Many people need to fly onto their cruise ship, so we wanted to share 10 easy flight hacks so you can save on your airfare in 2022.

Every dollar you save on your flight, is a dollar you can spend on your cruise, shore excursion, or wifi.

Hopefully one or more of these tips will save you some serious money on your flight!

The best time to book your flight

First, you’ll want to know the sweet spot when it comes to booking your flight in advance to lock in that lowest airfare.

If you’re traveling during the winter, you’ll want to book your flight 110 days in advance to secure the lowest rate, especially if the month covers Christmas or New Year.

For spring travel, 76 days in advance is the best time to book, and find out any month. This includes spring break travel dates, specifically Florida as a destination you want to book as early as possible.

For the summer, 42 days in advance, giving you a bit of flexibility.

And for fall, 77 days earlier is the best time to save, which many of us have in mind as annual Thanksgiving travel destinations.

And if you come back to see the family, just set reminders on the calendar.

For international travel, 8 to 10 months in advance is the sweet spot. Use Google’s flight tool to check multiple departure points for the same destination.

Stopover trick

It’s important to remember for this trick that it will only work if you plan to just bring a carry on. You can’t check the bags under the plane with this trick. This can only work for one way flights, as airlines will cancel any remaining flights on your itinerary. And please do the next hack at your own risk.

Did you know that it is sometimes cheaper to book a flight that connects to your final destination and just get off the plane than to book a flight directly?

What most don’t know is that if you look for alternative destinations for a flight that stops in the city you want to get off and just get off the plane, you’ll save big money.

For example, let’s say you live in Austin, Texas, and you want to visit family in Chicago. The direct flight from Austin to Chicago on board American Airlines is $ 216 for a direct flight.

What most don’t know is that if you look for alternative destinations for a flight that stops in Chicago and just gets off the plane, you’ll save a lot of money.

Let’s use the same dates, same time, and same airline for the flight leaving from Austin, Texas, to Kansas City with a layover to Chicago. You will notice this flight departing from Austin with American Airlines with a stopover in Chicago, landing at the exact flight time I just showed you directly that would otherwise continue to Kansas City as a perfect time for and. get off the plane, pick up your bags and lock in the lower priced flight at $ 143.

The best day of the week to book a flight

A great free app to help you further zero in on the cheapest days of the week to book using a color coded calendar is an app called Hopper. This will help determine the optimal time frame and which day of the week you should specifically book.

Many people think that the first flight of the day would be the best, but it’s not. The first flight of the day is one that usually leaves at 6:00, 6:30 or 7:00 the most likely to have an on time departure as this is the first flight of the day.

The most expensive flights during the day are those between eight and 10 in the morning and five and 7 in the evening mainly to travel back and forth on business.

Use incognito mode to book your flights

Use an incognito browser or VPN to show you the best deals and promotions.

If you use a VPN, sometimes making it seem like you are from Europe will sometimes result in you being presented with additional offers and promotions where airlines are sometimes trying to persuade international travelers to complete the a booking on their website.

Another important tip is that if you’re using a search engine to show the lowest airfare prices, you’ll usually want to scroll down just to see if Southwest is included as a destination. Southwest Airlines often tries to hide its flight data from third party sites so they can get the benefit of your booking directly.

Unfortunately, the Southwest website is an additional resource you may want to check out, as they don’t always show up in standard search results.

Mix and match your airlines

It can sometimes be cheaper to do a portion of your trip with United and your return flight to the Delta. And if you just rely on the airline’s website, you won’t always see those facts and figures.

Kiwi.com is another great resource for finding a mix of airline flight options.

You can also search and easily book multiple airlines through Priceline or Expedia. And for both of these websites, whether you are considering a hotel or a car rental in your booking, the amount of money you can save, package it all together as astronomical .

How to unlock the same rates as a travel agent

For any type of international travel or a complex trip, I always rely on the same rates and expertise of a good travel agent. But did you know Kayak.com is one of the only websites that gives you access to travel agency rates, unlocking additional promotional prices that the average traveler won’t see.

Another fantastic resource is scottscheapflights.com, which strives to help you find the best deals specifically from your local airport.

Price alerts

Instead of spending all your free time waiting for prices to drop, be it Google flights or a website like Skyscanner, which will alert you via email when prices include a price drop. flight price for your designated trip.

Airline discount gift cards at warehouse clubs

Costco, for example, is a warehouse club where you can often find gift cards for many of your favorite reduced airlines.

Many of these gift cards do not expire and you can use up to five per member.

You or a few people in your family have taken advantage five times that there are hundreds to save with this gift card delivered to you the same day via email.

Sign up for that airline credit card on the plane

How many times have you sat there where your flight attendants were eager to go through a brochure encouraging you to sign up on the spot?

Many of those credit card applications which you may be presented with are incentive with all sorts of bonuses. You will have access to an exclusive bonus offered for that particular flight, and those bonus points can be used in a good way.

It’s also worth noting that you can buy your status for many of your airlines, giving you club access and lots of additional perks.

Find the airline you are most likely to travel with and consider a credit card.

Use Google flights to plan your next vacation

This is an unused tab that not many people know to use on Google flights.

Let’s say you’re flying out of DC and you’re considering some travel between now and the 4th of July. Click the Explore tab, and from DC, I was immediately given some impossible low direct airfare options for as little as 74 bucks to Orlando.

Google also considers some great hotel deals, if you choose, but you can determine if you are going on the week, day, weekend, how long you want to stay there.

Bonus hack: how to maximize your airline seat

If you haven’t used Seat Guru yet, it reveals some important information related to your seat and its physical location on the plane while booking with your airline gives you a seat map that outlines the basics.

This website shows the differences between leg room bulkheads the best and worst seats to be booked with this free resource is heaven sent for long journeys.