Knowing where to start your search is half the battle when booking cheap flights.
I can’t remember a week in my life when I didn’t spend hours online looking for the cheapest flights to destinations other than my 600-square-foot apartment. The availability of so many flight comparison websites today also makes it easy to go down a rabbit hole while looking for the best offers and routes.
Unfortunately, you can’t just type in your travel dates and pick the first flight that comes up when you search for flights. It pays to browse around if you’re serious about finding the best flight at the greatest price.
There are so many websites available for finding inexpensive flights that it might be overwhelming to start. In order to help you locate the best deals on flights, I’ve spent many late nights over the years researching the internet for my next vacation.
The 15 Best Websites for Booking Cheap Flights in 2024
» Best Overall: Skyscanner
» Cheap Flights: Momondo
» Flexible Travel Dates: Google Flights
» Top Flight Deals: Scotts Cheap Flights
» Predicting Flight Deals: Hopper
» Hidden City Bookings: Skiplagged
» Last-Minute Flights: Airfare Watchdog
» Hotels & Flights Together: Hotwire
» Empty Leg Flights: Wheels Up
» Price Matching: Travelocity
» Booking Packages: Expedia
» Booking Multi-Stop Travel: Kiwi
» Airline Reviews: TripAdvisor
» Earning Points: Orbitz
A breakdown of the 15 Best Websites for Booking Cheap Flights in 2024;
1. Book Direct on The Airline’s Website
On your search for flights, you will use one of three different types of websites:
- Online travel agencies (OTA)
- Flight aggregators
- Airline websites
An online travel agent (OTA) has access to discounted prices on certain flights, which you can then book directly through the website.
A flight aggregator collects ticket prices from across the internet and directs you to either the airline’s website or an online travel agency (OTA) for booking cheap flights.
The best choice for booking cheap flights is nearly always the airline’s website. And I normally use a flight aggregator to find the flight I wish to book. In general, I advise against using OTAs unless you find a ridiculously excellent offer.
This is so that you have more flexibility to change, cancel, or refund your trip if you book directly via an airline. The cancellation policies of OTAs are often terrible. When problems come up, airlines are much more likely to work with you than online travel agents.
In the event that anything changes, you are preventing yourself from having to deal with a headache.
Start your flight search on your chosen website, such as Skyscanner, Momondo, or another, and enter your travel dates. Play around with the filters to compare costs if your dates or airports are open.
Once you’ve found a good deal, go to that airline’s website to double-check the flight. There are occasions when flight aggregators give you the option of going directly to the airline’s website.
If the main airline doesn’t have the best price in the search results, use one of the booking sites I talk about in this article.
2. Skyscanner
Best Overall Flight Booking Website
No matter how many times I’ve looked up flights on various websites, Skyscanner is where I always end up. I’ve been using Skyscanner for years, and I can honestly say that it’s the best website for finding cheap flights, especially when you use flexible search dates.
Skyscanner looks at more than 1,200 airlines and travel agencies and always gives the best results, even when it comes to difficult itineraries that combine booking cheap flights from two different airlines.
At the airport, you might have to change airlines, but it’s worthwhile if you want to save money. In that case, you can filter the outcomes to find the “fastest” path to take.
There are even ratings for airlines or online travel agencies in the search results to help you choose.
You can essentially search “Everywhere” to get the cheapest locations within a specific date if you don’t know where to travel but know when you want to go. You can set up price change notifications to be informed whenever the cost of a route you’re interested in changes.
I’ll argue that Skyscanner fails when it comes to last-minute travel. Although they don’t always have the most affordable options, it doesn’t hurt to look here first before visiting any other websites on this list.
Explore Flights on Skyscanner →
3. Momondo
Best Website for Finding Cheap Flights
When shopping for flight discounts, Momondo and Skyscanner are always a tie for me. Momondo is great for tracking flights, but both sites often give the same results when it comes to finding cheap flights. You’ll like this function if you’re an airfare nerd like me.
You can choose your favorite airline or airline alliance, the length of the flight, and even the length of the layover while looking for a flight on Momondo.
