Our expert Navigators share their top tips for booking the cheapest flights

In theory, airports are meant to be neutral, liminal spaces, designed to efficiently get you to where you need to go. But for many travellers, that&nbsp;&ldquo;Welcome&rdquo; sign plastered above the terminal somehow always translates as &ldquo;Prepare to suffer.&rdquo;
So we asked the Jack's Flight Club community one simple question: &ldquo;What are the best and worst airports you've passed through?&rdquo;
Your answers piled up like the immigration line at JFK. And what came back was&nbsp;anything but neutral. 
Some of you reflected on your most dreamy layovers and magical landings. Meanwhile, others relived hideous tales of crushing crowds, hours stuck on the tarmac, and being crammed like sardines in the &ldquo;holding pen of doom&rdquo;.&nbsp;
And the frantic <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DTR-GYMFLoq/?hl=en">sprint across terminals</a> to reach an impossible connection? Raise a hand if you&rsquo;ve been personally victimized by Charles de Gaulle&rsquo;s broken escalators.&nbsp;
Once we sifted through the stories, patterns emerged. Very clear ones&hellip;

<h2 dir="ltr" id="the-favourite-child-unsurprisingly">The Favourite Child (unsurprisingly)&nbsp;</h2>
<h3 dir="ltr">Changi Airport, Singapore</h3>

We wouldn&rsquo;t be surprised if, among Singapore Airport&rsquo;s lush greenery, there exists a cavernous golden hall lined floor to ceiling with Skytrax awards.
With little context&mdash;which, let&rsquo;s admit, is hardly necessary&mdash;members praised Changi's gargantuan attractions and impeccable service again and again. Besides the dreamscape of butterfly gardens, steel domes, and valleys, <a href="https://nowboarding.changiairport.com/discover-changi/13-things-travellers-love-about-changi-airport.html">here&rsquo;s what you can expect</a> while transiting through the World&rsquo;s Best.
<h2 dir="ltr">The runner-up </h2>
<h3>Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam</h3>
With Changi stealing the top spot, it's hardly surprising that the very airport to inspire its original design also goes down well: Amsterdam Schiphol.&nbsp;
The easy navigation, "cool" staff, excellent shops, and efficient transfers left most of you feeling pretty good about one of Europe's busiest hubs.&nbsp;
<h2 dir="ltr" id="fondness-over-flashiness">Fondness over Flashiness</h2>

Not every airport people spoke of fondly was flawless. Some didn&rsquo;t win on speed, design, or serenity. Instead, they earned your points for something far less measurable: showing up at the right moment.&nbsp;
Chicago O&rsquo; Hare kept coming up here, which surprised us. No one claimed it was the calmest or the most efficient. But several of you spoke about ORD with something close to fondness. A soft spot. A sense of gratitude that lingered long after the journey ended.&nbsp;

&ldquo;I have a huge soft spot for Chicago O&rsquo;Hare because I discovered the play area for my feral 18-month-old EXACTLY when it needed to be there.&rdquo;
<hr>
"Chicago O'Hare, because I have such good memories of travelling to/from it."

<h2 id="what-the-best-airports-get-right">What the best airports get right</h2>
Interestingly, the Jack's Community's most beloved airports often weren&rsquo;t the biggest or flashiest. But they do share a few things in common:
<h3 dir="ltr">A calm atmosphere</h3>

No surprise, the Nordics have got it down to a fine art:

&ldquo;Helsinki is gorgeous, airy with those cool Nordic vibes and a Moomin cafe&rdquo;
<hr>
&ldquo;Oslo is so cosy, all muffled in wood.&rdquo;

And in the Dominican, the mantra is&nbsp;tranquilo:

&ldquo;The best was Punta Cana. The lounge had an outdoor pool facing the runway. The most relaxed I&rsquo;ve ever been at an airport.&rdquo;

<h3 dir="ltr">Setting the scene</h3>

The best airports don&rsquo;t feel generic at all. Instead, they set the tone perfectly for the trip ahead.&nbsp;

&ldquo;In Bora Bora, you land on an island and have to take a magnificent boat ride&rdquo;
<hr>
&ldquo;Nice has a flair; the magic of the place, the runway close to the sea when the airplane is landing or starting, you can see the beautiful shoreline and the big mountains behind.&rdquo;
<hr>
"Koh Samui - so dreamy and magical, and so many fun things to do while you wait"

But one place that takes&nbsp;island time to the next level? Aitutaki in the Cook Islands &mdash; it's barely an airport, and all the better for it.&nbsp;

&ldquo;<a href="https://cookislandsairports.com/airport-ncai/">Aitutaki</a> is the best. Does a shed at the bottom of a coral runway count?"

