How I Always Score International Flights for Under $1000

I have been to fifty countries and I have never spent more than one thousand on a round trip flight.

At this point, I think that’s my maximum limit.

Outside of the internet I really don’t talk about traveling with people. But, when the topic does arise I always discuss how I am able to find inexpensive flights! It’s a common misconception that you need thousands and thousands of dollars to fly to other countries and that’s simply not true. The name of the game is being flexible.

Personally, I don’t like traveling during peak times. Peak times in the United States are school breaks, holidays and the middle of the summer. It can be challenging finding affordable flights, rental cars and accommodations. The crowds and the long lines make the experience unpleasant so I try to avoid it.

I am also very flexible with where I choose to travel to. I’m one of those people who want to go almost anywhere! Anywhere that’s safe and I have a good chance of making it back home with all my vital organs and limbs. I do have a running bucket list of places that I want to visit and I try to travel to one each year. Other than that, I go wherever is currently on sale. Airlines don’t advertise sales in the traditional way, but they do send promotions. Also if you track flights long enough you will notice certain places that are cheaper than average to fly to.

So below, I have listed my tried and true methods for finding cheap flights. The same methods I use for all of my trips.

THE FLIGHT DEAL

My number one source for finding airline deals is theflightdeal.com. It’s a website that has an amazing daily newsletter than contains around ten or so deals on airline tickets . The same deals are listed on the website, but it’s very convenient having it sent straight to your inbox. Some deals are good, some deals are great and some will have you racing to your purse to grab your wallet. The flight deal also informs you of glitch fares. Glitch fares are when airlines accidentally price fares at low prices. They don’t happen nearly as frequently as they used to. But some years back, I was able to get three roundtrip tickets to South Africa, Dubai and Hong Kong all for around $800 thanks to The Flight Deal.

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Google Flights

The only site I use to search and book flights is google.com/flights. Save it to your bookmarks, favorites, make it your homepage. Don’t forget about this website.

What I love about Google Flights is the calendar. Each day shows the price of how much it is to fly that day. You can play around with the days to create the cheapest itinerary. You can even search different months and see which is cheapest to fly in.

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Ex. Paris – In May its $708 vs $1023 in July

I also love that it shows your neighboring airports and if the flight is cheaper there. I live in Huntsville, Alabama. My small local airport is often expensive to fly out of. The nearest big airports with cheaper flights are Birmingham, AL and Nashville, TN. If I want an even bigger deal I could drive four hours away to Atlanta,GA which isn’t ideal – but sometimes the savings justify the drive.

And the different from flying out of Nashville which is 100 miles/2 hour drive away

Airline Promotional Emails

Yes, they actually do contain valuable information! I never used to open them because they send out way too many. But, every now and then some of the e-mails are actually worth opening! I typically only fly with Delta and American and lately they having been sending out some good offers. I’m currently in Tokyo thanks to an email from Delta. They had a promotion from my small local airport to Tokyo, Japan for less than $1000. I also could have used my miles at a good redemption point as well. If you haven’t already, sign up for those emails! Oh, and foreign airlines too, the ones I’ve flown with send out great deals as well. I’m thinking about going to Brazil next year with Latam airlines, roundtrip flights from Miami are around $530.

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So ladies and gentleman, that is how I have been able to travel to six continents and not spend over one thousand dollars to get there. I hope this information helps you save on your next flight! If you have any questions, remarks or even some methods I don’t know – let me know below in the comments!