I particularly appreciate that you can search for hotels, travel packages, excursions, and car rentals in addition to booking cheap flights and that you can exclude red-eye flights if necessary. Similar to a one-stop shop,
The visual flight tracker that is at the top of the search results is my favorite part of Momondo.
You could save hundreds of dollars just by moving your arrival or departure date by one or two days. It simply displays the particular days your route would be least expensive. This function can result in significant savings if your travel dates are flexible.
Momondo will also combine several airlines to help you find low-cost travel, just like Skyscanner does. If your travel dates are variable and you just want to explore a new destination, you can also create price alerts or search “Anywhere”!
Explore Flights on Momondo →
4. Google Flights
Best Website for Flexible Travel Dates
Because it makes use of the powerful ITA Matrix search engine, which was created for travel agencies, Google Flights is another search aggregator and one of the greatest resources for finding low airline tickets.
With Google Flights, there are no frills or extras; it is only a search engine that offers a large selection of flights.
Before you even click “Search,” Google Flights automatically finds the lowest airfare for your chosen flight itinerary when you enter it into the search window.
You may see how much the price varies, even down to the day, by moving the cursor a few weeks or months in the future. If your travel dates are flexible, this is a fantastic tool.
When you enter your departure city, Google Flights also shows you a list of airports where you can fly for very low prices.
You can also set up your search to look for areas or even continents, like Europe, for a wider range of results.
Check out the price graph to see how things are trending, or use the quick toggle button to easily set up price alerts. Google Flights will even inform you if there are additional luggage charges. Transparency! My favorite.
The only thing that keeps Google Flights from being the best on this list, in my opinion, is all the filters and options might be hard to understand for the average traveler.
If all you’re looking for is the cheapest airfare as soon as you can, it’s easy to get lost in the specifics.
Explore Flights on Google Flights →
5. Scotts Cheap Flights
Best Website for Top Flight Deals
Give Scott’s Cheap Flights a try if you’re the type of person who will travel to almost anywhere if you can a book cheap flight (note that Scott’s Cheap Flights only provides discounts from US airports right now.)
An email newsletter service called Scott’s Cheap Flights compiles domestic and international airline bargains for subscribers. Most of their offers include discounts of between 40% and 90% off standard airfare.
These are not automated computer results. A large crew at Scott’s Cheap Flights searches the internet every day for the best bargains.
When you sign up for Scott’s Cheap Flights service, you have two options: free and paid. You can sign up for free flight deal emails through the “freemium” subscription, but you are only able to access international economy deals from five origin airports (of your preference).
However, if you choose a Premium or Elite membership, you’ll actually get access to the same flight offers 30 minutes earlier than those who register for free.
When you sign up for premium, you’ll also get alerts about domestic travel prices, erroneous fares (when an airline or OTA offers a flight for less than it really costs), and deals on premium seats.
These aren’t shoddy routes on low-cost airlines, however; actual people who work for Scott’s Cheap Flights do the research and only bring you offers that they would also share with their friends.
I strongly advise registering for the trial version to see whether you like it. After that, try the paid subscription’s two-week trial to see if anything interesting comes up.
You’ll be surprised by the flight results for less frequented airports as well, however, it goes without saying that you’re more likely to discover a cheap flight if you reside close to a major city hub.
Explore Flights on Scott’s Cheap Flights →
6. Hopper
Best Website for Predicting Flight Deals
Hopper is said to have a 95% prediction rate and help people find the best deals on hotels and flights. Hopper makes these forecasts using really precise algorithms, and they have never failed me.
You can enter your dates and destination into the app once you have a general idea of when and where you’d like to visit (say, Asia in the fall). Hopper will let you know when the price is likely to go up or down, so you can plan ahead and save money. Additionally, you can immediately book a deal if it appears on the app!
To fully utilize this flight search function, you must download the Hopper app. On a web browser, you can’t really do much of anything. Fortunately, the app is incredibly user-friendly and makes the experience of making travel arrangements online a total joy (other than the pop-ups).
