Anna is a co-founder of Adventure in You and has been traveling the world for the last 9 years. She has spent time living in Thailand, Mexico, Indonesia, and Spain and is our local expert in these areas. Her expertise on travel, gear, and building businesses have been featured on Foundr, Business Insider, Yahoo Travel, and more.
To be perfectly honest, I have a confession to make. My partner Tom and I are actually the worst people at planning our travels. If we could just go to the airport and spontaneously hop on a flight, we would. Planning too far ahead just stresses us both out!
So far, our plans involve a month traveling around the Thai Islands, a quick trip to the Philippines to see my family, we’re both doing separate trips during May…and that’s about it. The only thing that we need are cheap flights as we are trying to save as much as we can. Our secret weapon on how to find cheap flights? We turn to one of our favorite apps of all time (after ours of course!) Skyscanner.
To this day, whenever I hear someone say “what’s Skyscanner?” I can’t help but do a double-take. While I resist the urge to ask them which rock they’ve been hiding under, I usually just give them a run-down on why it’s awesome.
Over the years, Skyscanner has saved us so much money whenever we book flights! True enough, Skyscanner comes to the rescue once again, helping us book another ridiculously cheap flight. So instead of hogging all the cheap flights to ourselves, here’s a step-by-step guide on how to find cheap flights to anywhere using the Skyscanner App!
Step 1: Decide Where to Go…Or in Our Case, When to Go!
Being the nomadic travelers that we are, we’re starting to get itchy feet. While we still have to be based in Asia as we are trying to launch our app here, we wanted somewhere new to go to. Instead of deciding where to go based on places that we like (the options are overwhelming!!), we decided to use Skyscanner.
If you don’t have the Skyscanner App yet, download it here! It’s free, super useful, and can help fly you anywhere in the world. Plus, it will give you a serious case of wanderlust.
So back to step 1..Open the App and it gives you options to search everywhere according to dates. You can select weekends, check by month, or you can also browse by popular destinations. In our case, we knew we wanted to be out of Thailand by July so we clicked the everywhere feature and filtered by best deals for the month of July from Bangkok, our airport of origin.
The best thing about this feature is it gives you loads of inspiration and options on where to go! Vietnam, Taiwan, Japan…holy moly! The downfall is, I could literally spend hours trying to find the cheapest and best deals. Luckily, I was on a mission. To find the best deal to a somewhere where we could base ourselves for 1-2 months.
As we work online, it had to be somewhere which had decent WIFI or a decent co-working space. As we wanted to go somewhere which was near the beach, there and then, we decided to head to Canggu, Bali. Looking at Skyscanner, I got a rough estimate of $154 which isn’t too bad.
After narrowing down our options to just Bali, I started looking for one-way tickets. We usually always book one-way flights as we can never plan two months ahead of anything! As soon as you decide on a destination, you will be brought to a page where you can see the various flights running each day. My advice, if you’re flexible with your travel plans, take it one step further by clicking the date box or the word depart, select whole month.
This gives you a cool little graph where you can see the rough estimate of the prices of flights for the entire month! This month overview is super useful as it allows you to see which days its cheapest to travel. Browse through the month and use the graph to find a suitable date for your trip. To my delight, I found a super sweet deal..allowing us to fly to Bali for…..$82. Sweet!
Editor’s Note: The app makes it easy for you to search for flights and find awesome deals.
In my almost four years of non-stop travel, rule #1 of finding cheap flights, is as soon as you find them, you book it! You will most likely never come across something cheaper unless there is a big seat sale! So with that in mind, I clicked book and it brings me to a page which shows me all the flights running that day. I usually browse down this page to see how much more expensive a direct flight would be (if there are any). For those who prefer flying during certain times, you can also select morning flights or flights that leave later on in the day. As we literally don’t have any preference, we went with the first option which had a layover in Singapore.
For those of you that don’t know, Singapore is probably THE best airport in the world. We’ve spent many layovers there and between their free foot massage chairs and free cinema (yes, they have a free movie house inside the airport), I don’t mind spending a couple of hours there.
When booking with Skyscanner, they give you an option to book directly with various companies or airline providers. In our case, it was with Jetstar so we followed the standard booking procedure, and soon, voila! 20 minutes later, I had our next two months of travel sorted.
Editor’s Note: Remember to read the fine print! Check if your flight comes with luggage or any additional fees that you might have to spend for.
Step 4: Happy Dance!
Yipppeee! We’re going to Bali for 2 months of sun, sand, and surfing…oh and yeah, work. Luckily, the world is our office and we can literally do what we do from anywhere in the world! Starting a blog is really one of the best things we did and we are beyond grateful.
P.S. Curious about travel blogging? Check out our step-by-step guide on how to start a travel blog! While blogging is not as easy as everyone thinks it is, the fact that we can work from anywhere in the world is AMAZING.
✨The 1 Thing We Never Leave Home Without…✨
Coming from someone who has been traveling the world for the last 8 years AND has been in the hospital 2x, travel insurance is something everyone NEEDS to get. Get a quote below!
