VPN (I’m located in the US); then I looked at the ticket with ExpressVPN in 19 different countries. I used 2 flight comparison sites (Kayak and Skyscanner) and only noted prices from the same flight — so you can see that the rates fluctuate as a result of simply changing server locations.

Without using a VPN, I would have paid the highest price available for this fare ($665 in the US). However, I found the cheapest ticket in Switzerland for $604.

The roundtrip flight recorded is from Tokyo to Milan (travel dates: June 9-17, 2021) via Emirates airlines

Best VPNs for Finding Cheap Flights in 2021

1. ExpressVPN — Tons of Servers to Access Low-Cost Flights Worldwide

Try ExpressVPN >

ExpressVPN allows you to browse cheap flights from across the world with its massive server network, covering 90 different countries. During my tests, I looked on Expedia at a flight from Ho Chi Minh to Sydney. Before using a VPN, the flight was $3,108. Next, I connected to ExpressVPN in Vietnam (which is thousands of miles from me). This time, I found the same flight for less than half the price. You’ll never have to pay full price for a flight!

After connecting to a server in Vietnam, I saw a significant price difference

Your privacy is protected at all times by ExpressVPN — so airlines can’t use your data to inflate flight prices. It keeps you anonymous with 256-bit encryption, and a built-in DNS and IPv6 leak detection test. I decided to test for leaks with an independent tool — it didn’t find any whatsoever.

Even if your connection drops, you’re covered by ExpressVPN’s automatic kill switch. It ensures your personal information and location are hidden from booking sites so you’ll always get the cheapest flight deals.

You can quickly compare fares between multiple countries with ExpressVPN’s superfast servers. I ran speed tests on 8 different locations (5 in Europe, 2 US cities, and 1 in Australia). My connection never dropped below 52 Mbps — that’s more than enough to prevent long loading times when you visit booking sites, so you won’t ever miss out on a deal!

A small con I found with ExpressVPN is that it’s a bit more costly than I expected. However, I found a way to save money on your subscription — you can get it for 49% off to make it more affordable.

To see if it’s right for you, you can try ExpressVPN risk-free with its 30-day money-back guarantee. I wanted to be sure you can trust this policy, so I requested a refund using the 24/7 live chat. After the agent and I chatted briefly about my experience, she issued my return. When I checked my bank account 3 days later, I already saw the refund.

Get Cheap Flights with ExpressVPN Now!

2. IPVanish — Lightning-Fast to Quickly Compare Cheap Fares

Try IPVanish VPN >

IPVanish is impressively fast so you won’t face any loading times when you visit booking sites. I tested 6 different servers across the globe. With each, my connection remained stable and I recorded an average of 50.72 Mbps. You only need 5 Mbps for heavy browsing activity — so you can quickly change server locations and hop across booking sites to compare fares.

Its server network is super reliable for helping you find cheap tickets. I tested this by connecting to Mexico, Vietnam, Germany, and the UK — I found the best deal in Berlin; the same flight was $101 cheaper. No matter how far the server was located from me, I never had an issue using it to find local deals in other countries. You’ll always have access to the world’s best deals on flights, no matter where you are.

I used a German server for instant savings on a roundtrip ticket from San Diego to Amsterdam

Travel sites have no way of seeing your actual location since IPVanish keeps your IP address and personal information private. It keeps your browsing activity anonymous with 256-bit encryption combined with a zero-logs policy and IP/DNS leak protection. I even tested for leaks and was relieved to find there were none. This shows that you’re never at risk of your true location being revealed to travel agencies — meaning, they won’t inflate prices based on where you browse from.

I was a bit disappointed to see I couldn’t use cryptocurrency to pay for IPVanish. However, this didn’t end up being much of an issue as it accepts most credit cards — I ended up using my PayPal account to sign up.

You can even try IPVanish risk-free with its 30-day money-back guarantee. So if you find it’s not for you, you’re entitled to a full refund. After booking my flights, I decided to test this by requesting my return via live chat. The agent asked me a few questions concerning customer satisfaction. Within 5 minutes, she approved the refund — I received the full payment back in my account 4 days later.

