Honestly, finding cheap flights shouldn’t feel like rocket science, especially for big cities. I was sick of paying way too much just to visit family last year. So this time, I decided to crack the code myself.
My starting point
First, I grabbed my laptop and started digging. Figured, okay, let’s look at popular tools everyone talks about. Typed stuff like “search everywhere flights” into Google. You know, names like Skyscanner and Google Flights popped right up. Good enough for me to start testing.
Next step was real hunting. I punched in dates for a trip I wanted – Seattle to Chicago in June, returning in July. Hit that search button on both sites. Skyscanner spat out like 20 airlines instantly. Google Flights? Pretty map view, cool, saw dates cheaper by moving a day or two. Basic, but solid. So far, easy.
The price alert headache
Thinking, “This ain’t enough.” Needed to track prices. Set up alerts on both platforms for my Seattle-Chicago route. For weeks, my inbox got flooded with emails shouting “PRICE DROP!” Honestly, got annoying fast. Some drops were tiny, like $5 less – felt like a slap in the face. But a few times… boom! Saw a decent dip. Saved about $80 compared to my first look just by waiting for an alert. Painful waiting game though.
The “hidden city” gamble
Now, I got curious about this trick called “skiplagging” or hidden city ticketing. Means booking a flight where you actually get off at the layover city, not the final stop. Sounds shady, but I heard rumors it saves big bucks. Found a site specializing in finding these.
- Looked up Denver to Atlanta.
- Normal flight direct? $300 easy.
- Searched for flights connecting through Atlanta to somewhere else… bingo. $180 ticket Denver to Florida, just hop out in Atlanta.
Seriously tempting! Almost booked it. But then my gut screamed “STOP!” Read the fine print. Airlines HATE this. Could cancel my return flight, void my points, even ban me? Plus, you can’t check bags. Too risky, too much hassle. Decided it wasn’t worth the potential nightmare. Money flying out of my pocket, but peace of mind won.
Gotcha moments that cost me
Even sticking to normal routes, I messed up. Few times I got excited seeing a crazy low number online, clicked through… only to find it was a bait-and-switch. The final page tacked on fees like:
- $40 for choosing my seat so I wouldn’t be stuck near the toilet (seriously?).
- $70 round trip to check just one suitcase. Come on!
- Random “service fee” of $25 popped up once. What service? Breathing?
Had to mentally add like $150 minimum to those initial low prices to see the real damage. Learned to always look way beyond the first shiny number.
So, what’s the easy verdict?
My takeaway? Use Skyscanner or Google Flights to see the whole landscape, especially date flexibility. Enable price alerts – suffer the email spam, it might pay off big time. Ignore the “hidden city” nonsense unless you enjoy begging the airline to fix a mess. And always, ALWAYS, add at least $150 for fees and bags before you celebrate that cheap fare. Now I just use Skyscanner + alerts and accept that bag fees are highway robbery. Less stress, still decent savings.