As airfare is one of the most expensive expenses when traveling, finding cheap deals is almost the perfect way to pick a destination to go to. As there is too much to see and do in the world, narrowing down to a single place is hard for me….but if I can see ridiculously cheap flights, it helps narrow down my options. For those who don’t believe in the awesomeness of their Fly to Everywhere Feature, check out a few of these deals I was browsing through.
Cebu, Philippines to Penang, Malaysia $58
Manila to Phuket $67
LA to Havana, Cuba $147
LA to Shanghai, China $180!!
New York to the Bahamas….$96!!!
New York to Reykjavik Iceland….$140!!!
Now if that doesn’t get you all excited and giddy, I don’t think we can be friends anymore (kidding!) A secret pastime of mine is just browsing through Skyscanner to see if I could quickly run away to someplace exotic!
Other Tips on How to Find Cheap Flights
Use Price Alerts
Skyscanner has this great feature where you can set price alerts to watch the price of a specific flight. If you’re unsure about your travel plans and want to see if you can get it any cheaper, you can set up a price alert which will automatically tell you if the prices for your selected flight are increasing.
Be Flexible
Flexibility is your best friend when it comes to finding cheap deals. If you’re willing to get on a flight with a longer layover, a night time or early morning flight, or willing to get one with multiple connections, chances are, you will be able to find a cheaper flight deal.
Alternative Airports
This is one tip that a lot of people overlook. Instead of flying out the main airport whose prices are sure to be expensive due to the high premium of convenience, consider checking smaller low key airports to see if flights are cheaper. Chances are, they are. It will then be up to you to determine if traveling to the other airport and catching a flight from there would be worth it.
Don’t Fly Direct
If you want to score cheap flights, avoid taking direct flights. While they are very convenient, chances are, you have another flight, $30-50 cheaper just because it has a layover in another place for a couple of hours. Again, this boils down to flexibility and preference.
To get more travel tips, check out our full article on 20 of the Best Travel Hacks to Score Cheap Flights. So there you have it! Hopefully, this little travel hack can help you plan your holidays and fuel your wanderlust. While finances can heavily dictate the amount of travel you can do, finding cheap flights and ways around the largest expense always helps! Now, may the cheap-flight-gods be with you!
This post is written in collaboration with Skyscanner (Disclaimer: Regardless of our partnership, Skyscanner is a company that both Tom and I have been using over the last 6 years. We would never ever promote a product or service that we don’t use/believe in.)
Looking for more travel inspiration and tips? Check out our other articles
30 thoughts on “How to Find Cheap Flights to Anywhere: Our Secret Weapon”
Skyscanner is a great app 🙂 I also recommend you check flights directly from airasia or cebu pacific if you don’t mind travels on LCC. Flights from Manila to KL can be as cheap as 15 USD. These airline companies do have promo seats all year long 🙂
I just learned recently the value of not flying direct as I was looking for a flight to Singapore. From the Philippines it’s too expensive, but from Malaysia it’s very cheap. So yeah, that’s what I’m gonna do for my Malaysia-Singapore trip hehe… I have tried SkyScanner before but only to check for flights, never tried to book one using the app. Guess, I should try it now.
It is really important to read the fine print. It has gotten me in trouble a lot of times. I have learned. But really, its best to check all platforms as they have different offers.
I love Skyscanner, it’s so easy and helps you find the best deals. I always search ‘everywhere’ as the destination and then get so excited by all the options out there!
Very good tips on using Skyscanner to find cheap flights. I use it all the time. There are a lot of features I like including the price alerts and the price charts like you mentioned.
Skyscanner app now successfully downloaded. Just in time! I have 3 trips to book over the next few weeks and I think they may come in very handy. Thanks for sharing such fabulous tips!
Skyscanner is my favourite app! I use the go anywhere feature too, that’s how I’ve ended up is Oslo and Berlin this past year. This app and Cheap Flights are definitely a travellers best pal!
Although I am aware of Skyscanner I have never used it. Thanks for all the handy tips and the know-how to make the most of getting a cheap flight but also how to go about using skyscanner to its best ability.
Such a great tutorial on using Skyscanner – and I agree with you – if you haven’t heard of it – where have you been my friend!!!! This is my first go to everytime I am planning a trip.
I think the reason why many australians were slow to take up skyscanner is because we thought it was only for US based flights. The everywhere feature is awesome though and it is definitely an app I look to use now when I fly.
OMG, I have been traveling the world without using skyscanner! I promise next time I need to buy a ticket I will try to use it, just to compare the results . .
Amazing post, guys! I use Skyscanner too for finding my flights so I totally agree with you on this one. It has surely helped me grab a lot of great flight deals in the past years 🙂
I feel the same way when people haven’t heard of Skyscanner. Having lived in London for 3 years, it was the first site we went to when researching a new destination. The ‘Everywhere’ feature is simply the best, and we’ve found such amazing deals and based on travel on the airfare, like £20/rt to Oslo or £18/rt to Dublin. I’ve also been using Google Flights quite a bit as well, as the ‘Explore’ feature does a great job as well.
