为了弥补维护、运营和从一个地点到另一个地点飞行飞机的成本，航空公司将使用大量的技巧来从每次飞行中获得尽可能多的收入。有时，这可能意味着您可能会为同一航班支付更多费用。
在本文中，我们将介绍如何在线找到廉价航班并节省旅行费用中最昂贵的部分。
注意：尽管价格比较网站很棒，但值得注意的是，并非所有航空公司都包含在这些网站中。例如，西南航空不会出现在 Expedia、Orbitz 或我们下面提到的任何网站上，但有时它们会在美国国内航班上提供最优惠的价格。 (Note: Even though price comparison websites are awesome, it’s worth noting that not all airlines are included in these sites. For example, Southwest doesn’t show up on Expedia, Orbitz, or any website we mention below, but sometimes they have the best price on a domestic flight in the US. )
(Start)从价格比较网站(Price Comparison Websites)开始，而不是航空公司
许多人仍然直接前往他们最喜欢的航空公司或预订网站。您只需在别处购物就可以节省几百美元。值得庆幸的是，网上有很多工具可以让您省去自己比较价格的麻烦。
航班比较(Flight comparison)网站将在几秒钟内搜索网络，为您找到所选航班的绝对最优价格。他们将在各种不同的预订网站上推荐许多不同的航空公司。
Skyscanner是最受欢迎的价格比较(price comparison)网站之一。这个功能强大的网站可让您找到特定日期或特定月份每个日期的不同价格的航班最优惠价格。
您可以访问Skyscanner，输入您的出发地点(departure location)、到达地点和日期。我们最好的建议是输入您想旅行的月份。这是一个例子。
从上图可以看出，提供的日历提供了一些非常有用的信息，说明每个日期的最佳价格。通过提前计划，我们可以通过选择最佳日期来获得更便宜的航班。
选择出发和返回日期后(departure and return date)，您可以单击“显示航班(Show Flights)”以查看预订网站和航空公司在这些日期可以提供的服务概览。
Skyscanner将让您控制选择最快、最便宜或介于两者之间的航班。
当然，还有许多其他价格比较(price comparison)选项可用于查找航班。虽然Skyscanner非常受欢迎，但许多人已经开始转向Google 航班(Google Flights)。
就像 Skyscanner 一样，谷歌航班(Google Flights)有一个非常强大的搜索工具(search tool)，可以在互联网上搜索最优惠的价格。您可以快速浏览日期和月份以找到可能的最佳日期。
虽然我们认为您只需使用Google Flights 和Skyscanner就可以过得很好，(Skyscanner)但(CheapOair)其他一些受欢迎的选项包括Momondo 、farecompare(Momondo)和CheapOair(farecompare)。
使用上面提到的价格比较工具(price comparison tool)可能是找到您所选日期的最便宜航班的好方法，但您可以通过灵活选择出发和返回时间来节省更多。
例如，仅将航班日期更改两天就可以为您节省数百美元的长途航班费用。Skyscanner 和 Google Flights(Skyscanner and Google Flights)都可以向您展示不同日期的价格差异。
提前预订
虽然Skyscanner 和 Google Flights(Skyscanner and Google Flights)可以帮助您找到可能的最佳航班价格，但您仍然可以使用一些策略来进一步限制您的总体成本。我们可以提供的最大建议之一是尽可能提前计划。
随着您离出发日期越来越近，价格会上涨是很常见的。这是因为航空公司会以基本价格开始，但随着某个航班的机票供应减少，价格会上涨。
您可以做的最好的事情是尽可能提前预订，特别是对于可能不像短途航班那样频繁发生的长途航班。平均“最佳”预订时间是航班起飞前 47 天，但您可以在起飞前 117 天获得优惠机票价格。(flight price)
提前计划的另一个好处是，您实际上可以在Skyscanner 和 Google Flights(Skyscanner and Google Flights)上注册价格提醒。如果在您选择的日期范围(date range)内出现优惠价格，您将收到电子邮件通知。
经常飞？保持忠诚
如果您只选择最便宜的航空公司，它可以在短期内为您省钱，但如果您经常往返于某个地点，请尽量选择同一家航空公司。
许多航空公司都有忠诚度系统，奖励您搭乘他们的航班。您仍然可以使用Skyscanner 和 Google Flights(Skyscanner and Google Flights)来找到该特定航空公司的最优惠价格，但您可以获得免费或折扣航班费用的额外好处。
另一种节省航班费用的好方法是使用提供旅行奖励的信用卡。(credit card)您应该使用信用卡(credit card)进行日常购物来积累积分，随着时间的推移，您将有足够的钱获得免费航班。
关于 Cookie 和隐身模式的说明(Incognito Mode)
许多人认为，使用 cookie 和隐身可以节省您的航班费用。如果您直接访问航空公司的网站，这可能是正确的，但如果您使用 Skyscanner 和Google Flights则不会遇到此问题。
每次Google 航班或 Skyscanner(time Google Flights or Skyscanner)执行搜索时，您的 cookie 或过去的浏览数据都不会对结果产生任何影响。两个平台上的价格都会偶尔调整，但这将是由于航空公司使用复杂的系统来获得最佳收入。
这些系统会考虑当前对其航班的兴趣、预订座位以及当前日期与出发日期之间的时间等因素。
总之，如果您使用前面提到的比较网站，则无需删除 cookie 或隐身浏览。
预订时注意
