How to book cheap flights

My first blog post!
I’m so excited to share this information with you all because some of these tips I’m about to give you truly influenced how often I’ve been able to travel. Let’s be honest, traveling is not cheap. I will come home from a trip and start saving money that day for my next one. One of the greatest skills I’ve learned is how to at least save money on the flights, domestic and international. This way, I can spend more money and do more in my destination!!!
This is also one of the most frequently asked questions by my friends. A lot of my friends know a few of my cheap flight deal tricks, but I’m here today to share with EVERYONE!

1. TRAVEL CREDIT CARD!
Seriously, guys…. This is the best thing I ever did. I don’t know why it took me so long to do it, but it cut the wait time in between trips and the money I needed to save and this is why:

• You automatically get miles (anywhere from 20,000 to 50,000 depending what you sign up for) just for signing up. That enough for a plane ticket right there!
• You will get miles for every dollar you spend. Y’all I put everything on my credit card. I make sure I immediately pay it off and not only am I saving money on flights, but I’m building a bomb credit score!

Most travel cards have NO INTERNATIONAL FEES! This is freaking lifesaving. Any other card will charge you every time you withdrawal or swipe your card.

• Travel cards make it super easy to book your trips through their travel agencies. I’ve flown to Spain roundtrip for under $300 on DELTA because of my travel card.

So now that I’ve got you convinced, you are probably wondering “ok cool but what card should I get?”I’ve got two major suggestions:
Venture card with Capital One

• This is a great starter card because it has a $0 annual fee and unlimited miles for every dollar you spend.
• You get 20,000 miles for signing up and spending $1,000 in the first three months. This sounds like a lot, but it’s not! Just put your rent or bills on it!

More info here: https://www.capitalone.com/credit-cards/ventureone/
Chase Sapphire

• This card is a great choice for someone making a littttllle more money because this one has a $95 dollar annual fee.
• However, you get 60,000 miles and a $750 travel bonus if you book through your chase sapphire card.

More info here: https://creditcards.chase.com/rewards-credit-cards/sapphire/preferred
Overall, I think the Venture is a great starter card. This is the card I use, and it has treated me WELL. However, my next card when I’m a little more settled (aka have a real job) will most defenitely be the Chase Sapphire.
Pro tip: you and your friend/partner/whatever both sign up for these cards and you basically have a free flight together!

2. Scott’s Cheap Flights
Scott, if you are reading this, I LOVE YOU! No, but really, Scott’s Cheap Flights is a game changer. Sometimes airlines make mistakes and forget a zero in the price or just put the wrong price, making the flight super cheap, and Scott’s people will catch it and send an email alert. What I typically do is wait for Scott to send me a cheap flight alert based off a few airports I’m willing to fly out of and the destination and THEN I go and book the flight through my Venture One. You have to pay to use the premium version of Scott’s Cheap Flights ($50 a year), but I think it’s totally worth it. BUT because I’,m a generous human, I’m going to be posting some of the alerts I think are crazy good on my Instagram stories.Like I said, Scott’s is mostly mistake fares, so the rates don’t last long. When you get a Scott alert that looks good, book it asap!

3. Don’t check a bag if you can help it
I wish I was lying when I say checking bags has almost cost me as much as the flight itself. A carry on is the way to go, specially if you can bring a free carry on. A lot of cheaper airlines I’ve used for domestic travel (Frontier specifically) will charge you for a carry on! It’s less than a checked bag, but still, make sure you do your research. If you do need to check a bag or pay for a carry on, make sure you do it prior to your flight. If you show up and havent paid, they will charge you an absurd amount of money. Another thing to be careful about regarding bags is if you are traveling through Europe. Once you are in Europe, flights are stupid cheap between countries BUT a lot of airlines have different size restrictions for carry ons and checked bags. This can really screw you because a bag you travel around the US with may be too large to be considered a carry on with some European airlines and even checked baggage has lower weight requirements.
I’m not sure if my tone was obvious enough, but this is all from personal experience 🙂

4. Be flexible

This is so simple yet can seriously save you money on a flight. Being flexible can mean flying out of a different airport than you planned, leaving earlier or later than you planned, taking red eyes, long layovers… the list goes on. I’ve had some HARD travel days to save some money, but it’s always worth it when you get there!