When you’re looking for the best travel apps, there are a lot of factors to consider—like whether you’re flying domestically or internationally, how much time you have before you need to leave, and what kind of experience are you looking for.
We’ve compiled a list of the best apps for cheap flights that will help you find all your options in one place. From finding the cheapest seats on any given flight (and which airlines offer them) to tracking down deals on last-minute flights, our picks will help you save money and time when booking travel!
Table of Contents
Best Apps For Cheap Flights
The 5 Best Apps for Booking Cheap Flights
By
Lee Huffman
Published
May 20, 2020
Updated
July 21, 2021
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Are you looking to find cheaper flights for your next trip? We review five top apps that can help you save money on your next trip. Enjoy!
Points and miles are great for booking travel, but sometimes you can find a better deal by paying cash to book a flight. It can be hard to find good deals and sweet spots on airline websites. Because of this, it pays to use apps for booking cheap flights on your mobile phone. Here are our top five.
Skyscanner
Skyscanner App ScreenshotThe Skyscanner app has a user-friendly interface that is very functional. I like that it offers fun tools that forecast when to book to save money and discover flights you might not have thought about. As with most tools, you can choose dates, durations, stops, times, and airlines. Once you’ve found your ideal flight, you’ll click through to the airline’s website to complete your purchase.
The two features I like best are the Price Predictions tool and the Explore tool. With Price Predictions, you choose your departure and arrival cities and when you’d like to travel. The tool then predicts the optimal time to book your ticket to find the lowest price.
The Explore tool offers flight deals based on your departure city. You can either choose the country and month of travel or leave them blank to find great deals. If you’re flexible on your destination and when you fly, the Explore tool can be a really fun way to visit new cities around the world.
Download Skyscanner for free on Apple or Android.
Momondo
With the Momondo app, you can book flights, hotels, and rental cars. You can search departure and arrival city on specific dates, or you can use the “anywhere search” feature. This feature shows the price of flights on your specific dates to anywhere in the world. You can filter by budget, dates, distance, or themes to find the perfect vacation for you.
The “anywhere search” feature is perfect when you have a specific budget in mind without a specific destination or are looking for weekend getaway ideas and don’t want to fly too far. Theme searches are ideal when you’re looking for something specific. Options include beaches, family, gambling, golfing, and skiing.
Momondo Anywhere Search Screenshot
When you find the flight you want, you can book on the airline’s website directly from the app. This gives users the peace of mind that their personal information won’t be in the hands of an app that they don’t know much about.
The app has some innovative features that set it apart from the others. You can track the status of your flight to see if it is on time. But what is really cool is the augmented reality feature that measures your bag size to ensure it is acceptable for your flight.
Download Momondo for free on Apple or Android.
Skiplagged
Skiplagged allows users to book flights and hotels through its app. Skiplagged ScreenshotThis is one of the few I reviewed that also includes the price of Southwest flights in its search results. It also offers a rewards program that gives you travel credits for sharing links. You’ll earn up to $25 in credits toward a future reservation for booking a flight or hotel or when someone books using your referral link.
The unique feature of Skiplagged is that it offers hidden-city ticketed trips. This means that you’ll book a flight to someplace else but get off the plane in your desired city along the way.
For example, if you want to fly from San Francisco to Atlanta, you may book tickets with the ultimate destination of Orlando, but with a connection in Atlanta. When you land in Atlanta, you get off the plane and let the seat on your connecting flight go empty.
Just remember not to check your bags or your suitcase will end up in the wrong city! If your bag is gate-checked, which can happen, that means that your bag will continue on to the plane’s final destination. These risks are real, so make sure the price discount is worth it. Or you can pack everything you need for your trip in a bag that fits under your seat, just to be safe.
Airlines look down upon this practice, so it’s not advisable to include your frequent flier number on your reservation. Skiplagged proudly shares on their website that United Airlines sued them and Skiplagged won. However, airlines have been cracking down on travelers who use this strategy. Lufthansa even sued a passenger who used hidden-city ticketing. It lost the case but is planning to appeal the verdict.
Download Skiplagged for free on Apple or Android.
Hopper
Hopper ScreenshotHopper tracks flight and hotel prices daily to predict the right time to book your reservation. When you activate push notifications, the app will notify you when your preferred destinations, hotels, and flights change their price. This feature can save you money when prices fall or when they start to rise. Hopper continues to monitor prices after you’ve booked through the app and offers a free price drop guarantee on your reservations. If the price drops, you’ll be credited with the difference.
