Error fares are simply mistakes that happen when the airline systems are pricing up flights. You'd be surprised how often they happen, and they're usually gone almost as soon as they show up. (Airlines aren't exactly known for wanting you to score unreasonably cheap flights, are they?)
Here at JFC, we've seen our fair share of error fares over the years in the different regions that we cover. We all do a little happy dance when we spot one (and send out the notice to our club members asap!)
The standard price for flights to Australia is often well into the $1000s and can involve two or more stops. So seeing one-stop tickets go down to $300s felt like winning the lottery.
The standard price for a good business class fare (including lie-flat seats and the usual add-ons) can kick the price up well over £2000. When you see a long-haul business class flight that only costs three digits, you have an error fare!
If you spot a price that seems outrageously low (sometimes cutting as much as two-thirds off the standard price), book first and ask questions later! Flight deals are like the stock market, they fluctuate ALL the time, and the best prices don't stick around for very long. That's even more true with error fares as you're racing to beat the airline to fix their mistake.
To catch an error fare, you pretty much have to be constantly looking for them on flight search engines. We can tell you that it's a lot of work to spot them, so join our free deal newsletter, and we'll just tell you when an error fare is out there.
Sidenote: Error fares can be canceled and refunded by the airline, but over 70% of them are honored. Follow these error fare guidelines, and you won't lose out.
While being snappy is essential for booking error fares, it's often true of flight tickets in general - that's why our business is to make you the first to find out about them.
If you've ever looked for a nonstop flight for a weekend trip anywhere on a difficult Wednesday afternoon at work, you've probably noticed that flights get very expensive on short notice... Why? The simple answer is that airlines know they can charge more.
Statistically speaking, most people who buy last-minute tickets are business travelers who don't pay much attention to the cost since their company pays. Airlines are aware of this, and they charge accordingly.
The way they do this is through a system called yield management. Basically, airlines charge different prices for a single-seat, which their algorithms adjust based on demand.
But in recent times, the type of last-minute travelers has been changing thanks to the pandemic. According to CheapAir's study, we're seeing more last-minute travel due to constantly changing travel restrictions, unexpected trips, and family emergencies.
Don't panic just yet! There's a silver lining - when airlines struggle to fill up seats, they do the reverse and churn out last-minute deals. While we wouldn't recommend relying on these for a specific trip you have planned, there are times when grabbing a flight at short notice may pay off.
In that case, there are many sites like lastminute.com, CheapOair, or TUI if you're in the UK that help airlines fill up seats.
Since these tickets are basically on clearance, be prepared to make some compromises by giving up extra perks like early seat selection or flying from a departure airport further away.
There are a few tips and tricks for landing a cheap last-minute flight, but it can sometimes just boil down to luck (not myths).
We guarantee you've heard some of these myths when looking for cheap flights before. Some of them stem from old truths, others... not so much. So let's get into debunking the most common myths:
This myth seems to be everywhere! As it goes, flight search engines track your interest in a flight and hike up the price if you come back to book it later!
The "unfortunately the price has gone up" message on Google flights brings no joy at all for anyone.
Cheap FlightsWhile there is no denying the airline industry's nickel and diming ways, this particular myth doesn't hold much weight. Our team goes through hundreds of flights every day to find cheap flights, including multiple searches to the exact location. The fare price doesn't change because you've visited a web page before.
This may have been a trick some dodgy travel agents tried in the past, but those days are long gone.
It's always possible that a flight you were eyeing goes up just because of how frequently the prices change. Or maybe someone else has booked the same flight, triggering a change to a new price bucket.
It's possible to see affordable flights as early as a year before, especially when using the Google Flights calendar tool. Yet, booking as soon as the flights are released isn't always the best strategy.
How airlines price their tickets is complicated, but it is a long game. They don't usually actively manage their fares for domestic flights until 3-4 months before departure and as many as five months for international flights.
So waiting in the metaphorical line for airlines to open shop and release tickets could mean paying the standard price, and that's certainly not how to find cheap flights to anywhere.
This may have been true back in the days when airlines loaded their flight tickets once a week, probably on a Tuesday afternoon, and if you booked early, you were more likely to get one of the cheaper flights.
This may have been true back in the days when airlines loaded their flight tickets once a week, probably on a Tuesday afternoon, and if you booked early, you were more likely to get one of the cheaper flights.
Nowadays, fare changes no longer happen once a week and can fluctuate after just a few minutes even. Instead, fares are based on complex algorithms that consider the best price based on the season, time, popularity, human psychology, etc.
So marking down Tuesdays as the flight booking day isn't a thing anymore, but knowing the right time to book when hunting for the cheapest flight can make a difference (we'll get into it in a bit).
You might be tempted to search for the cheapest ticket with low cost airlines. This is fine if you're in a hurry, have no flexibility, and are okay with budget airlines' no-frills policies.
But if you don't look beyond the walls of budget airlines, you're potentially missing out on deals with better airlines. It doesn't take too long to compare prices between different airlines, especially with the number of tools available.
While these are the most common myths we hear, we know there are many more floating around, but, it's time to get back to the facts.
They say a worker is only as good as their tools - that's true for cheap flight hunting too! The sites we're going to run through each have unique valuable ways to help you spot super affordable flights. Here's a rundown on how to use them for the best results.
Google Flights is our go-to tool to find the cheapest flights to anywhere. We've used it so much that we've made an in-depth guide on how to master the Google Flights features to find insanely cheap flights.
The main highlights are the Explore Page which shows you a world map with (nearly) real-time prices for your itinerary (so you also find the cheapest place). You can use the filters here to filter out airlines, durations, stops, connecting flights and even filter by interests.
It's also the gateway to finding the cheapest price on hotels, vacation rentals, and things to do while you're there.