Get Cheap Flights with IPVanish Now!

3. Cyberghost — Thousands of Servers for the World’s Best Flight Deals

Try CyberGhost VPN >

CyberGhost lets you compare fares from almost any country in the world with its huge server network. I tested it by connecting to 5 different locations until I found the cheapest deal on a flight from Sydney to Tokyo. While using a UK server, Expedia gave me an $82 savings on the same trip. With access to fares in 90 countries, you’ll never get stuck paying full price.

It took me just a few minutes to connect Cyberghost to a UK server — afterwards, I found the same flight for cheaper

The tracker-blocking feature prevents increased prices that occur from revisiting booking sites. Enabling this is easy — I found it under the app’s “Connection Preferences” in its settings. You just have to click “Block Online Tracking”. This prevents websites from collecting your data, so they have no way to know you’ve been eyeing a particular ticket. Meaning, you’ll always get the lowest offer available.

Multiple security protocols keep your information hidden from airlines and booking sites, so you won’t see inflated prices. Cyberghost boasts IP/DNS leak protection, so I decided to test this with a leak detector — there were zero found. Its military-grade encryption allowed me to browse airline sites without my real location ever being revealed. This means you’ll have access to the cheapest tickets the world has to offer.

I wasn’t too impressed with the layout of Cyberghost’s desktop interface, since it was a bit bulky. However, this is just a minor complaint as it did not affect my ability to get low-cost rates from around the world.

If you’re feeling unsure, you can always try Cyberghost before fully committing with its 45-day money-back guarantee. I decided to test this policy after 23 days by contacting a representative to make my request. She asked me some questions and was happy to process the return. Before a week had passed, I received the money back in my account.

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4. Private Internet Access — User-Friendly to Easily Compare Fares

Try Private Internet Access >

PIA’s extensive server network gives you plenty of countries to compare for cheap flights. During my tests, I looked at a flight from London to Miami, then decided to try PIA’s London server to see if it gave me a better deal — I found a similar flight (with a slightly different return flight) for $31 cheaper. With so many locations to choose from, you’ll always get the best price.

When looking at flights to or from London, I found the best deals by connecting PIA to a London server

Mace blocks trackers so booking sites won’t raise ticket prices when you revisit a site. To test this out, I located a cheap flight on Kayak, closed my browser, then reopened it after a few minutes. Next, I navigated back to search for the same trip. It was as if the site was presenting the ticket offer for the first time — at the same low price, I was initially given. You won’t ever have to settle for inflated fares!

The PIA app is easy to use and is compatible with just about any device. It only took me a few minutes to download it on my MacBook. Once it was installed, I could quickly switch between server locations to compare ticket prices. It worked just as well with my iPhone 8. You can shop for cheap tickets from anywhere — even on the go, with your mobile phone!

I found that PIA’s speeds are not always consistent. However, fast servers aren’t essential for browsing booking sites. I found it helps to disconnect and reconnect to another location if you notice a slow connection.

The best way to see if it’s right for you is to try PIA for 30 days with its money-back guarantee. I can confirm that this policy is reliable, as I tested it myself. The entire process was painless, and I had the money back within a week of requesting my refund.

Save Money on Flights With PIA Now!

5. PrivateVPN — Quick Setup Gives You Instant Access to Cheap Flights

Try PrivateVPN >

PrivateVPN’s app is easy to set up and use, so it’s a great option if you’re new to VPNs. To install it took me less than a minute. I didn’t need any introduction — once it was set up, I could easily switch server locations and make comparisons on fares from around the world. Even if you have no experience with VPNs, you’ll have no problem using it to find cheap flights.

Booking sites can’t track your online activity since PrivateVPN is ultra-secure. It uses military-grade encryption and DNS/IP leak protection to ensure your real location won’t be exposed. To test this, I ran a leak test and didn’t find any. You’ll never have to worry about airlines increasing prices just because of where you’re browsing from.

You can depend on PrivateVPN’s server network to help you find cheap flights. To see if it helps you get better rates on Expedia, I tested it with 4 servers (Vietnam, India, Switzerland, and Ireland). These locations didn’t make a huge price difference on my flight from Miami to Dublin, but I was still happy to find the trip for $7 cheaper in Ireland; especially considering the entire process only took me a couple of minutes.