当您最终找到您的航班时，请在预订时非常注意。航空公司(Airlines)会试图强迫您购买尽可能多的额外服务。
选择座位可能值得多付一点钱，但是在短途航班上添加餐点或特殊套餐等会显着提高您的价格。避免(Avoid)额外的东西，除非你真的需要它们。
一些航空公司还会使用策略诱骗您增加支出。例如，航空公司会在将您发送到单独的行李页面(baggage page)之前建议包含行李的捆绑包。
如果不仔细阅读，您最终可能会花更多的钱购买一个套餐，而您可以通过挑选您在航班上需要的特定功能来省钱。
这是来自Jetstar(Jetstar)的示例。在下图中，您会看到捆绑包页面，然后再进入行李页面(baggage page)。快速浏览一下，您可能会假设您必须为 20 公斤的托运行李支付 15.99 美元。
但是，如果您只需单击入门捆绑包(starter bundle)，您将在下一页看到 20KG 托运行李只需 9 美元即可购买，如果您的行李重量更轻，您可以节省更多。
对于这方面的结束说明，请确保您在购买机票之前仔细查看您所购买的内容。不过，请确保您确实在网上购买了您需要的东西，因为如果您最初不购买，在机场添加餐点或托运行李等额外费用可能会花费更多。
概括
总结这篇文章，以下是我们建议的帮助您在线查找廉价航班的提示。
- 使用 Google Flights 和 Skyscanner 等价格比较网站(Use a price comparison website like Google Flights and Skyscanner)
- 提前预订：47-117 天是最理想的(Book far enough ahead: 47-117 days is the most optimal)
- 如果您经常旅行，请使用旅行信用卡或同一家航空公司(Use travel credit cards or the same airline if you travel frequently)
- 在预订机票时选择附加服务时要小心您所购买的商品(Be careful what you are buying when selecting extras while booking your ticket)
感谢您花时间阅读我们的文章。希望(Hopefully)这里提供的信息被证明是有用的。享受！
How to Find Cheap Flights Online and Beat the Airlines
To make up for the cost оf maintaining, operating, and flying aircraft from location to location, airlinеs will use an abundance of tricks to get the most revenuе possible out of eaсh flight. This can mean, at times, that уou may be pаying more for effectively the sаme flight.
In this article, we take a look at how you can find cheap flights online and save money on what may be the most expensive part of your travel costs.
Note: Even though price comparison websites are awesome, it’s worth noting that not all airlines are included in these sites. For example, Southwest doesn’t show up on Expedia, Orbitz, or any website we mention below, but sometimes they have the best price on a domestic flight in the US.
Start with Price Comparison Websites, Not The Airline
Many people still go directly to their favorite airline or booking website. You can potentially save a few hundred dollars simply by shopping elsewhere. Thankfully, there are many tools available online that save you the hassle of comparing prices yourself.
Flight comparison websites will scour the web within seconds, finding the absolute best prices for you on your selected flights. They will suggest a number of different airlines across a variety of different booking websites.
One of the most popular price comparison websites is Skyscanner. This powerful website lets you find the best price for your flights by specific date or different prices on each date in a specific month.
You can visit Skyscanner, enter your departure location, your arrival location, and then the dates. Our best advice would be to input the month you’d like to travel. Here is an example.