<h2 dir="ltr">What the worst airports get so wrong</h2>

<h2 dir="ltr">Wall of Shame</h2>
These are the airports that you most frequently voted The Worst:
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="font-weight: bold;">Manchester (MAN)</li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="font-weight: bold;">London Heathrow (LHR)</li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="font-weight: bold;">New York (JFK)</li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="font-weight: bold;">Los Angeles (LAX)</li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="font-weight: bold;">Miami (MIA)</li>
</ul>
Lines for days, conflicting boarding info, feral staff. Different countries, same complaints.&nbsp;

Most gripes fell into a few clear categories:
<h3 dir="ltr" id="soul-crushing-queues">Soul-crushing queues</h3>

This was the loudest theme. Sure, delays can be expected. But what we won&rsquo;t tolerate? Waiting with zero explanation, seating or any visible progress.&nbsp;
JFK, Manchester, and LAX took the brunt of this anger:

&ldquo;Worst is JFK. Immigration is a nightmare. Security queues last for days. I&rsquo;ve been delayed landing or held on the runway there more than anywhere else.&rdquo;
<hr>
&ldquo;Manchester is far and away the worst airport I&rsquo;ve ever been in. I had the misfortune of transferring there and came very close to missing the second flight. And those wooden fences at customs! I felt like I was at the OK Corral.&rdquo;
<hr>
&ldquo;LAX Worst&hellip; it took longer in the passport control queue than the entire flight from London. And so disorganised. And grimy. And rude. Just awful.&rdquo;

Edinburgh also came up repeatedly, not for one-off chaos, but for what sounded like a systemic tragedy.&nbsp;

&ldquo;Edinburgh is a horror show. I had to walk in pouring rain through large puddles, queueing at stairs to board. Then on return, sat on the taxiway for 90 minutes. Early morning you will see 6 or 7 aircraft landed from North America sitting in a line, waiting to clear. The departures area is swamped with passengers walking about, as the very few seats are all taken. Horrible place.&rdquo;

<h3 dir="ltr">Layouts designed by sadists</h3>

The biggest rage breeder? Confusion.&nbsp;
As though the building designers missed the memo on 'efficiency,' some airports were criticized not for being too big, but for being downright illogical.
Manila, for one, sounds like a horror show:

&ldquo;The worst ever experience was Manila airport - seriously overcrowded - 3 terminals and zero possibility to get from one terminal to the other. Taxis are overbooked, kilometers of long queues everywhere, no shuttle bus between the terminals, or just so chaotic that no one knows. If you need to change flights from one terminal to another, from international to domestic - or the other way - forget it.&rdquo;

Canada&rsquo;s second-largest city also got a mention&nbsp;(&ldquo;Convoluted and complicated: Montreal),&nbsp;while Shanghai Pudong sounds like a soul-sucking experience (&ldquo;A layover there feels like purgatory. Devoid of life and dining options).
On the other hand, airports like Rome Fiumicino, Burbank, Schiphol, and Tokyo&rsquo;s Haneda were praised for their easy transit.&nbsp;
<h3 dir="ltr" id="comfort-cleanliness-and-basic-human-dignity">Comfort, Cleanliness, and Basic Human Dignity&nbsp;</h3>

You&rsquo;re a fair bunch; you don&rsquo;t expect luxury lounges. Just clean toilets, somewhere to sit, and enough space to breathe. Not feeling like herded cattle is also a plus.&nbsp;
Addis Ababa, Khartoum, and London Stansted were among the most heavily criticized:

"Worst: Karthoum, huge crowd, but for a small payment someone pushed you through... Any major US airport too, seriously overcrowded."
<hr>
"Addis Ababa has&nbsp;absolutely awful toilets, quite disgusting."
<hr>
"Addis Ababa: Never any seats free, expensive bad food, and I got bitten by an insect!"
<hr>
"Stansted - unbelievably busy, with nowhere to sit and just masses of people."

But sometimes it&rsquo;s the small injustices that linger longest.

&ldquo;ARN (Stockholm) confiscated my sealed potato salad ten years ago, and I still think it was unreasonable.&rdquo;

For what it's worth, friend, we asked the Jack's Community on Instagram if they agreed that the kidnapping of your potato salad was unreasonable, and you have been vindicated. 74% of Jack's Travellers were right there with you in the fight for your carb-based rights.

<h2 dir="ltr">The Big Takeaway</h2>

People don&rsquo;t need the biggest airport, the glitziest of terminals, or the most expensive shops.&nbsp;
We want:
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Lines that move quickly</li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Affordable eateries open during all times of transit</li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Logical layouts</li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Somewhere to sit</li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Clean toilets</li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">To be treated like a human being</li>
</ul>
But sure, if you want to throw in a seven-story rain-vortex waterfall, that&rsquo;s cool too.
Agree with the crowd? Or ready to defend an airport to the death? We&rsquo;re all ears!