Okay, I must be the only person on the planet that DOES NOT like skyscanner! I have never been successful using it. I’ve found that every time I think I’ve found a great price, I click on it and it’s actually $50-100 more! How on Earth do you get the app to actually work for you? Maybe it’s just because I’m in the US and all flights are expensive always??
There are glitches sometimes but for the most part I always get the price I see! I send out monthly deals to our readers and see flights from the US to South America or Europe for $150-300!! It’s insane! Sometimes I wish we were in the UK. Do you use the app of web version @disqus_fcjCw2pGnM:disqus
Skyscanner is a great app 🙂 I also recommend you check flights directly from airasia or cebu pacific if you don’t mind travels on LCC. Flights from Manila to KL can be as cheap as 15 USD. These airline companies do have promo seats all year long 🙂
I just learned recently the value of not flying direct as I was looking for a flight to Singapore. From the Philippines it’s too expensive, but from Malaysia it’s very cheap. So yeah, that’s what I’m gonna do for my Malaysia-Singapore trip hehe… I have tried SkyScanner before but only to check for flights, never tried to book one using the app. Guess, I should try it now.
I love skyscanner! The anywhere function is awesome, I need to use it to get cheap fights too!
Skyscanner I must investigate. I use Airfarewatchdog now.
Try it!! You won’t turn back :p
It is really important to read the fine print. It has gotten me in trouble a lot of times. I have learned. But really, its best to check all platforms as they have different offers.
I love Skyscanner, it’s so easy and helps you find the best deals. I always search ‘everywhere’ as the destination and then get so excited by all the options out there!
Very good tips on using Skyscanner to find cheap flights. I use it all the time. There are a lot of features I like including the price alerts and the price charts like you mentioned.
Love Skyscanner and how they update you almost daily with specials. Looking at those rates you received this site proves how incredible it is!
I love Skyscanner and always use to early in my trip planning steps. I’ve always found it to be really useful.
Skyscanner app now successfully downloaded. Just in time! I have 3 trips to book over the next few weeks and I think they may come in very handy. Thanks for sharing such fabulous tips!
Awesome! Hope you find some great deals.
Super ideas, we also love skyscanner great app! I like the tips on don’t fly direct and changing airports these are great tips!
Skyscanner is my favourite app! I use the go anywhere feature too, that’s how I’ve ended up is Oslo and Berlin this past year. This app and Cheap Flights are definitely a travellers best pal!
Although I am aware of Skyscanner I have never used it. Thanks for all the handy tips and the know-how to make the most of getting a cheap flight but also how to go about using skyscanner to its best ability.
I love Skyscanner! It’s my go to app for flights. The everywhere feature is amazing– especially for nomadic people such as us!
Such a great tutorial on using Skyscanner – and I agree with you – if you haven’t heard of it – where have you been my friend!!!! This is my first go to everytime I am planning a trip.
Me too! In fact, finding cheap flights is the perfect excuse to start planning a trip!
I think the reason why many australians were slow to take up skyscanner is because we thought it was only for US based flights. The everywhere feature is awesome though and it is definitely an app I look to use now when I fly.
Has it caught up in Australia now @beerrandcroissants:disqus?
OMG, I have been traveling the world without using skyscanner! I promise next time I need to buy a ticket I will try to use it, just to compare the results . .
Oh you need to try it! Been using it for years and its save me a ton of money while traveling!
Amazing post, guys! I use Skyscanner too for finding my flights so I totally agree with you on this one. It has surely helped me grab a lot of great flight deals in the past years 🙂
I feel the same way when people haven’t heard of Skyscanner. Having lived in London for 3 years, it was the first site we went to when researching a new destination. The ‘Everywhere’ feature is simply the best, and we’ve found such amazing deals and based on travel on the airfare, like £20/rt to Oslo or £18/rt to Dublin. I’ve also been using Google Flights quite a bit as well, as the ‘Explore’ feature does a great job as well.
Dude…those prices….incredible! Europe is such a great hub for catching cheap flights!
Okay, I must be the only person on the planet that DOES NOT like skyscanner! I have never been successful using it. I’ve found that every time I think I’ve found a great price, I click on it and it’s actually $50-100 more! How on Earth do you get the app to actually work for you? Maybe it’s just because I’m in the US and all flights are expensive always??
There are glitches sometimes but for the most part I always get the price I see! I send out monthly deals to our readers and see flights from the US to South America or Europe for $150-300!! It’s insane! Sometimes I wish we were in the UK. Do you use the app of web version @disqus_fcjCw2pGnM:disqus
Having been travelling for two years now, we also find skyscanner invaluable! Great tips and article!
Great travel tip! We started using Skyscanner a few months ago and it is fabulous!!
Love the app. I got a great deal for Thailand….booked 4 months in advance. Leaving in 2 days.