Where to find cheap flights? Tips for flight comparison sites, deal sites and more

Best flight search engines to find cheap flights

Flight search engines are the starting point for quickly comparing prices across different airlines. The most popular ones include:

• Skyscanner and Google Flights offer clear price comparisons and let you track price changes on specific routes over time. Both tools also show a calendar with the cheapest days of the month, making it easy to find cheap flights by price, not just by date.
• Momondo and AZair.cz are favorites among experienced travelers. AZair is particularly good at finding combinations of multiple airlines that traditional search engines often overlook, so it surfaces a different selection of flights than the one you're used to seeing.
• Kayak and Matrix ITA Software are suited for advanced searches, including route combinations and open destinations — ideal for travelers without a fixed destination who want to fly wherever the cheapest price takes them.

Combining several search engines at once typically gives you a more realistic overview of prices, as no single tool covers all airlines completely.

Where to actually buy cheap flights

Finding the cheapest price is just the first step. The actual purchase happens elsewhere, and this is where most people get confused about where to actually buy cheap flights.

• Search engines mainly help you find a flight, not always complete the purchase. Many of them will redirect you to the airline's or seller's website. We recommend watching these redirects carefully, as the price can sometimes change slightly between steps.
• Buying directly from the airline is usually the easier option when a flight gets changed or cancelled. Communication happens without a middleman, and resolving complaints takes less time because you're dealing directly with the carrier without additional intermediaries.
• It's worth adding baggage and seat selection during booking — adding them later at the counter is more expensive. You can find information on how to add baggage to your flight affordably and recommended carry-on dimensions in our separate articles.

Where to find deals and last-minute flights

Besides regular search engines, there are specialized sources where you can find deals and mistake fares directly without having to manually go through dozens of offers.

• Fly4free.com and Secret Flying publish round-ups of mistake fares and sale prices that only appear for a short time, so it's worth checking them regularly.
• Following airlines and dedicated flight-deal hunters on social media can bring you interesting tips before they reach the search engines — often including mistake fares that airlines quickly fix once they notice them.
• Set price alerts directly in the search engine and get notified automatically by email about price drops, so you don't need to check the site every day.

A combination of traditional search engines and specialized deal sources together covers the widest selection of available flights.

How to find the cheapest flights? Proven tips to save money

A few practical tips can significantly lower your flight price without sacrificing travel comfort. The question of how to find the cheapest flights ultimately comes down to these proven rules.

• Flexible travel dates help the most. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday are typically the cheapest days to fly, while Sunday and Friday tend to be more expensive.
• Avoid peak season, holidays, and weekends. Demand increases during these periods and so do prices — sometimes by more than half.
• Try nearby airports like Vienna, Bratislava, Krakow, or Nuremberg. The price difference can run to thousands of Czech crowns, even though driving takes only a few hours longer. And parking at these airports is just as easy to sort out as at Prague — for example, with our comparison tool.
• Another option is flying with a budget airline or combining multiple airlines on one route instead of a single direct flight. You can travel comfortably even with a connection if you allow enough time between flights.

The question of when to buy flights is directly related to where you search for them — both factors are worth solving together, not separately.

How to get cheap flights anywhere in the world

The following tips are useful regardless of where you're flying.

• Buy tickets separately for each person rather than as a group booking. A single seat sometimes costs less than the per-person split of a group rate, because booking systems occasionally offer the last remaining seats at a different price.
• Check the price in a different currency — after conversion, differences sometimes appear due to how the airline rounds prices in different countries. Changing the currency in your search settings takes only seconds, but it's always worth trying.
• Book European flights one to three months in advance, and for long-haul flights, plan two to eight months ahead. Longer routes have fewer cheap seats available, and the earlier you book, the better your chances of getting the lowest price.

For winter travel, it's also worth having a destination in mind beforehand — you can find options in our article about where to go to the beach in winter.

What not to forget after buying a cheap flight

After buying your ticket, a few more practical steps remain to ensure nothing catches you off guard on your trip.

• Check the validity of your documents and any required visas based on your destination — some countries have different requirements and deadlines.
• Plan your transportation and airport parking in advance. Familiarize yourself with the benefits of airport parking and find out how airport security screening works, so you know what to expect and what to prepare for.
• Keep an eye on your email for any flight schedule changes. Airlines sometimes shift departure times even after you've purchased your ticket.

Final tips before you buy your flight

No matter where you're flying, finding a cheap flight doesn't have to be difficult thanks to the right combination of search engines and tips from this guide. It ultimately comes down to your patience, flexibility, and choosing the right tool.