How to Book Cheaper International Flights
- Abigail Gaston
- Oct 20, 2018
- 4 min read
With international travel, one of the greatest aspects that hinders travel abroad for individuals is the expense of airfare. A trick I have learned over the past few years for how to book cheaper international flights is to expand my departure airport to, well, anywhere within the United States, basically.
Leading up to about one and a half years ago I pretty much restricted my international flights search to only the local airports nearby (airports within 100 miles of my home). However, about two years ago I discovered that I had been limiting myself from discovering the best international travel deals by sticking solely to my home-based airport. Expanding my travel route to airports outside my region, and even my state, opens my international travel doors to many cheaper options! Sounds confusing, right? Stick with me; I will get you through it.
My home-base airport is Detroit Metro (DTW). I have discovered some really great flight deals out of DTW; however, I have also discovered incredibly cheap flight prices for routes out of Boston, Newark, NYC's JFK, Chicago, and most recently, Miami, to destinations abroad for a price that DTW could not come close to beating. I know what you are thinking, "OK, you may have been able to book flights from the previously mentioned airports to international destinations but you still have to get to these other airports first and surely that is an extra expense?"
Interestingly enough, although it does in fact cost money to travel from mid-Michigan to an airport in another state, each time I booked travel to one of the above cities (Amtrak to Chicago & flights everywhere else), my total travel cost was still lower than it would have been if I flew from my DTW or another airport within 100 miles from home.
In addition to cheaper costs, by departing from an airport outside of your home airport, you give yourself the opportunity to take two vacations in one time-frame. Take my vacation to Iceland as an example. When my boyfriend, Jeff, and I traveled to this beautiful North Atlantic Island, it was quite cheap to fly from JFK to Iceland. Therefore, we decided that we would arrive to New York City two and a half days prior to our Iceland departure out of JFK, leaving us time for a nice mini-vaca exploring NYC together. See, two vacations in one - New York City for two nights and three days and Iceland for five nights and six days! Our round trip flights to NYC (LaGuardia) were only $118 each.
You say you do not have enough time to spend a couple of extra days in another city before departing on your international vacation? No worries; there are plenty of cities, including NYC, where you can simply make a day trip out of it. Schedule your international flight to depart in the evening and arrive to your departure city in the morning. Jeff and I have done this three times over the past year. We traveled to Boston, NYC, and Chicago in the morning, spent the day enjoying the city life and then took an evening flight out to a foreign destination. All three times we were happy with our day trip city fun prior to our evening flight. In fact, I honestly think it helped to wear us out before a long flight, which helped us catch some much needed Z's.
Below are five tips for finding the right flights for your international travel planning. Hopefully, you will decide to enjoy a pre-vacation vacation of your own sometime and share with us your experience! We always love to hear from readers; email us here.
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1. Many times I will Google cheap flights from USA to a destination to discover where flights are the cheapest. For example, "Cheap flights to Rome, Italy from the USA." Google will populate a list of cities with flights to Rome, Italy, as well as some travel planning sites with travel deals to Rome, Italy. Although exact dates are not listed, it has helped me narrow down cities that may have the cheapest flights to a destination I am looking to travel to. I usually take four and start researching. This is how I was able to get round trip airfare from Newark to Amsterdam for only $325.
2. I love to use the Hopper phone app! It is a super easy way to not only search for flights out of different cities but the cheapest days to fly as well. It also guides you on when to actually purchase your tickets in order to get the best deal.
3. Think about the big cities /international airports near the coast closest to your destination. This is not a for sure fact; however, it has been my experience that these cities typically have decent deals. For example, my family and I are in the process of planning a trip to Exuma, Bahamas. From Detroit, flights are around $800 a seat. However, flying from Miami to Exuma (George Town, Bahamas Airport - GGT) is less than half the price and there are often flight deals from DTW to MIA. With this route, if I book my travel today, I will save around $200 on airfare as opposed to booking straight flights from DTW to GGT (Exuma). I believe we will travel a day early and spend a brief but sweet 24 hours in Miami before heading off to the Bahamas. Another two for one vacation!
4. Skyscanner - Another of my favorite cheap flights hunting tools! Skyscanner has many benefits when searching for cheap flights. One of my favorites is the "Cheapest Month" tab. If your dates are pretty open, this tab could be your travel planning best friend.
5. Expedia - One of the benefits of Expedia is the "Nearby Airports" tab. This option for booking travel does not open the door to travel outside your region; however, you may find a cheaper deal within a 100 mile radius of your home-base airport. I suggest clicking on this option each time you book travel for the simple chance that you may find a nearby airport with a cheaper alternative! The same feature is offered when choosing your destination airport.
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