It is surprisingly easy to find very cheap international flights nowadays. The arrival of low cost carriers to the market has had a great impact on fares. As a result, the prices have plummeted in the last few years.
The number of booking sites has increased dramatically because of the rising number of airlines, flights, routes, destinations and fares. Type ‘flight booking site’ in your favorite search engine and you will get millions of results. The task can be overwhelming…
The best piece of advice that I can give you is to be patient and do your research thoroughly. Hard work is always rewarded!
Here’s how to find very cheapest flights to anywhere in the world (including Spain, of course!).
I bet this the process you follow to get your flights:
And, of course, the fares that you get are (extremely) high.
Instead, if getting very cheap international flights is your priority, think outside the box:
And of course, be sure to search more than one date: sometimes shifting the dates by even a day can cut the price in half.
If you want to get the cheapest flights possible, and you are coming to Spain from across the sea (North America, Australia, New Zealand, Asia, etc.) two consecutive air trips are frequently cheaper than one.
So consider a cheap air fare even if it’s not from your home airport or to your ultimate destination. It is not always the fastest option but it may be the cheapest.
It’s a 2-step trick:
Step 1. Look for the cheapest fare on longer routes. Are you flying from another continent? Look for a transoceanic flight to an important hub (e.g. London, Frankfurt). From there search for a route with a low cost carrier or a train or bus trip.
Step 2. Fly to other airports that are close by. Low cost carriers generally operate in smaller airports to save money. Big airports usually charge very high fees to the airlines to let them use the facilities. These are airports reasonably close to your final destination.
Plus you can stay and explore another Spanish city (or anywhere else in Europe, if you don’t mind) for as long or short as you like.
Needless to say that you need to check the connection time between flights when you’re booking for the second leg of your 2-step journey. Be sure there’s enough time between flights (or between flight and train, etc.) to get from one to the other. And don’t forget to include the time you’ll need to collect your bags from the first flight and re-check them on the next one (unless you plan to go carry-on only).
Rome2Rio is a great tool to help you find out local transport options between destinations.
In Spain, the cheapest time of year to fly is usually:
The most expensive time to fly is usually:
It will also vary a bit by the specific destination, especially around popular festivals. Fares to Barcelona for Sant Joan’s Day or to Seville for Semana Santa aren’t cheap.
It’s not a sacred rule but airlines typically offer an interesting fare 1-3 months in advance for domestic flights and 2-8 months in advance for international flights.
If you intend to travel during peak season add 1-2 months to this estimate. Prices tend to jump in the 1-2 months before your departure, so don’t take unnecessary risks and you’ll manage to find very cheap international flights.
On the contrary, if you plan to travel during low season cheap fares will be published closer to your departure date.
Obviously, this is a tough one as many airlines don’t have a 7-day coverage of all their routes, especially the low cost carriers. So cheap fares will basically depend on the date, and not on the day of the week.
However, if you can choose the exact day of the week of your flight try booking your on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or a Saturday as these are the cheapest days to travel. On the contrary, Friday and Sunday are usually the most expensive days.
My favorite tools to search for flights are Google Flights, Skyscanner, and momondo.
Google Flights is probably the most powerful flight search engines on the internet, because it’s very easy to use and you can play around with tons of features.
Pros:
Cons:
Skyscanner is one of the most popular and reliable flight search engines as it has been on the market since 2001…
Pros:
Cons:
momondo is a global aggregator like Skyscanner and I always use it to cross check the results I got previously. It currently searches across 700+ travel websites simultaneously (airline websites and online travel agencies) and its network expands as new travel website are launched.
Pros:
Cons:
You found some very cheap international flights. Congrats!
Don’t think twice and get it… now!
Because no one know how long it will it last. Each airline has its own calendar of promotions and marketing strategy.
But usually the better the fare, the shorter it will last (a few hours, a couple of days…).
There’s not magic trick when searching for very cheap international flights…
Apart from the search tools mentioned above, developers have designed some fantastic tools that can complement your search and air tickets purchase. Here are the ones I frequently use when hunting for very cheap international flights.
SeatGuru helps you choose the best airline seats and in-flight amenities. In order to do so, it offers two great features:
It has the ability to search by carrier and flight number, if you don’t know the aircraft type.
Flightradar24 is a comprehensive and user-friendly site that provides real-time flight status, flight delays and other airport information. You can search by flight, airport or route and the results will tell you about the schedule and actual departure/arrival of the flight, the type of plane, etc.
Essential for your own use or if you are expecting the arrival of a relative or friend.
This article is part of a complete tutorial on how to fly to Spain where you can read all the information you need to organize your flights to the country.
Here is a complete summary of all the guide:
1. How to find very cheap international flights
2. Looking for cheap air flights to Spain?
3. Getting to Spain by plane