Although Hopper doesn’t charge a booking fee, every booking does come with a $5 “tip.” However, you are free to choose not to.
Explore Flights on Hopper →
7. Skiplagged
Best Website for Hidden City Bookings
I initially considered “hidden city ticketing” to be a dubious tactic. It basically means buying a ticket with a stopover in the city you want to go to and getting off the plane there instead of continuing the flight.
For instance, booking a cheap flight from Chicago to Houston may be prohibitive. If you can locate a trip from Chicago to Austin for less money that includes a stopover in Houston, take that flight and get off at your connecting flight.
Only those who are only carrying carry-on luggage and who only book one-way tickets can use connecting airports to get off before the entire journey is complete (if you don’t show up for the later leg of your reservation, your entire flight will be canceled).
Also, you shouldn’t use frequent flyer miles for this kind of trip because the airline might charge you extra for using them. You can see why I’ve never liked this approach.
So, is it prohibited? Not at all, no. Even the tagline for Skiplagged is “Our flights are so cheap, United sued us, but we won.”
The website still provides all the rates that might be appropriate for your trip, even if there don’t appear to be any hidden city results here.
Obviously, you shouldn’t book these kinds of hidden city rates for every single flight you book, but it is also important to note.
The airline will catch on if you repeatedly book a hidden-city fare on the same route with the same airline.
Explore Flights on Skiplagged →
8. Airfare Watchdog
Best Website for Last-Minute Flights
Like Scott’s Cheap Flights, Airfare Watchdog has a group of flight hackers that trawl the web for the greatest offers on low-cost tickets. That covers miscalculated prices and other last-minute offers that can appear at any time.
You have a great chance to save money if you can buy a flight at the last minute and have flexible travel dates.
The website is quite simple to use. As soon as you type in your city, Airfare Watchdog gives you a list of deals that are currently available. Often, round-trip airfare costs less than $100. These offers are updated every day.
You may see Today’s Top Deals at the top of the page and Weekend Deals under the Flights heading. If you want to arrange a brief vacation of three to four days, the weekend offers are especially helpful.
To view what express deals are offered from your departing airport, choose “Take Me Anywhere.”
The drawback is that practically all express fares are for travel to US cities. For instance, I might need to look a little further if I want to get an expedited offer for somewhere south of the border.
You will receive updates when airfare costs change if you sign up for airfare alerts because Airfare Watchdog is excellent at tracking pricing changes over time.
Airfare Watchdog is accessible in Canada, unlike Scott’s Cheap Flights.
Explore Flights on Airfare Watchdog →
9. Hotwire
Best for Booking Hotels & Flights Together
I frequently use Hotwire to get last-minute hotel stays in numerous cities, so I was eager to use their website to book a Hot Rate Flight in addition to a hotel stay.
Like their hotel stays, “Hot Rate Flights” withhold the airline and precise flight schedules until after you have made a reservation.
Who doesn’t appreciate living life on the edge a little bit? If those details don’t matter too much to you, this could be a terrific money-saving choice to test out.
When you combine your purchases and reserve a hotel along with your travel, Hotwire really shines. You can save hundreds if you book the hotel and the Hot Rate Flight together.
A simple separate check for standard ticket and hotel rates will reveal that the Hotwire offer is, in fact, typically less expensive. A simple separate check for standard ticket and hotel rates will reveal that the Hotwire offer is, in fact, typically less expensive.
With Hotwire, you also get a 24-hour cancellation policy. Hotwire is refreshingly clear about fees for luggage, seat choices, and other things, so there are no extra fees (though there may be a booking fee).
If you are also researching hotels you should also read 20 Best Hotel Booking Websites in 2024
Explore Flights on Hotwire →
10. Wheels Up
Best Flight Deals for Empty Leg Flights
When a flight is scheduled but not carried out, as when an aircraft must return for a charter, it is referred to as an “empty leg flight.”
This is usually the case with private jet companies, so you may be able to find flights for up to 75% less than the normal charter price.