When I connected to PrivateVPN’s Irish server, there was an instant decrease in the ticket price for a trip from Dublin to Miami

Unfortunately, PrivateVPN doesn’t have a huge number of servers. This limits how many options you have per country. Even so, I never encountered any lag due to overcrowded servers — plus, with [VD: C] countries to choose from, I had plenty of options for comparing flight prices.

It’s even free to try PrivateVPN with its 30-day money-back guarantee. If you’re not happy with your service, you can simply ask for a refund. I can vouch for PrivateVPN’s guarantee because I tested the refund process and got my money back after 8 days.

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FAQs on VPNs and Getting Cheap Flights

Can I save money on last-minute flights?

Yes, you can use a last-minute flight comparison site, like Expedia, to identify the cheapest airline and route for your destination.

Keep in mind — even last-minute flights can still be cheaper in different countries. To find the best last-minute deals, I recommend that you use a VPN to compare flight prices offered in other locations. This way, you’re not limited to offers from within your country alone.

Which countries have the cheapest flights? Which are most expensive?

Lower-income countries like Mexico, India, and Italy tend to have cheaper fares — although this can be inconsistent and depend largely on the destination of the trip. The biggest price drop I found was when I used ExpressVPN’s server in Vietnam to look at flights to and from Vietnam. On the other hand, Vietnam was the most expensive when booking international flights not connected to it.

Flights were almost always cheaper when I connected my VPN to a server in the country that owned the airlines. For example, trips with Lufthansa were significantly cheaper when I connected to a German server since Germany owns Lufthansa.

I also noticed that the UK tends to see significantly lower-priced flights, especially when one of the destinations is within their borders. I tested this by checking prices for a flight between London and Miami. When I compared fares from 5 different servers, the UK had the cheapest rates, even though the airline (United) is American-owned.

I found the cheapest fare (from London to Miami) when I connected to a UK server

The most expensive flights I found in my tests were from the US and Vietnam (but only for trips between countries outside of Vietnam). In almost every scenario, I could find tickets much cheaper by connecting my VPN to a country outside of my location, in the US. While Vietnam had super cheap flights to and from its own country, it had the highest fares for trips between other countries (i.e., London to Miami).

Since location matters when booking, I found it most efficient to use flight comparison sites combined with a VPN to find cheap flights. With a VPN, you can quickly analyze fares from multiple countries to see which has the best deal.

Why are flights cheaper in some countries?

Several factors influence ticket prices, including:

• The overall wealth of a country
• The current popularity of a flight in your region
• Holidays or significant dates
• Political changes or recent events
• If you’re located in the same country as your chosen airline (some airlines offer cheaper prices in their home countries)

Considering these points, I recommend that you use one of the listed VPNs to compare flight prices in different countries. While using a VPN, there were several instances when I found the same flights for cheaper just by changing my virtual location.

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As travel sites continue finding more ways to collect your data, you can easily work around this by anonymously shopping for fights. I found that a VPN is the easiest way to get the cheapest fares from around the world, while never revealing your true location.

Of all the VPNs I tested, my favorite for finding cheap flights is ExpressVPN. It has 3,000 servers in 90 countries, so I could compare prices from around the world. It’s also super secure, so travel sites and airlines have no way to track your information. You can try ExpressVPN and all of its money-saving features risk-free, using its 30-day money-back guarantee.

Start Saving Money on Flights With ExpressVPN!

To summarize, the best VPNs for getting cheap flights are…

Rank	Provider	Our Score	User Rating	Visit Website
1	ExpressVPN	9.8/10	Read Review	Find Out More Get Started >> Visit Site
2	IPVanish VPN	9.8/10	Read Review	Find Out More Get Started >> Visit Site
3	CyberGhost VPN	9.6/10	Read Review	Find Out More Get Started >> Visit Site
4	Private Internet Access	9.2/10	Read Review	Find Out More Get Started >> Visit Site
5	PrivateVPN	9.2/10	Read Review	Find Out More Get Started >> Visit Site