Once you’ve chosen your departure and arrival airports, Hopper color-codes dates to highlight prices. You can easily see when flights are the cheapest and which dates to avoid to save money on your trip. After you’ve selected your travel dates, Hopper offers guidance on whether you should book your trip now or wait for a lower price. If you’re not ready to book now, you can lock in a price freeze to secure that rate by putting down a deposit. Flights not booked within five days will automatically be refunded to your credit card.
Download Hopper for free on Apple or Android.
Jetradar
Jetradar books flights, hotels, and rental cars from its app. Jetradar ScreenshotResults can be filtered by the usual variables of duration, departure or arrival time, and price. You can also search for amenities like Wi-Fi, USB, and in-flight entertainment.
When searching for flights, the cheapest and most convenient options are pushed to the top of the results. The app also allows mixed-carrier flights, so you can book flights on different airlines to get the best itinerary for your trip. The app does not sell directly. Instead, when you click to buy, it directs you to the appropriate website to lock in your deal.
Download Jetradar for free on Apple or Android.
The Bottom Line For Booking Cheap Flights With An App
All of these apps handle the basic search function of finding flights. However, each one of these top apps for booking cheap flights offers unique features to help you save money on your next adventure. Since they are free, I recommend downloading each app and playing around with the basic search and advanced tools to see which ones you like best.
Before you book your ticket, explore your options to pay for the flight with travel rewards instead of cash. With cheap flight options, it usually doesn’t make sense to use miles to book your flight. However, many airlines offer web specials or other promotions with severely discounted flights.
For example, American Airlines offers “web special” flights for as low as 7,500 miles each way. And the Chase Ultimate Rewards travel portal is a great way to book flights with points earned from the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase Ink Business Preferred. Or you can pay for your flights through these apps using the Capital One Venture Rewards credit card and use your miles as a statement credit to pay for travel purchases.
No matter which method you choose, there are plenty of methods for securing cheap flights for your global travel plans.
best apps for finding cheap flights
Best Apps for Finding Cheap Flights
Score the best flight deals with a few swipes on your smartphone.
By Maryalene LaPonsie
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Edited by Jennifer Ortiz
|
April 22, 2022, at 6:00 p.m.
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With the right tools and a bit of work, travelers can land a fantastic deal on their next flight.(GETTY IMAGES)
While the COVID-19 pandemic put a halt to many people’s travel plans, the world is opening back up to tourists. But thanks to inflation and fuel costs, rising airfare prices could put a damper on your wanderlust.
Fortunately, there are a number of apps and websites designed to make it easy to find the lowest fares possible. “I was able to get (pre-COVID) flights to Japan and Paris for about half of their normal price – trips that would not have been possible without saving on travel costs,” says Dana Eble, a public relations specialist in Detroit.
If you’re looking for a deal yourself, try one of these discount airfare apps and services that frequent flyers say work for them:
Scott’s Cheap Flights.
Skyscanner.
Dollar Flight Club.
Google Flights.
Kiwi.
Hopper.
Momondo.
Priceline.
Onriva.
[ READ: Insider Secrets to Booking Cheap Airfare. ]
Scott’s Cheap Flights
A good flight alert program can simplify the process of finding a deal. These services send emails or notifications whenever there is discounted airfare available to selected destinations, and Scott’s Cheap Flights is a favorite source for flight alerts.
Scott’s Cheap Flights has three tiers of service available. Free accounts receive alerts about deals on international economy flights. Premium plans cost $49 a year and include international and domestic economy flights as well as weekend getaways and mistake fares from chosen airports. Frequent globetrotters may want to spring for the elite plan that provides alerts for economy, business and first-class flights as well as mistake fares from all U.S. airports. It costs $199 per year.
Skyscanner
Skyscanner has a free flight app that is compatible with both Apple and Android devices and provides pricing alerts when a good deal becomes available. The app is easy to use and allows you to set alerts for specific dates or routes.
Travelers can also use Skyscanner’s calendar and charts to compare hundreds of flights for both international and domestic destinations. The app highlights flights that emit less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, lets users mix and match flights from different carriers and offers a search option that allows travelers to find the best prices for flights originating from their chosen airport.
Dollar Flight Club
Dollar Flight Club is similar to Scott’s Cheap Flights, but it structures its plans differently. Free accounts get alerted to deals from one departure airport while premium members can choose four departure airports for deal alerts on domestic and international economy flights. Premium membership costs $69 a year. There is also a Premium Plus+ membership that runs $169 per year and includes premium economy and business class deals.
