How to save money on flights: 6 flight hacks

New Year’s Eve in Paris. Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Summertime in Tahiti. It can be easy to let your imagination run wild when you’re planning a trip. But when you’re planning your getaway, you’re likely to find that the flight is one of the trip’s major expenses. There can be lots of reasons for that, from airline fees to the time of year.

But there are ways to try to make your flight more affordable. Here are tips to help you save money on flights.

What you’ll learn:

• A number of factors can impact the cost of your plane ticket, from extra fees to the time of year you’re traveling.

• Being flexible with the timing of your trip and flights, booking connecting flights and flying into alternative airports could all make airfare more affordable.

• With a Capital One travel rewards credit card, you can earn unlimited miles on every purchase and then use your miles to book flights and cover other travel expenses.

• Online travel tools, like those offered through Capital One Travel, could help you save on your plane ticket.

When it comes to saving on flights, a little flexibility can go a long way. Here are some ways to be flexible with travel:

• Avoid weekend flights. Don’t have to leave on a particular day? Consider traveling during the week rather than the weekend when there’s likely to be more demand for your seat. 

• Avoid peak travel season. It may be helpful to avoid peak travel season for your destination—fall in Vermont or ski season in Colorado, for example—because prices can be higher then. Scheduling flights outside school breaks could also help. So could steering clear of cities when they’re hosting a major sporting event.

• Avoid popular holiday flight times. Avoiding high-demand flights just before the holidays could save money. On the other hand, flying on the actual date of a holiday rather than a day or two before might help with your ticket price. 

• Plan your trip around an affordable flight. You could always try to save by reverse engineering your flight. That could mean finding an affordable ticket first and then planning your trip around it.

Lots of people prefer direct flights. But if you’re trying to save money, it can help to use connecting flights.

Using connecting flights means flying on two or more planes before landing at your final destination. This can sometimes result in a layover, which means spending time in an airport while you’re waiting to make a connecting flight. 

Because connecting flights can increase travel time and may be considered less convenient than direct flights, they may be more affordable.

The airport you fly to and from could also impact your airfare—some airports may be more affordable than others. For example, flying to airports away from major cities can be cheaper in some cases. According to online travel agency Expedia, some city airports are more affordable than others—Fort Lauderdale, Las Vegas and Orlando have the lowest fares of mainstream U.S. airports for departing flights.

There’s no hard-and-fast rule for which day of the week to purchase a flight. But Expedia recommends booking on a Friday.

As for the day you actually fly—Expedia says Tuesday is the best day to fly domestically if you’re trying to economize. Tuesday flights can cost up to 14% less than Sunday flights. For international flights, Expedia recommends flying on a Friday.

Another factor to consider is how far in advance to purchase your flight. According to a data-led guide from Expedia, the sweet spot for booking a domestic flight is 15 to 30 days before your trip—not six months out as some people may think. And for international flights, you might aim for booking 31 to 45 days in advance.

If you have a travel rewards credit card, you can earn rewards while you’re saving on flights. 

When you have a travel rewards card like Venture or Venture X from Capital One, you’ll earn unlimited miles on every purchase you make. And when you book trips through Capital One Travel, you can earn as much as 10X miles on hotels and rental cars and 5X miles on flights and vacation rentals.

Once you earn rewards, you can use them to cover the cost of travel purchases like flights, rental cars, hotels, cruises and more. Plus, Venture and Venture X cardholders can also get a credit of up to $120 for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®.

Using online travel tools could be another option for saving on flights. For instance, Capital One Travel can help make flights more affordable and convenient with price prediction and alerts. Capital One Travel predicts flight prices and alerts you when it’s time to book—which could help you save an average of 15%.

When you’re planning your next trip, you may decide to find ways to save on flights. There are tips and travel hacks you can try, including being flexible with your travel dates and taking flights with connections and layovers.

And with a Capital One travel card, you could earn rewards on your purchases and then use those rewards to book flights and other travel purchases.