Okay, so I wanted to talk about finding flights early. I learned the hard way, like really hard, that waiting until the last minute, or even just a couple of months out, can seriously hit your wallet. Needed to plan a big family trip, way out, like maybe six, eight months ahead. I was determined not to get ripped off this time.
First thing I did, pretty obvious, was go directly to the airline websites I usually fly with. You know, the big names. Clicked around, put in my dates, checked prices. Then I’d open another tab, check another airline. Man, it was slow. And comparing was a pain, jumping back and forth. Plus, honestly, the prices didn’t look that great even that far out.
Trying Out the Search Engine Thing
I’d heard about these flight search engine websites, the ones that check prices across lots of airlines all at once. Figured I’d give them a shot. What did I have to lose? So, I started punching names I’d heard of into my browser.
- Google Flights: This one was pretty clean. What I really liked, and used a lot, was their calendar view. You could see prices for the whole month, sometimes even track prices for a specific flight. Super helpful when my dates were a bit flexible. Made it easy to see if leaving a Tuesday instead of a Friday would save real money. It felt pretty straightforward to use.
- Skyscanner: Gave this one a go too. It seemed to dig through a ton of different airlines, even smaller budget ones that Google sometimes missed. That felt useful. They have that ‘search everywhere’ option which is fun for dreaming, but not what I needed right then. One thing though, sometimes the sites it sent me to for booking looked a bit… iffy? Had to be a bit careful there.
- Kayak: Another one I tried. Felt similar to Skyscanner, pulling prices from lots of places. They had this ‘price forecast’ thing, like a little recommendation whether to buy now or wait. Took that with a grain of salt, but it was interesting. Also made it simple to check airports nearby, which sometimes saved cash.
- Momondo: Threw this one into the mix as well. Looked okay, nice design. Found some competitive prices there too. Seemed to do a similar job to Kayak and Skyscanner, pulling from various sources.
What I Ended Up Doing
So after messing around with these for a while, I kind of developed my own little system. It wasn’t about finding one perfect site.
I usually start with Google Flights now. Purely because that calendar view is fantastic for getting a ballpark figure way, way in advance and spotting the cheapest date ranges. It gives me a good starting point.
Once I have my target dates locked down from Google Flights, I then run the exact same search on Skyscanner and Kayak. Why? Because sometimes they pull up slightly different options or find a deal on a budget airline that Google didn’t show. It’s like getting a second and third opinion.
Important thing I learned: When Skyscanner or Kayak found a good deal through some third-party booking site I’d never heard of, I got cautious. Sometimes, I’d go directly to the airline’s own website and check the price for that exact flight. Often it was the same price, maybe a tiny bit more, but booking directly with the airline just felt safer to me. Less hassle if things go wrong, you know?
So yeah, booking early helps, for sure. But using a couple of these tools together gave me more confidence I was actually getting a decent price. It takes a bit more clicking, it’s not magic, but that’s what’s been working for me when I need to get those flights sorted way ahead of time.
