The Top 3 Ways I Unlock Cheap Flights to Anywhere

September 17, 2025
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Flights can often be the most expensive part of a trip, especially if you are headed across the world, but over my years of travelling I have found ways to ALWAYS find a cheap flight option. Whether last-minute or well-planned, these 3 steps are a fool proof way to affordable flights.

Finding cheap flights has become somewhat of a necessary superpower of mine. I always find myself booking last-minute trips across the world or spontaneous getaways to the next country over with new friends I met, so knowing how to find cheap flights has become crucial to being able to travel on a budget.

And no, this guide has nothing to do with credit card points or airline miles. It is simply about discovering the cheapest route near you that will get you to your destination.

So, let me share my “superpower” with you:

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Table of Contents

My 3 Steps to finding affordable flights to anywhere

Finding affordable flights is about patience, knowing when to book and finding routes that may not be “the norm”. Here is how to do just that.

Step 1: Head to Kiwi.com to gage routes and dates

Before even starting your booking process, you need to figure out the cheapest route and dates, if you have that flexibility. I have found Kiwi to be the best website for that.

If you are for example in Europe and happy to travel to different airport via say Flixbus, you could put Europe as your “from” and then your arrival country in “to”. If you have a more specific city in mind, you can put that city but add the +250km option, to see other, possibly cheaper, airport nearby.

As for dates, you can add full months or add the +-5 days option to figure out which dates are the cheapest around the time you’d like to depart.

This obviously works best if you have some flexibility in your travel plans. Though even if you don’t, it will give you an overview of your airport options as well as airlines! That is super important.

Once you have done this research, you should have a list of different airports you could fly out of/into, best dates and possible airlines. It’s time to take this to step 2.

Step 2: Consult Skyscanner once you have a better idea of when you’re headed where

Take all the information you have gotten from Kiwi and put it into Skyscanner. Open several tabs and input the airports you have collected as well as the different dates. If you still have some flexibility with dates, use the “flexible dates” option and select a whole month.

This can take a little while to input all the different options and dates, but it will give you your cheapest flights, dates and airlines at the end. You can use the list of sellers on skyscanner and book via a third-party booking site, though I would only recommend this in case of short, cheap flights. Third-parties tend to be fine until something goes wrong or there is a cancellation, and then it’s a nightmare.

Once you know the airlines and dates, it’s time to head to step 3.

Step 3: Scout the airlines’ own websites for best deals

You’ve made it to the final step and now it is a little about patience, luck and knowing when to buy.

The airplanes own website often has the best deals and they fluctuate more than you may think. Especially for budget airlines, prices can fall seemingly at random just days before departure.

That being said, other airlines drive up prices rapidly the closer you get to your departure date. You will quickly figure this out if you keep an eye on the airline’s website and your desired flights for a few days.

Now it is just about playing the waiting game, but knowing when to stop and snag the price before it gets driven up by demand. You win some and lose some (I still do), but overall this will get you the absolute cheapest flight price possible.

From my experience, budget airlines like Ryanair fluctuate a lot unless it is peak time, then prices just go up. Airlines like Condor I have found good last-minute deals with, same with Westjet and Eva Air. More premium airlines don’t tend to fluctuate as much and are best to catch on a deal. Air China has some good deals but you need to get it ASAP when you see it, it will only go up from there.

If you know any more tips from experience like these, please pop them in the comments 🙂

FAQ about Budget Travel

How do I find good, affordable accommodation?

Accommodation can quickly add up and make a trip expensive, but it is easier than you may think to find high quality hostels, B&Bs and hotels at an affordable price. My first recommendation if on a tight budget, especially when travelling solo, is booking a hostel.

While hostels come with much prejudice, if you find the right one, it can be a great experience and you will meet so many amazing people. Check out my full guide on finding the right hostel here: Are Hostels Safe for Solo Female Travellers? In general, look for things like great reviews, curtains or capsules, friendly replies to reviews, location and how social you’d like it to be.

If you don’t want to stay in a hostel, I would recommend using a combination of Booking and Google to check for different hotels within your price range. Make sure to compare reviews from several sites as they can vary vastly. Sometimes it is cheapest to book directly with a hotel, sometimes a third party booking site is better, so do a little research.

In some destinations, AirBnBs can also be a very affordable and more private alternative to hostels. It is always worth a look – just make sure to read reviews carefully and if you are a solo, female traveller, look for female hosts. Places I’ve had great experiences with AirBnB have been Santiago in Chile, Italy, Canada and France.

How much money do I need to save to travel?

This will really depend on your type of trip, how you want to travel and where you’re going. Say you are headed to South-East Asia and planning to volunteer in hostels etc. for accommodation, all you would really need is money for flights, insurance and things like food/activities which are very affordable there. Savings of $1000 could last you months here.

On the other hand, if you head to say Europe, Canada, the US, Australia and end up in the main cities, things can quickly get expensive. If you also would rather not stay in hostels and want to do lots of activities, you would need much more in savings.

I personally have travelled the world on a pretty tight budget for 3 years now and through freelancing, volunteering and seasonal jobs have actually not used up much of my savings at all.

What are some free or low-cost activities?

Contrary to popular belief, holiday activities don’t have to be expensive. From finding public beaches instead of private ones (bring your hotel’s umbrella to save even more) to scoring the cheapest tours (I always scour Viator and Get Your Guide for the cheapest options) to free things to do.

One of my favourite activities in any new city for example are free tours. You tip at the end (usually around 10€/$) and get a 2-3 hour tour by a local. No better way to get to know a new destination. I find walking in general an amazing way to really get a feel for a city and it costs you nothing.

In some places, you can also go to local tour operators and ask for quotes and then try to haggle. This works really well if a bunch of operators are selling similar things. Hostels will also often have offers and discounts on tours in the area!

If you are set on seeing a couple of more expensive things, check if the destination has a tourist pass – this can save you money in the right cases. Weigh up where you want to go with what the pass will save you.