Every time I travel my friends go from “how do you afford to travel so often?” to “OMG that’s all you spent?”. One of the main things that made me start thinking of starting a blog was to share my tips as my friends are constantly asking on how to book budget travel or even if I can book a vacation for them. So here is the first installation to saving money, one of the most expensive things (especially if you live in the midwest like me) is finding flights internationally. Not all my methods are for everyone (as they can mean extra flights or not the most convenient airports) but there are other little things as well that can help people even if they don’t want to have the extra headache. 

Tracking your flights

Start with tracking flights. Don’t just look one day on a few different sites and book, watch your flights on different apps or websites such as the hopper or skyscanner . Hopper is the one I usually use and while you don’t book your flight on the app it does allow you to watch various flights and will send you updates when prices change. It tracks previous prices and will tell you when they are above or below average and when you should book. 

Fly during the week

Try to fly on weekdays as this can allow you to get lower cost flights. Tuesdays and Wednesdays are great. The best flight I ever had was on a Tuesday night from Denver to London direct, the flight was so empty my friend and I both had a row of 4 seats to ourselves and could lay down the entire flight!

Choose your airports wisely

Now where I really save money…knowing where major airports hubs are in various countries. For example, I usually fly out of Denver and can find cheap flights into Amsterdam, Paris or London for Europe. Once you are in Europe flights are $20-$40 between other countries and when you have already saved hundreds flying into a cheaper city an extra $40 flight isn’t bad. When I went multi city from Denver-Amsterdam and back Paris-Denver I spent $360 round trip. Now if you live on the coasts near a major airport this isn’t that great but if you live in the midwest or near smaller airports these are great prices. Denver does add an 8 hour drive for me but flying from Kansas City is another option, you can usually get under $100 flights to Denver including the $49 flights or less with Frontier.  

-Note if you book a flight into a major airport then another flight on a discount airline you should watch the arriving and departing airports closely. In europe for example the discount airlines like ryanair may go out of a different airport. London and Paris both have multiple airports which aren’t close so you don’t want to make the mistake of booking into one airport and out another.  

Pick the right time of year

Lastly, not always traveling during peak season will save you hundreds. Now for those with kids that have to travel during spring, Christmas or summer break this is hard but if you can travel at other times it can save you money not only flights but hotels as well. This can also be a great way to avoid the tourist crowds at your destination.  November trip to Europe was one of my best when it came to avoiding long lines and hoards of tourists.

If you like to save money by hosteling check out my link on the top 5 amenities to look for before booking.