These flights are very different from regular flights. There aren’t many routes, seats aren’t always available, and most empty legs don’t show up until the last minute.
You can only book one trip, and cancellations are frequent; also, the airline won’t rebook you like a commercial airline would. You’ll be in charge of making your own way home.
You might be perplexed as to why you would make this choice at all. Well, it’s partly to enjoy the experience, but it’s also sometimes possible to find an excellent deal if you’re not really concerned about where you’re going.
You can browse empty legs directly on the websites of some private jet charter companies, but you’ll save the most money by becoming a member of a firm like Wheels Up, which is the parent company of Delta Private Jets.
A membership costs about $3,000 a year, but after that, you can fly on empty legs for as little as $300 for the whole plane. So, this is a great way to give a group of friends or family members a fun weekend getaway.
Explore Flights on Wheels Up →
11. Travelocity
Best Website For Price Matching
Who could forget the Gnome from Travelocity? One of those seemingly enduring online travel agencies is called Travelocity.
Compared to other websites, Travelocity doesn’t provide particularly cheap airline tickets, but it is a reputable, dependable service with all the usual bells and whistles, like free cancellation within 24 hours.
The price match guarantee is one of the most significant benefits of using Travelocity as a search engine. Travelocity will reimburse the price difference and give you a $50 certificate to use on their website for future trips if you can locate the same cheap flight on another OTA for less money.
That voucher can be used to book hotels or hotel and airfare bundles.
The low-price guarantee comes with two restrictions: you must locate the ticket price within 24 hours of booking the initial flight, and it must be for an identical reservation on the other website.
Although Travelocity occasionally charges a booking fee, if you’re dedicated to getting the price match guarantee, you can end up making a tidy sum of money over time. I don’t usually go down this path because time is money, but for some people, it might be worthwhile.
Explore Flights on Travelocity →
12. Expedia
Best Website for Booking Vacation Packages
I occasionally just want a hassle-free, nice-and-easy vacation package.
If this resonates with you, you probably want the whole package without having to give it much thought: the flights, the accommodations, and the rental cars. Several clicks later, you’re done! One thinks of the ever-popular all-inclusive vacation.
Like Travelocity, Expedia is a well-established company that offers flight booking services. It really shines at combining options to create the ideal travel package for almost anywhere in the world.
You can include your hotel, travel plans, and rental cars in their Packages section if you want to. You may also choose to book your accommodation and flight at the same time.
Expedia is an OTA, so it’s simple to click through to your alternatives and make all of your reservations at once.
When it comes to making high-end internet vacation reservations, convenience and accuracy are everything. Even so, I still think you should compare the prices of each option separately to see if it would be cheaper to book each thing separately.
The filters on Expedia truly do enable you to create the ideal getaway (and they are very honest about everything, even luggage fees).
Explore Flights on Expedia →
13. Kiwi
Best for Booking Multi-Stop Travel
As with the other OTAs on this list, you can make direct reservations on Kiwi’s website, which is one of the newest options in the travel industry.
Booking multi-destination excursions on this flight booking platform is quite simple. It’s a delight to use! All you need to do is enter the locations of your starting and ending points and then fill in the rest of the information (including how long you want to stay where).
The search results will compile an entire itinerary for you by bringing up a selection of several airlines and routes with the deal.
You can take a flight from NYC to Paris to start your country-hopping in Europe, then travel to Portugal for a time at your leisure before booking your flight back from a different place, such as Rome.
The search results appear really quickly, and I like how clearly they are organized. Even the flight times are clearly discernible right away.
You can also filter the results so that you only see the fastest, cheapest, or “best” routes.
Be aware that there may be additional costs, such as baggage charges. So, keep those in mind.
Additionally, pay special attention to the flight information because you won’t always be departing from the same airport where you landed.
Explore Flights on Kiwi →
14. TripAdvisor
Best Travel Website for Airline Reviews
For one of my very first international travels, I methodically planned where I would stay and what I would do using TripAdvisor. The TripAdvisor community is enormous, and I really made some new friends there.