As you can see from the image above, the calendar provided gives some very useful information on the best prices for each date. By planning ahead, we can get a flight for cheaper by picking the most optimal dates.
Once a departure and return date has been selected, you can click Show Flights for an overview of what booking websites and airlines can offer on these dates.
Skyscanner will give you control over picking the fastest flights, the cheapest, or something in between.
There are, of course, many other price comparison options for finding flights. While Skyscanner is very popular, many people have started to move to Google Flights.
Just like Skyscanner, Google Flights has a very powerful search tool that can scour the internet for the best prices. You can quickly browse through the days and months to find the best dates possible.
While we think you’ll get by fine with just Google Flights and Skyscanner, a couple of other popular options include Momondo, farecompare, and CheapOair.
Using a price comparison tool like those mentioned above can be a great way to find the cheapest flight possible for your selected dates, but you can save even more by being flexible with when you depart and return.
For example, switching the dates of your flight by just two days could save you multiple hundreds of dollars for long distance flights. Both Skyscanner and Google Flights can show you how the price can differ across different days.
Book Far Enough Ahead
While Skyscanner and Google Flights can help you to find the best possible flight prices, there are still tactics you can use to limit your overall cost further. One of the biggest tips we can offer is to plan ahead as far as possible.
It’s very common that prices will increase as you near closer to the date of departure. This is because airlines will start with a base price, but as the supply for tickets on a certain flight lowers, the price will increase.
The best thing you can do is book as far ahead as possible, especially for long distance flights that may not happen as frequently as shorter flights. The average ‘best’ time to book is 47 days before a flight, but you can score a good flight price as much as 117 days before your departure.
Another great thing about planning ahead is that you can actually sign up to price alerts on both Skyscanner and Google Flights. If a great price comes in that’s within your selected date range, you’ll be notified via email.
Fly Frequently? Stay Loyal
It can save you money in the short term if you just go for the cheapest airline possible, but if you will be flying to and from a location frequently, try to stick to the same airline.
Many airlines will have loyalty systems that reward you for flying with them. You can still use Skyscanner and Google Flights to find the best price for that particular airline, but you can get the added benefits of free or discounted flight costs.
Another great way to save on flights is to use a credit card that offers travel rewards. You should use your credit card for everyday purchases to build up points and over time you’ll have enough to get free flights.
A Note About Cookies and Incognito Mode
Many people believe that using cookies and going incognito can save you money on your flights. While this may be true if you go directly to an airline’s website, you won’t have this problem if you use Skyscanner and Google Flights.
Each time Google Flights or Skyscanner performs a search, your cookies or past browsing data won’t have any impact on the results. The prices will adjust sporadically on both platforms, but this will be due to complicated systems airlines use to get the best possible revenue.
These systems take into consideration things like current interest in their flights, booked seats, and the time between the current date and the date of departure.
In summary, deleting cookies or browsing in incognito isn’t necessary if you use the comparison sites mentioned earlier.
Pay Attention When Booking
When you finally find your flight, be very attentive when booking it. Airlines will try to coerce you into purchasing as many extras as possible.
It may be worth paying a little extra to choose your seat, but adding things like meals on short distance flights or special bundles will increase your price quite significantly. Avoid extras unless you actually need them.
Some airlines will also use tactics to trick you into spending more. An example could be that an airline will suggest bundles that include baggage before sending you to a separate baggage page.
Without reading carefully, you may end up spending more for a package when you could save money by picking out the specific features you need on your flight.
Here is an example from Jetstar. In the image below, you are shown the bundles page before being taken to the baggage page. With a quick glimpse, you may assume that you must pay $15.99 for 20KG checked baggage.
However, if you simply click the starter bundle, you’ll see on the next page that 20KG checked baggage can be purchased exclusively for $9, and you can save even more if you have baggage that weighs less.
For an ending note on this, make sure you carefully look over what you are buying before purchasing your ticket. Make sure you do buy what you need online, though, because adding extras like meals or checked baggage at the airport may cost even more if you don’t buy it initially.
Summary
To summarize this article, here are the tips we’d suggest to help you find cheap flights online.
- Use a price comparison website like Google Flights and Skyscanner
- Book far enough ahead: 47-117 days is the most optimal
- Use travel credit cards or the same airline if you travel frequently
- Be careful what you are buying when selecting extras while booking your ticket
Thanks for taking the time to read our article. Hopefully, the information provided here proved to be useful. Enjoy!