The Best and Worst Airports in the World according to Jack's Flight Club

United States

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The ultimate guide to finding cheap flights to anywhere

How to find cheap flights using Google Flights 

OTA Article resized

As you might have noticed, many of the lowest fares we find are offered through an Online Travel Agency (OTA) aggregator such as Momondo or Skyscanner. 
If you've previously booked all of your flights directly with the airline, you might be wondering if it's both advisable and reliable to book your flight with smaller, lesser-known OTAs found on Skyscanner and Momondo. 
To address this, we've put together this set of FAQs to give you our take.
<h2>1. What are flight fare aggregators, and how do they work?</h2>
Momondo, Kayak and better-known websites like Skyscanner all function as flight fare aggregator engines. 
These tools collect and display the best fares for any particular flight route by comparing prices offered both by the airline and by the various Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) selling tickets for the same flight.
This is not dissimilar to what Google Flights does. The difference is that while Google Flights compares only fares offered directly from the airlines and other major booking sites (such as Expedia and eDreams), these aggregators compare fares from smaller booking sites as well.
These smaller sites are the ones that are more likely to sell flights at a discount to the price offered by the airline itself. They also sometimes include routes that Google Flights doesn't.
<img src="https://cdn.jacksflightclub.com/id/ce08872475107063e61d69c2daa88994b9092537" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
<h2>2. Is it safe to book with these smaller Online Travel Agencies?</h2>
This question comes up a lot, and we remember how confused we were when these websites first began to pop up. Here's how we see it:
The biggest fear for some travelers is that an Online Travel Agency will take your payment and keep it, without ever issuing a ticket for your purchased flight. Based on our experience, this is an incredibly rare occurrence that only occurs as the result of an error. 
The OTAs listed on Skyscanner or Momondo are vetted for legitimacy to some degree before being listed on these aggregators, and do not do this on purpose. That's not to say that they are all ethical, pro-consumer companies, but they do not try to scam people in this way.
Online Travel Agencies are lawfully required to issue a ticket for the price at which you made the purchase in order to process your payment. Many OTAs in the United Kingdom are also<a href="https://www.caa.co.uk/atol-protection/"> ATOL protected</a>, which means you have an extra layer of consumer protection against any wrongdoing. EU countries have similar protection schemes.
If you want to be extra certain, simply google: "Booking site name + ATOL" to make sure they are ATOL Protected. You should see a verification similar to this:
<img src="https://cdn.jacksflightclub.com/id/b8b77033f2f4d52ee8c92be6689b7bfc67670c36">
Or you'll be able to find this in the company's Ts &amp; Cs:
<img src="https://cdn.jacksflightclub.com/id/1d881fd56d6cea92d65aa5fc9b3840f5001feaea">
In the US, though, there is no agency that booking agencies can register under like the ABTA (for rail, cruise and coach holidays) or ATOL to protect consumers in case a company goes insolvent. But check out our guide on what happens<a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/travel-hub/what-happens-when-flights-from-the-united-states-are-canceled"> when flights to or from the United States are cancelled</a> if you are in search of some guidance on what else you can do to protect your booking.
<img src="https://cdn.jacksflightclub.com/id/3e95fc6bb418eac711142fec72c534da3aa27a77" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
<h2>3. Are there other OTA tricks I should be looking out for?</h2>
Indeed, some of these sites are known to try and squeeze a few extra fees out of you in other ways. Here are the most common tricks to look out for:
<h4>Avoid booking over the phone </h4>
Most of these booking sites offer a phone number if you'd like to avoid booking online. When possible, I advise using the online portal instead. Phone agents, who often earn a commission, will sometimes see that you're trying to book a cheap fare and will try to find another way to increase the price you pay. Calling over the phone also opens you up to the next two items as well.
<h4>&lsquo;Fare no longer available&rsquo; trick </h4>
Every now and then, an Online Travel Agency will call you within a few minutes of your booking to tell you that the price you booked at is &ldquo;no longer available&rdquo; and you must accept a refund or agree to pay a higher fare. If that does occur, don't panic! Simply decline their new fare, accept the refund, and go on to book with another agency offering the next best fare.
<h4>&lsquo;Extra bag fees&rsquo; trick </h4>
Keep an eye on the bag rules throughout the booking process. While rare, we have heard of agencies claiming that you have to pay extra to add a checked bag, even on routes where bags were definitely included in the fare. Again, this generally only happens over the phone.
<h4>Extra service fees </h4>
Make sure you double-check all the passenger details you enter when booking tickets via an Online Travel Agency. Many of them will find ways to charge extra, often high, service fees for tiny changes.
