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Figuring out how to get cheap last-minute flights has always been a complex, dizzying affair—and that’s before the pandemic transformed the travel landscape and forced airlines to shift their business models based on new patterns of supply and demand.
First off, it helps to have a basic understanding of how the airlines’ fare pricing models basically work. Airlines set fares based on how full the flight is at a certain point in time, meaning identical seats on the same flight can be sold for many different prices. As a result, for travelers who want to snag the best rate—or get a cheap last-minute flight—keeping track of the flight deal newsletters to subscribe to, the right days of the week to book, and other factors to score the lowest fare can be a full-time job itself.
If you feel like you're the only flier still paying full-price for airfare, don’t fret. We've assembled the best tips and tricks from frequent travelers and cheap flight gurus to ensure you’ll never overpay for your seat again, whether you’re in economy or a higher class, and where it’s still possible to score a good deal—even at the last minute.
Be flexible with destinations
Travel experts often advise checking to see if flying a day earlier or later or from a nearby airport—options that are now offered on most online search sites—might result in cheaper fares. But for bigger savings, consider extending your flexibility to the destination as well. If your dates are fixed, browse the options on Skyscanner, which allows users to select “explore everywhere” as the destination. Then skim for the best value over a certain timeframe.
When flying to Europe, remember that you don’t need your ultimate destination to be your first stop. If direct flights to Paris are pricey, look around and see if routes to, say, Brussels are cheaper on those dates.
Huw Owen, cofounder of TravelLocal, an agency that specializes in creating uniquely local trips, also advises looking at “secondary and tertiary cities” throughout Europe. Such destinations not only can be cheaper for airfare, they also let travelers potentially avoid some of the chaos that larger hubs, such as Amsterdam Schiphol and London Heathrow, have struggled with as a result of labor shortages and other challenges sparked by the pandemic.
“This is a great option for those who are doing a week- or two-weeklong itinerary in a particular country, where it doesn't matter where you land and you can have your local operator collect you and start the adventure from there,” Owen explains. “We're seeing this above all in Europe, where the competition with low-cost airlines has allowed secondary cities to become the new gateways to a destination, for example flying into Porto instead of Lisbon in Portugal. And in Georgia you can now fly to the historical city of Kutaisi, which is a lot cheaper than flying into the capital, Tbilisi.”
Take advantage of waived change fees
One traveler-friendly benefit of the emerging post-pandemic landscape? As of late 2020, many airlines have finally scrapped those dreaded change fees once and for all—hallelujah! So if you see a too-good-to-pass-up deal, grab it while it’s still available—and if you do end up changing it, you won’t take a big hit. “The reason this is beneficial for last-minute bookings is if you're especially worried that the fare might drop after you book, now you're covered,” explains Scott Keyes, founder of Going (formerly Scott’s Cheap Flights). “If you pay $300 for your flight and a few days after booking the price drops to $200, you can rebook it at the new price and get the $100 difference back in flight credit.”
Search for fares individually
It takes some extra time, but searching for a single seat at a time—even if you’re flying with a family of four—can save you big. The reason? Those automated fare systems controlling that alphabet soup of prices are poorly designed and will only look for four seats of the same exact price, returning you a quote of $400 each, perhaps.
If there’s one or more in a lower fare class—a seat priced at $320, say—the system will overlook that in favor of consistency as it can’t divide the query. Search by single seat, though, and the system will find that cheaper seat—savings that can really add up when you’re traveling with the whole family. Just make sure to link the reservations together after you finish your booking so the airline knows you’re all flying together. “Most airline phone agents should be able to walk you through this, though any travel agent can do it quicker and easier,” says Brandon Berkson, founder of trip-planning service HAP Concierge.
In the same way, always check one-way flights alongside returns, especially on domestic trips, since stitching together an itinerary by taking one carrier outbound and another return could offer some savings, too. And if you’re looking at different seat prices within the same class, keep in mind that airlines' clunky systems struggle with combining different classes on the same itinerary. Say you want to take an economy round-trip flight, but only economy-plus seats are left on one leg. The booking system will adjust the price or force you into the higher category to reflect that difference. Book each leg separately, and you can avoid that risk.
Take advantage of the slow rebound of business class
Post-pandemic business travel has rebounded far more slowly than leisure travel—which can mean prime opportunities for scoring swanky, front-of-the-plane seats for far less than you would normally. On Going’s Elite membership offering, which tracks deals for premium economy and higher cabins, recent deals have included New York to Morocco or Senegal for $1,485; various U.S. destinations to Portugal for $1,240; and Boston to Paris for $1,644, according to Keyes.
Keep in mind, however, that with travel as a whole returning to normal, “fares are high and demand remains strong, so low fares are not plentiful in the premium cabins the way it was during COVID,” says Brett Snyder, president of Cranky Concierge, which provides air travel assistance, and airline industry blog Cranky Flier. However, Snyder also notes that the reopening of China to the United States should result in “a flood of capacity” to China and Southeast Asia, so if you have your eye on those destinations, you could potentially score a decent deal, even last-minute.
