Cheap Flight Ticket Hacks

Being an international student is not easy. With the stress of studying, coping with a new country and homesickness, it’s nice to visit home during semester break to gather your bearings. Plus, mama’s cooking is always something you miss, right? Unfortunately, flight tickets are not always cheap but luckily for you we’re able to hook you up with some tips that might help.

1. Browse in incognito
Isn’t it annoying when you go online to search for flight tickets and then a few hours later, the price of those same flights just magically increased? Cookies make your searches not private. The website now knows you need a flight ticket and takes the chance raise prices of flights similar to the one you searched. Try browsing in incognito (Press Ctrl + Shift + N for Chrome) to avoid facing this problem.

2. Budget airlines – read the fine print!
As you would guess, budget airlines are so so so much cheaper than the non-budget ones (of course). But please do not ignore the fine print and be sure to take that extra few minutes to read them. A lot of these budget airlines sell tickets that do not include the price of luggage, food, entertainment system which then you would end up adding extra money for. So be aware on what you‘re getting into.

3. Hacker Fare
Hacker fare is a feature on KAYAK website where they search for your departure and return flight on different airlines separately as one-way flights. Sometimes this option can save you a few hundred ringgits compared to buying a return trip from the same airline. So make sure to check this out as well on https://www.kayak.com

4. Buy Flight Tickets early
A lot of people have their own theories of when to purchase flight tickets; some say 52 days before departure, some say 6-8 weeks before departure but usually the earlier the better. And I would say to start purchasing at least 3 months before departure date for international flights and 1 month before departure date for local flights. If you’re waiting for a price drop from last minute bookings, well, sad to say that the chance of getting a reasonable priced ticket is pretty low. So better be safe than sorry.

5. Travel Agent
Sometimes travel agencies can be cheaper because they know how to look for cheap flights and because some agencies have a contract or a ‘bundle deal’ with some airlines which offer them cheaper tickets. But do some research before going to a travel agent so you are able to compare the ones you have found online and the ones the travel agency has to offer before making a purchase. Good luck!