<h2>4. Are there ways to save on airline baggage fees when booking with an Online Travel Agency?</h2>
<img src="https://cdn.jacksflightclub.com/id/4c176c96077bfeb5fc5b2f2e40416251bf4f88d7" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
In 2022, airlines will now charge you anywhere between 0 and 140 pounds or euros return, or as much as $180 RT from the US, to add a checked bag to your itinerary. The actual amount varies wildly by route &amp; airline.
Online Travel Agencies will often get incentives to sell bag-inclusive tickets and are able to sell you a checked bag at a cheaper fare than the airline. Some OTAs choose to do this, while others choose to keep the price the same or even mark it up in order to earn a higher margin on your ticket.
For this reason, it's important that you always compare the bag fee charged by the OTA you are booking with against the fee charged by the airline itself (or even other OTAs).
If an Online Travel Agency is offering the cheapest fare but is pricing up checked bags, you can always just buy the ticket from the OTA and add a checked bag directly with the airline after the ticket has been issued.
Note: It's also not uncommon for some OTAs to sell economy-standard ticket class fares, which include early seat selection, meals, checked bags, and other perks, for only slightly more than the airline itself sells economy-basic tickets, and the savings can be quite significant. We often see this with Virgin Atlantic, for example.
<h2>5. How are smaller Online Travel Agencies able to offer cheaper fares than the airlines themselves?</h2>
Firstly, many airlines - primarily major international carriers - offer incentives and discounts to third-party agencies to market their tickets. This allows OTAs to pass some of those savings on to you in order to secure your business.
That said, not all airlines will do this, and there are other ways Online Travel Agencies can generate revenue, some of which are less consumer-friendly:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Fees - Expect hefty service fees for making any future changes to your booking. That includes name changes, date changes, cancellations, etc.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Reselling reserved tickets - OTAs are able to reserve a number of seats months in advance. Many will often hold a certain number of seats on popular routes at a low price, knowing that they'll be able to sell them at a higher rate later in the year.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Poor customer support - They tend to outsource customer support to third party companies in order to save on costs.</li>
</ul>
<img src="https://cdn.jacksflightclub.com/id/4268bb876f66e76a4f0ab97669ad7346adb91e97" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
<h2>6. What about all the bad reviews Online Travel Agencies have?</h2>
It's true that most OTAs, even well-known ones like Expedia, have plenty of negative reviews online. As a rule, customers will generally go further out of the way to report a negative experience than leave a positive review when everything goes as expected, resulting in a high rate of negative reviews.
While it can be a sign of poor customer service, it doesn't mean you won't get the ticket you purchased. As you've read above, some OTAs can be clever about trying to make as much as possible from each customer, but they won't (usually) take your money and run. You can find our reviews of the most popular OTAs <a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/travel-hub/reviewing-the-most-popular-online-travel-agencies">here</a>.
<h2>7. When should I book directly with the airline vs. booking with an agency on Momondo?</h2>
This just depends on your situation. We reckon it&rsquo;s worth booking with an agency and saving the extra cash if your travel dates are set in stone, but here are some general guidelines for like-minded travelers:
<h3>Book with an Online Travel Agency if:</h3>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Savings exceed at least &pound;/&euro;20-&pound;/&euro;30 or $50-$60 for a long-haul fare.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">You are 100% certain you will be taking the trip on these dates.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Book directly with airline if:</h3>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">You're the type of traveler who is more likely to extend your trip later on or change travel dates.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">The flight is with a budget or charter airline, such as Spirit, easyJet, Wizzair or TUI, none of which offer discounted fares to OTAs.</li>
</ul>
For more information on Momondo, Skyscanner and Online Travel Agencies, take a look at our <a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/travel-hub/reviewing-the-most-popular-online-travel-agencies">reviews of the most popular OTAs</a>, or visit our<a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/travel-hub/find-cheap-flights-to-anywhere/"> ultimate guide</a> to finding cheap flights to anywhere.
. . .
Still have questions? Feel free to drop us a message on
support@jacksflightclub.com and we'll be happy to help.
Please note, while we do have links to other websites in our articles, none are affiliate links and we do not benefit from you clicking on them, we just think they are a good resource :-)