Eble has used both Scott’s Cheap Flights and Dollar Flight Club and has found each to be helpful. “In my experience, they’ve both been great for alerting me on cheap or reduced airfare tickets,” she says.
“The thing to keep in mind with these services is that you don’t get to track specific destinations or travel dates,” Eble adds as a caveat. “You have to be flexible on where and when you want to go.”
Google Flights
Although you can’t book flights through Google Flights, it is one of the most comprehensive sources of flight pricing information.
While not currently available as an app, Google Flights offers a simple online interface that allows you to search for flights to specific airports and then see a calendar view that shows when flights will be cheapest. The site also has a price graph that allows you to see pricing trends over time. Users can search for a more general destination, such as a country, and see how airfare compares at various airports as well.
Once you find the right airfare, you’ll need to find and book it directly with the carrier or through a third-party booking service.
[ READ: 10 Gas Apps to Save You Money as Gas Prices Rise ]
Kiwi
Compatible with Android and Apple devices, Kiwi promises its app will provide travelers with exclusive offers and prices. It searches for the best rates from all available airlines to piece together the lowest-priced itinerary. The free app also offers the opportunity to search for all deals from a specific airport, which can be handy for those who are ready to take a vacation but don’t have a particular destination in mind.
Within the app, users can get price alerts, access mobile boarding passes and view airport maps. It also offers travel hacks such as bookings with “hidden cities” that can save money. What’s more, the Kiwi app offers other travel services such as destination guides and the location of Wi-Fi hotspots.
Hopper
Shayna Moreno, public relations director at marketing firm Braintrust, has used Hopper to score what she deems amazing deals on travel to Europe and the Caribbean. “I love Hopper as it is one of the friendliest travel apps to use and makes travel planning seamless,” she says. “For me, it inspires more travel since it’s so easy to switch your destination city to see where you can get a great deal.”
Hopper is free and compatible with Apple and Android devices and claims to have 95% accuracy in predicting future flight prices. Users can watch certain flights, be notified when prices drop to their expected lowest level and then book tickets through the app. For those just browsing on the app, Hopper will color code flights using green, yellow and red to indicate which flights are most and least expensive.
If you need one more reason to try Hopper, Moreno adds this: “The bunny mascot is also adorable.”
Momondo
Momondo is a fare aggregator that searches for the best deals across more than 900 travel sites. Users can search for specific flights or explore travel options to trending cities and countries. Its mobile app can be used to access exclusive deals and receive price alerts for searches saved to a watchlist.
The app, which is free and compatible with Android and Apple devices, also has an “Anywhere Search” feature for those who don’t have a specific destination in mind. It allows users to select “anywhere” as an arrival destination and explore flight prices to various regions. Plus, Momondo’s price calendar makes it simple to see if there are cheaper flights available on different days.
Priceline
While Priceline started as a third-party booking website, it also has a popular app. The app is free and compatible with Android and Apple devices.
One advantage of the Priceline app is its exclusive travel deals. With the Express Deals function, Priceline claims people can save as much as 50%. The catch is that users won’t receive their exact departure and arrival times until after they purchase tickets. Until then, they will only be given an approximate takeoff time, such as in the early morning.
Priceline has a best price guarantee as part of its VIP program, and it promises to refund the difference if you find a better deal within 24 hours of booking. If you find a better deal on an Express Deal at any time up to midnight before you travel, Priceline will refund up to 200% of the difference.
[ READ: 10 Best Budget Apps ]
Onriva
Airfare apps aren’t only for those booking vacations. Business travelers and their employers are often searching for a good deal as well. That’s the niche Onriva fills.
“We’ve built a platform to bring everything in one place (so) you don’t have to hop from site to site,” says Onriva founder and CEO Vajid Jafri. “This has never existed before.”
While other apps may make it possible to book from multiple companies, they typically serve as a digital travel agency. With Onriva, all bookings are made directly with an airline or other vendor through the app’s platform. Onriva also provides customer service for these bookings for added convenience. The app brings together travel options from 2 million suppliers and then uses artificial intelligence to learn user preferences and make recommendations.
Anyone with a business email address can sign up for a free Onriva account. Those who want access to advanced features – including cash back on bookings – will need to sign up for the premium service that costs $96 per year.
Conclusion
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