TripAdvisor has grown into a monstrous website that offers everything from flight deals to rental cars to tour activities, which is only logical. Compared to other websites, it is far more extensive.
As an aggregator, TripAdvisor makes use of a number of OTAs that I was unfamiliar with. How does it compare to other flight search engines, then?
To be completely honest, nothing really noteworthy appeared when I searched for flights on TripAdvisor. However, I truly enjoyed the process because so much knowledge was at my fingertips.
Over the years, TripAdvisor has gathered a ton of information, and if you value the finer points of your trip preparation, you’ll appreciate the website.
For instance, a search for round-trip tickets from Rome to London on TripAdvisor produced a number of hits from airlines I wasn’t familiar with.
Reviewing the flight information and reviews for Sky Express on TripAdvisor’s website was all it took for me to realize how much I disliked the thought of using that airline.
But from there, it’s easy to move to the other pages to look at cruises, restaurants, hotels, and rental cars in Athens.
You won’t have any trouble planning a complete trip with this website because it is incredibly user-friendly. The only drawback is that everything is very slow, and it frequently takes a while to find any results for booking cheap flights
Explore Flights on TripAdvisor →
15. Orbitz
Best Website for Earning Points
You’ll undoubtedly enjoy the Orbitz rewards program if you enjoy collecting frequent flyer miles or taking advantage of customer loyalty programs.
Since Orbitz has been in business since the early 2000s as an OTA, it has built up a strong reputation as a reliable travel agency. But what really makes it stand out from the competition is the Orbitz Rewards program.
You can accrue points (Orbucks) for booking hotels, flights, and vacation packages on Orbitz. Depending on what you book, you will get 1% to 2% of your money back in Orbucks. The percentage is usually higher on their app.
The warning? Only hotels can be purchased with those Orbucks.
Still, it’s not a terrible offer. For instance, if you spend $1,000 on a ticket, you’ll receive 10 Orbucks to put toward a hotel stay. It eventually adds up. The program is also free to join.
However, Orbitz does occasionally impose a booking fee.
Check your itinerary before completing your purchase because there doesn’t seem to be a pattern or explanation for when the booking charge applies. The cost alone might completely destroy the point of the Orbucks.
In addition, Orbitz offers the lowest price guarantee and a 24-hour cancellation policy.
Explore Flights on Orbitz →
Top Flight Website FAQs
Which website is the best for booking cheap flights?
Any website on this list that works best for you is the perfect website for booking flights. Perhaps there is a particular website you prefer to use, or perhaps you use several different websites to do general price research.
That implies that you’ll need to account for everything, including luggage fees and other airline expenses that might not appear right away in the search results. Because not all customer service is created equally, keep in mind whether there’s a risk you could need to postpone or change your flight.
When I make a reservation through an OTA, will I receive frequent flyer miles?
When you make a reservation through an online travel agent, you will earn frequent flyer miles. Additionally, you can accrue points through an online travel agency like Orbitz.
Booking a hotel is an exception to this, though. When making a reservation through an OTA, you cannot use the hotel’s loyalty program.
Which online travel agency offers the most affordable flights to Europe?
When booking cheap flights to Europe, my top three websites to use are Skyscanner, Momondo, and Google Flights. This is because they look at what seems like an endless number of airlines and flight routes to find the best deals.
Conclusion: Best Websites for Booking Cheap Flights
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: unless you can find the lowest ticket somewhere else, the airline’s own website is the best website for booking cheap flights.
In situations like flight delays or cancellations, interacting with the airline’s own customer service makes it much simpler for them to address the problems on the spot.
This is not to argue that Expedia or Orbitz provide poor customer service; it’s just that they lack the same rights as the airline to assist you in rescheduling your trip.
The best thing to do is to do some research, find out which tickets have the best deals, and then use one for booking cheap flights (or, better yet, a mix of websites!) to look for those flights on the airline’s website.
If you can save hundreds of dollars, it’s worth it to mix and match airlines and airports.
Would I use an OTA for booking cheap flights? Sure. However, it would have to be a fantastic offer that I can’t get anywhere.