Is it safe to book with online travel agencies (OTAs) on Momondo & Skyscanner?

How to find and book cheap multi-city flights

Article Image Resized

One of the best ways to get more value from your holidays is to turn your flights into a trip visiting 2 or more destinations. Because of the way airlines price flights, often you can find a multi-stop trip for the same price as a normal return journey to just one destination!
Some airlines, especially major flag-carrier airlines looking to boost local tourism, will often even give you a discount on your fare if you make your layover at least 12 hours.
Primarily, there are two types of cheap multi-stop flights:
<ul>
<li>The extended layover flight</li>
<li>Multi-city destination hopper flight</li>
</ul>
We&rsquo;ll cover how to find and book each of these below:
<h2>The extended layover: Turning a layover into a second destination</h2>
The extended layover simply takes advantage of airline pricing to add a free stop en route to your already planned destination.
Options can be somewhat limiting, as not all airlines will price their routes in such a way that offers a free or low-cost stopover, but we have found that these airlines often do (when flying from the United Kingdom or Europe, in general):
<ul>
<li>Turkish Airlines</li>
<li>Icelandair</li>
<li>KLM</li>
<li>Air France</li>
<li>Qatar Airways</li>
<li>TAP Portugal</li>
<li>Singapore Airlines</li>
<li>Cathay Pacific</li>
<li>Finnair</li>
<li>Etihad</li>
<li>Emirates</li>
<li>United Airlines</li>
<li>China Southern</li>
<li>Air China</li>
<li>China Eastern</li>
</ul>
Finding these can be quite easy. To start, begin by searching for a return flight to your desired destination while looking out for airlines that are either listed above or which already show long-layover options in Google flights.
In the example from Manchester to Bangkok (below), you see Turkish Airlines already offers a discounted option on the route if you&rsquo;re prepared to have an extended stop in Istanbul on the outbound leg. That&rsquo;s a great place to start.
<blockquote>Note: I find it&rsquo;s often better to keep your original outbound and return dates the same from your return flight search (in this case May 9th &amp; May 17th) and then see which dates offer the best prices for the middle leg (Istanbul to Bangkok in our example).</blockquote>
<img src="https://d20k4h1q6oowm6.cloudfront.net/id/d2f94dd9ad6a8f82faac2a67fb85511737051586" alt="Multicity Turkish Airlines" width="740" height="507">
Now, in order to make Istanbul a proper destination and spend some time there, you can proceed to change the journey to &ldquo;multi-city&rdquo; and split the journey up into individual legs, like so:
<img src="https://d20k4h1q6oowm6.cloudfront.net/id/d7106b3317b1753bd36b1160a8324e4fdbff030c" alt="Multi-city Manchester Bangkok" width="740" height="513">
<img src="https://d20k4h1q6oowm6.cloudfront.net/id/a7ea162b3fac1b19218f91202cf0694a789bf845" alt="Multi-city trip Turkish " width="740" height="407">
As you can see, you&rsquo;ve extended the length of your stay without increasing the price and you&rsquo;re now visiting both Istanbul &amp; Bangkok in one trip!
<h2>The multi-city destination hopper: Plan a trip around multiple destinations on your list</h2>
If you&rsquo;re looking to travel to multiple countries in one go, the cheapest way to do so is often by booking a multi-stop trip with a single airline (or at least one airline alliance). The exception to this is if your destinations are quite close together and can be covered cheaper by a local airline, which are plentiful in certain regions of the world (such as Southeast Asia).
In our example, we&rsquo;ll be planning a trip down under to Australia and adding some stops in Southeast Asia to make the most of our holiday.
The ultimate price of the journey is mostly based on the cost to the furthest destination. There are other factors which will affect this, including the number of stops you add and where they are.
The best way to start searching is to see when it&rsquo;s <a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/travel-hub/find-cheap-flights-to-anywhere/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cheapest to fly</a> to the furthest destination (Sydney, in this case) on Google Flights for a normal return journey. Use Google Flights&rsquo; calendar tool for this step:
<img src="https://d20k4h1q6oowm6.cloudfront.net/id/c0b3ab6b0c918fda01d02e1f104ada817d958a4d" alt="Google Flights Calendar" width="740" height="506">
You can see in the example above that Emirates currently offer the cheapest flights and their prices start to go up at the end of June, so we&rsquo;ll aim to fit the journey in between those dates.
Now that you have an idea of the dates you&rsquo;re looking to travel, you&rsquo;ll want to start adding in your stops.
Filter your search on Google Flights so it&rsquo;s only showing Emirates flights. This will not exclude airlines which they have a &ldquo;code-sharing&rdquo; with, meaning you&rsquo;ll be able to see all the destinations their network flies to.
For example, Emirates hub is in Dubai, so almost all of their routes go through there before reaching the final destination - meaning so will you. Thus, to find possible mid-way stops, I recommend you open a new tab and do a &ldquo;regional search&rdquo; for flights from Dubai to &ldquo;South East Asia&rdquo; with the Emirates-only filter selected. The resulting map shows all the various destinations you can likely choose.
<img src="https://d20k4h1q6oowm6.cloudfront.net/id/c2407c4c55caaef4f8c666365883a8b0939468e5" alt="Google Flights Map" width="740" height="462">
Bangkok looks like a good option, so let&rsquo;s change our search into a &lsquo;multi-city&rsquo; itinerary and add Bangkok as our first stop and Sydney as our second:
<img src="https://d20k4h1q6oowm6.cloudfront.net/id/b4760d6bc056628eba1e9c80073c8647982abafa" alt="Birmingham Sydney Flight" width="740" height="196">
<blockquote>Note: Don&rsquo;t be surprised if the price isn&rsquo;t what you expected yet, it typically varies wildly until you add the return leg.</blockquote>
You can then mix things up even more - we&rsquo;ve got our trip to Sydney but you don&rsquo;t need to fly back from there. I&rsquo;m going to make the return from Melbourne since Emirates (through their Alliance partner Qantas) fly from all the big Australian cities. Let&rsquo;s do another regional search to see where I can fly to from Melbourne:
<img src="https://d20k4h1q6oowm6.cloudfront.net/id/6e696c55e30d18b490279af390c8ef1ac4eda3da" alt="Melbourne Google Flights map" width="740" height="444">
Singapore looks good, so I&rsquo;m going to add that to the itinerary, along with the leg home to Birmingham:
<img src="https://d20k4h1q6oowm6.cloudfront.net/id/c43dbc5db782ad8583a7acaf786e783e7263fb04" alt="Multicity Birmingham dates" width="740" height="518">
Success! For only &pound;75 more than a normal return journey to Sydney, we&rsquo;ve added stops in two other cities along the way and visited Melbourne, too. If your price has turned out significantly higher, try adjusting the dates for each leg individually to see what makes it fluctuate the most.
<h4>Pro tip: Since Emirates are a Middle-Eastern carrier, their routes between cities in Southeast Asia are limited. You can always make more open-jaw legs, like our Sydney-Melbourne example, and separately book a regional flight between your desired destinations.</h4>
Once you&rsquo;ve completed your search on Google Flights, book through one of the provided links or search the same itinerary on Skyscanner or Momondo to see if any travel agencies are offering the trip at a lower rate. If you use Google Chrome, you can use our handy <a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/flight-fare-compare-googl/mmhdlhieabmpkjcffmaagonallanjiad?hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fare conversion chrome extension</a> to make this process easier.
<h2>And that&rsquo;s all - happy travels!</h2>
<center>
. . .
Still have questions? Feel free to drop us a message on <a href="mailto:support@jacksflightclub.com%E2%80%9D">support@jacksflightclub.com</a>&nbsp;and we'll be happy to help.
Please note, while we do have links to other websites in our articles, none are affiliate links and we do not benefit from you clicking on them, we just think they are a good resource :)
</center>

Which airlines offer student flight discounts?

