Planning a vacation can be exciting, but it can be challenging to find the most affordable flight tickets due to fluctuating prices. Especially if you don’t have much time on hand and are travelling on a shoestring budget. There are some simple tricks for booking the most economical tickets and saving some extra money, especially at times when we have to book an urgent—or just a normal—flight ticket at the lowest cost. Here, we will discuss the top 5 technology hacks to get budget-friendly and affordable flight tickets to your next travel destination.
Use ‘Incognito Mode’
Remember to always use your browser’s incognito or private mode when you search for flights to avoid being tempted, and so tracked, by the surge-pricing feature of different airline companies. Airlines and travel websites take the help of cookies to track search history of their portal visitors and increase their prices according to demand. The ‘incognito mode’ will help you look for flights without leaving any trace. You can compare the flight prices of different companies by opening them up in different incognito tabs of your browser. Once you spot the portal with the cheapest ticket you want, you can switch to ‘normal mode’. Make sure to use a digital cover effectively to remain invisible.
Shuffle Browser
We often see that different browsers display different prices for the same flights. So, to compare the ticket prices, use more than one browser from different devices with different Internet networks. For instance, use a laptop with a Wi-Fi connection and a mobile phone with mobile data connection, and so forth. This way, you can take advantage of any discrepancy in the pricing algorithms of various platforms. You can use such popular browsers as Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, Opera and UC browser to serve your ends. This may not always work, but, when your budget demands, you should surely try these techniques. So, keep changing browsers like a pack of cards and hope to get a better outcome!
Clear Cookies
Cookies play a harmful role to help airline companies track your search history by saving information. They act like miniature spies and track your online footprints on a particular website and send information back to the websites you visit. Essentially, when you revisit a site, these stored details of your earlier interactions help the companies to decide accordingly what price they will display for you.
So, to bypass this issue, you should clear your cookies on a regular basis. In fact, it would be better if you took cover and go invisible to browse flight tickets in ‘incognito mode’. This way you can avoid these websites using your search history against you.
Fare Alert Notifications
Make technology your friend and take advantage of it by activating alerts for airfares on travel websites or apps. Consider having a fare alert of your own price as an overseer. It will update you on the slightest changes in an airline’s ticket price—whether rising or falling. The best way to use fare alerts is by setting up a tracker for certain route, including all flights on a particular date. There are recognized travel platforms, such as Google Flights, Kayak and Skyscanner, that have features to let users know about the best deals they have on offer. Make sure to set it up as soon as you can so that, when prices drop, you’ll be the first to be alerted, providing you with the advantage of booking your ticket at the perfect moment. So, turning off notifications may not be a very good idea. There are other tools that you can also explore.
Social Media & Newsletters
If you want to search for cheap flight tickets, checking social media and newsletters can be an intelligent way to do it. Following airline companies and travel agencies on social media and subscribing to their newsletters can provide you a window to their notifications on special offers that offered for only a short period of time. By becoming a follower and reading the brand’s content, you will get notified about special discounts for followers or even special early access, which will make it possible for you to grab those discounted tickets early. Besides, there are contests and giveaways on social media where you can win free or extra-cheap tickets. So, it is always good to scan social media content on a regular basis!
In addition, you should try to reach out to different travel portals for membership plans, students’ discounts, family discounts or bulk booking discounts during travel so that you can save on your budget and receive added advantages, too. You may find plenty of offers on various credit cards and cashback schemes that will help you save more money.
Article contributed by Mr Dmitrijus Konovalovas, Director & CEO, Wowtickets.com