Don’t forget about the option to bid on upgrades, too. On flights when their premium cabins are fairly empty, some airlines offer economy passengers the chance to bid for upgrades. However, passengers should never rely on this option as a guaranteed way to bump up into a higher cabin, Snyder advises. “The strategy of buying a fare in a lower class of service and then trying to get an upgrade at check-in is always a possibility, but travelers have to be comfortable with sitting in their original class of service,” he says. “If there are seats available, upgrade offers will often be out there, but you never know if seats will be available.
Timing is everything (kind of)
Another good rule of thumb for travelers figuring out how to get cheap last-minute flights: There is no secret time to score the perfect deal. But generally, the best prices tend to drop off once the flight is less than three weeks away.
If it’s 21 days before you plan to travel and you haven’t seen a flight deal to your destination, you’ll want to stop waiting and book the airfare available. That’s because airlines’ automated fare systems are configured to treat later bookings as last-minute business traveler flights and price them accordingly (high, in other words). Keyes watched one trip stay at $489 for weeks, before booking on day 21; just 24 hours later, the same flight cost $630. “The 21-Day Rule is still the gold standard if there's a flight you're looking at and it's getting close and you're trying to decide whether to book or not,” he says.
Try a last-minute rewards search
Last-minute flights can be a smart time to burn off frequent flier miles, as airlines will sometimes release unsold seats as cheaper-than-normal mileage tickets. Don’t just search online for these, though; sometimes, it may be worth calling the airline’s 1-800 number or chatting online with a rep, even if the rewards app or website shows no redemption opportunities.
Consider fifth freedom flights
Fifth freedom flights, in which an airline offers service between two countries outside of its home base, can be a boon to budget-minded travelers for several reasons. First of all, they’re often serviced by larger aircraft on popular international routes, which means more competition and lower prices; they sometimes offer overlooked frequent-flier availability; and, baggage fees are often included—all of which can translate into significant savings, not to mention a superior onboard experience.
While such fares can be slightly more expensive up front, Willis Orlando, product operations team lead at Going, notes that “if you’re a bag checker, you’ll generally save money at the end of the day.” He points to Emirates’ route between JFK and Milan as “a favorite for grabbing a baggage-inclusive nonstop to Europe, as is the Singapore Airlines Houston to Manchester route. Even if you end up paying the same amount all-in for one of these tickets, you're likely to have a better experience.”
Beware of baggage fees
Speaking of those baggage fees: They’ve jumped significantly over the last few years, especially for the cheapest tickets on international flights. Most carriers now charge $150 roundtrip, up from $120 a few years ago, according to Orlando, which can quickly sabotage that sweet deal you just scored. He adds that baggage restrictions and fare rules for South America are even more complicated and “vary dramatically.”
Wherever you’re headed, however, there are ways to avoid getting bogged down in these hefty fees. “We suggest folks compare all the different options within a $120 range listed in an aggregator like Google Flights or Kayak, taking into consideration baggage fees,” Orlando suggests.
Use “hidden-city” booking (but be aware of the risks)
Say you need to fly from D.C. to Dallas, but the price is too high. You could instead book a so-called hidden-city ticket, or a flight with a layover where the passenger simply stops flying at the connection point. (So you would book a flight from D.C. to Los Angeles via Dallas, and deplane in Dallas with no intention of traveling on the next leg.) Booking a longer flight with a layover is usually significantly cheaper. Skiplagged is the best-known search engine for this workaround, but be super careful if you decide to give it a go. The tactic is strictly prohibited in many airlines’ contracts of carriage, so if they catch you flying this way often, you could get in trouble. In 2019, United Airlines began reporting passengers suspected of flying on a hidden city booking to corporate security. Notes Snyder: “It can get travelers cheaper fares, but there are significant potential problems if you're caught. It's just not worth it, especially for the casual traveler who won't really fully understand the potential ramifications.”
Don’t be afraid to ask for a deal in person
Instead of shelling out big bucks online for an upgrade, try a more human approach—a strategy that paid off big-time for Kimberley Lovato, a travel writer who specializes in France, on a transatlantic flight from San Francisco to Amsterdam about four years ago. At the check-in desk at SFO, Lovato jokingly asked the agent whether anyone had bought one of the $10,000 business class upgrades she’d been monitoring online. No, the agent replied, but did she want one?
Not for $10K, Lovato responded, countering with $400—and, to her surprise, the agent said, “Done!”
“I’m not sure if it was because she was in a good mood or I just got lucky, but it made my flight, for sure,” Lovato says. The moral of the story: “You never know. More times than not, I’ve asked for things that seemed crazy and gotten them.”