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The rumors are true: finding the cheapest time to fly is no easy task. Most of you will have heard from people who have their own 'tips' on the best time to book flights; your super-organized friend will tell you booking early can save you a fortune. Another, less prepared pal will tell you to book as late as humanly possible.
So, who's right - when is the best time to book flights? Well, it's not that simple&nbsp;- while flight pricing doesn't follow an exact formula, there are many things you can keep an eye out for if you&rsquo;d rather spend all that hard-earned money on your actual holidays. We've curated some golden nuggets from our flight hackers to help you land the cheapest flights.
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Quick Reference:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/travel-hub/the-best-time-to-book-flights#h_55335685729741653176627671">Is there a best time to book flights?</a></li>
<li><a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/travel-hub/the-best-time-to-book-flights#h_95040722926531653176443444">What is the difference between short-haul and long-haul flights, and why does it matter?</a></li>
<li><a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/travel-hub/the-best-time-to-book-flights#h_45955256119651653176280168">The best time to book flights for holidays</a></li>
<li><a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/travel-hub/the-best-time-to-book-flights#h_48024604517661653176262817">The best strategies for finding cheap holiday flights</a></li>
<li><a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/travel-hub/the-best-time-to-book-flights#h_3634569815641653176238626">The best time to book flights to popular locations</a></li>
<li><a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/travel-hub/the-best-time-to-book-flights#h_8929508713691653176224913">How can I find out about unannounced sales?</a></li>
</ul>

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<h2>Is there a best time to book flights?</h2>
The best time to book isn't perfectly predictable, but you can use the data we&rsquo;ve collected over the years to set up a strategy for getting flights at their cheapest. The golden rules to follow are:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Don't wait until the last minute&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Book flights 3-9 months in advance</li>
</ul>
<img src="https://cdn.jacksflightclub.com/id/77f8885e47712d22720d3916e0a17667dc5d0499" alt="Best time to book flights - girl staring at airport screen" width="512" height="341">
Even as an avid traveler, it can be challenging to keep track of the price tag on every destination on your bucket list.&nbsp; But, we have a feeling you love finding a good deal ​​since you're reading this guide.&nbsp;&nbsp;
So, at some point, you may have wondered how airlines decide on the price of a ticket since it's possible to pay a totally different price than the person sitting directly next to you.
Basically, airlines have different price groups for each seat and use complex algorithms to estimate how many seats need to be sold on each route by a certain period to make the most profit.
Once a target is met, they move on to the higher price group, but if seats don't sell, they get knocked down until they reach the minimum amount.
By this logic, you'd think that waiting on last-minute flights when airlines are desperate to sell off seats would be the best game plan.
But it's actually the opposite. Last-minute fares can go way up in price to take advantage of business travelers and others who may need to travel rather than simply want to. Airlines know they'll be less likely to gawk at the higher fare.
Although this isn't always the case, especially with short-haul flights, it's good to keep in mind:
"Banking on a last-minute deal is like playing roulette. The odds may be in your favor, but the house wins either way."
To find the best time to book your flight, you'll first need to know if it's a long- or short-haul flight.

<h2>What is the difference between short-haul and long-haul flights, and why does it matter?</h2>
How far you are going makes a huge difference when it comes to the best time to buy flights - short-haul and long-haul flights are two completely different beasts.

<h3>What is a short-haul flight?</h3>
Short-haul flights are less than 30 minutes to 3 hours - think quick domestic trips e.g. Boston to Philly or London to Belfast. However, it can also refer to technically medium-haul flights that last 3-6 hours like east coast to west coast trips in the USA or regional travel like Manchester to Ibiza.
We've found that short-haul flights are more predictable when deciding the best time to book: the best time to book a short-haul flight is a few weeks to four months before departure. The price variations for short-haul flights are consistently competitive, especially for popular destinations.&nbsp;
In the US, cheap flights come around pretty frequently to popular tourist spots like Hawaii and Las Vegas from big cities, like New York and Washington, D.C. This is mainly caused by price matching between the bigger airlines, and budget airlines needing more people to cover their costs. On the other hand, smaller cities like Salt Lake City and niche tourist spots like Myrtle Beach may not get to see deals as often.
In Europe, there&rsquo;s a lot more competition for short-haul flights. Budget airlines like Ryanair, Wizz Air, easyJet and Norwegian operate a lot of the same routes, and flash sales can drop at any moment. As a rule of thumb, you&rsquo;ll want to wait it out and book just a couple of months in advance with these guys.
On the other hand, flying with a national carrier like British Airways or Brussels Airlines lets you plan in advance - and includes the all-important hand luggage. They usually have short-haul sales a couple of times a year - once in February/March, then again after summer.
In general, short-haul sales usually mean 20-30 dollars/pounds/euros off the original price, compared to 100+ discounts on long-haul routes.

<h3>What is a long-haul flight?</h3>
Long-haul flights are 6+ to 12+ hours long and always cross into a new border.
When searching for a long-haul flight, booking in advance is a pretty good idea. Broadly speaking, buying tickets somewhere between 8 months and 6 weeks in advance gets you the lowest prices - but more detail on that soon.
One option worth checking for last-minute flights if you&rsquo;re in Europe is charter airline TUI. They buck the trend and often put deep discounts on flights less than 3 weeks away, mostly to beach-type destinations in the Caribbean and Europe.
Keep in mind that these are just general guidelines - prices on each route will vary based on many factors that affect the demand.
<h2>The best time to book flights for holidays</h2>
<img src="https://cdn.jacksflightclub.com/id/ad7042ff77981634c4a55c6d006e0858a496e024" alt="Best time to book holidays - map with sunglasses, toy flamingo and palm tree" width="640" height="437">
Booking cheap holiday flights can sometimes feel like an impossible task, but with 5+ years of experience under our belt, we&rsquo;ve developed a spidey sense for when you&rsquo;ll likely be able to book the cheapest holiday tickets.
<h4>Best time to book Thanksgiving holidays</h4>
As you're putting up your Jack O Lanterns, you might want to be on the lookout for Thanksgiving flights as well. They usually drop four to six weeks before the holiday and shoot up within two to three weeks. While it&rsquo;s rare to find, there's a chance to find last-minute deals a few days before Thanksgiving.
<h4>Best time to book Christmas and New Year's holidays.</h4>
Cheap fares for Christmas and New Year start showing up two to three weeks before the holidays. For Christmas, the closer the holiday gets, the more prices climb. But we tend to see last-minute price drops for New Year's Day - especially after Boxing Day. To cut costs even further - try flying on the day of the holiday.
<h4>Best time to book school holidays.</h4>
Cheap flights for Easter, spring break, and summer holidays pop up between November and February. Because prices for these periods do tend to fluctuate, it's worth monitoring your route to see when prices drop and being ready to take advantage of that
<h2>The best strategies for finding cheap holiday flights</h2>
<ol>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Sign up for airline newsletters to keep track of seasonal sales - for example, in the US, Southwest has sales almost at the start of every season. It's common to find blackouts on their pricier days (e.g., Christmas Eve), but there'll often be discounts on days that fall on a holiday.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Track prices with Google Flights tracker - if you've got specific dates already mapped out, the Google tracker is great for letting you know when prices change for that period. Combine that with the price history tool, and voila - no more second-guessing if the price is right! We&rsquo;ve written a handy guide on <a href="https://jacksflightclub.com/travel-hub/how-to-use-google-flights-to-find-deals">how to use the tracker</a> and other Google Flight features like a pro.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Sign up for <a href="https://jacksflightclub.com/">cheap flights newsletters </a>- hey, that&rsquo;s what we do! We take the hassle of price watching off your plate by notifying you when prices are great. We look for deals during the holidays too!</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Travel on the holiday - traveling on New Year's or Christmas Day can shave off quite a few bucks from your total price since most people want to settle in before the big day itself. This also applies to other major holidays like Thanksgiving and Easter.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Avoid the rush where possible - a holiday might fall on the weekend, so it&rsquo;s a no-brainer to come back on a Sunday or Monday to prep for the workweek. But according to <a href="https://www.cheapair.com/blog/holiday-flights/">CheapAir's</a> study, avoiding these popular travel days saved an average of $125 per ticket during Christmas.</li>
</ol>
Knowing the right time to book flights is a good start, but you'll also have to keep in mind where you're heading.
<h2>The best time to book flights to popular locations</h2>
Finding cheap flights to the most popular vacation spots requires some research on the country's weather, peak/off seasons, and some experience with airline pricing patterns. It may seem like a lot of information - but hey, that's why we're here!
Three tips to keep in mind when flying to popular locations:
1) Avoid the peak season hype - Peak season may fall during the dry season/summer or when a major event occurs. If you're not targeting a specific event - it's best to visit just before or after these peak periods.
2) For international (long-haul) flights, we usually start seeing deals 1 - 2 seasons before departure. For example, deals for summer trips show up during winter and springtime.&nbsp;
3) Deals to exotic locations like the Maldives are rare, but the airlines often have flash deals worth setting up trackers to find.
<blockquote>
We've written a guide on finding the absolute best time for the best chances to <a href="https://jacksflightclub.com/travel-hub/best-time-to-book-international-flights-usa" target="_blank" rel="noopener">score a cheap flight from the USA</a> to some of the most popular countries worldwide. It's worth bookmarking for your next trip!
</blockquote>
<h2>How can I find out about unannounced sales?</h2>
Now that you know when to buy the cheapest flights, we thought our go-to tools for actually finding these deals were worth mentioning.
<img src="https://cdn.jacksflightclub.com/id/3cf8793af483f2b1e0c5f15998fbd099ff869c50" alt="Best time to book - man booking flight" width="512" height="384">
<h4>Google Flights</h4>
<a href="https://www.google.com/travel/flights">Google Flights</a> allows you to look through a calendar to see what prices various dates bring back. It's probably the most comprehensive tool when it comes to depth and search options available, and it's also the most responsive.&nbsp;
One minor issue with this search tool is that not all airlines are included in the results (Thai Airlines, Air China, and China Eastern, for example, don't always show up). Also, it&rsquo;s worth noting that it&rsquo;s not great for browsing prices offered by <a href="https://jacksflightclub.com/travel-hub/is-it-safe-to-book-with-smaller-otas-on-momondo">OTAs</a> - the likes of Momondo and Kayak are more suitable.&nbsp;
<h4>Skyscanner</h4>
<a href="https://www.skyscanner.com/?previousCultureSource=COOKIE&amp;redirectedFrom=www.skyscanner.net">Skyscanner</a> has a practical and easy-to-use design that allows users to see, via simple graphs, information about how far in advance to look for flights for specific places. Drop-downs let you input where you're going from and to, as well as showing which months are expensive, and which are less likely to be so. Skyscanner is especially good for budget airlines.
<h4>Kayak</h4>
<a href="https://www.kayak.com/">Kayak</a> is great as its search options allow you to incorporate the cost of baggage within any search. This has become especially important in recent months as many airlines have significantly altered their policies and prices, with bags now potentially adding large numbers onto what initially seemed like very cheap fares.
<h4>Momondo</h4>
<a href="https://www.momondo.com/">Momondo</a> provides an easy-to-use service that lets you see how expensive your flight dates are, combined with information about how flying to different airports or nearby locations may be cheaper. It's best suited for popular destinations like the Netherlands, on which it holds more information.
Want more advice?
Knowing the best time to book takes you one step closer to scoring amazing deals like a trip to Australia from the USA for $200! (Yep, that's actually a deal we've found in the past!)
Finding the best time to book is deceptively simple on the surface, but it comes with a few caveats. To get the thrill of securing a massively impressive deal, keep an eye out for the distance of the flight, the high and low seasons, and the right window for holidays. If you'd like more tips and tricks on how we find great deals, check out our <a href="https://jacksflightclub.com/travel-hub/find-cheap-flights-to-anywhere">ultimate guide to finding cheap flights.</a>

The best time to book cheap flights

best time to book

Best Time to Book International Flights from the USA

Canada

<div>We refresh this article every year with new predictions, so you can have a better idea of what to expect by the time the next Black Friday sale comes around!&nbsp;</div>
<div><hr></div>
Airlines are always rolling out sales left, right, and centre &mdash; but are any of them actually worth it?
In this guide, we&rsquo;re breaking down the best Black Friday sales we&rsquo;ve seen from top airlines in the past, giving you a sneak peek at what to expect in 2025.
This time, we&rsquo;re focusing on Canada-based sales, but you can find our reviews of <a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/travel-hub/black-friday-flight-deals-usa-what-to-expect-in-2024?utm_source=JFC-Posts&amp;utm_medium=share&amp;utm_campaign=%5BJFC%5D-post-sharing&amp;utm_content=post">US Black Friday sales here</a>, or <a href="https://jacksflightclub.com/travel-hub/black-friday-uk-ireland-airline-flight-sales-what-to-expect">sales in the UK &amp; Ireland here</a>.
Canadian airline prices might be a bit higher than other markets, but there are still fantastic deals to be found. We&rsquo;re talking round-trip flights to Europe for under $400 RT, non-stop to Japan in the $600s RT, and five-star seats to Phuket for $894 RT &mdash; and that&rsquo;s just scratching the surface.
We also only share legit good-value flights that actually save you money. Airlines love to slap the word &ldquo;sale&rdquo; on&nbsp;meh fares, but we&rsquo;re here to cut through the noise and find you the real bargains. Don't forget to <a href="https://jacksflightclub.com/us">sign up for Jack&rsquo;s Flight Club</a>, and wait for the best Black Friday Flight emails to start rolling in!
Now let&rsquo;s cut the chitchat and hop to it :-)

Black Friday Canada airline flight sales 2025 - what to expect

Airline Sales

When you&rsquo;re planning to buy a ticket for a flight, should you wait for a sale? The answer isn&rsquo;t as obvious as it seems... mostly because airlines can have a creative definition of &ldquo;sale&rdquo;.
We&rsquo;ve been monitoring flight prices for over eight years, and we&rsquo;ve picked up on some useful insight and patterns in that time. Some airlines have sales seemingly at random, while others have them at the same time each year like clockwork.
Sometimes, a sale is a sale in name only. That &ldquo;featured price&rdquo; could simply be the highest price the airline thinks it can get you to pay. So, it&rsquo;s important to know what a good price is for your ticket before you buy, even during a sale.
We&rsquo;re going to break down when most airlines have sales, so you&rsquo;re prepared next time you plan to book a holiday.

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Is it safe to book with online travel agencies (OTAs) on Momondo & Skyscanner?

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Black Friday Canada airline flight sales 2025 - what to expect

Airline sales explained: who has the best sales and when