Hello Chewy friends! Just wanna share a few tips on how to find cheap flights in this post! Do you know that with the rise of low-cost carriers and stiff competition, prompting even legacy airlines to offer budget options, finding cheap fares is not that difficult anymore? Yet, whenever airlines announce promos on their Facebook pages, they are bombarded with all sorts of complaints from users.

While some of them have a point, some users just accuse the airlines of being deceptive, claiming that the sale is just some empty promise or a misleading marketing strategy. Some even go as far as saying that the SALE is not real.

Trust me, these promos are real. Just because you can’t find promo seats doesn’t mean they are not. Many of our trips became a reality because of these cheap fares. Some get really frustrated because the promo seats don’t appear when they search. And when they do appear, it’s difficult to pin them down.

Here are some tips on how to successfully get cheap flights booking for you! This applies to local airlines such as Jetstar, Lion Air, Scoot, Silkair, Singapore Airlines and more.

1. “You Jump, I Jump” Does Not Apply Here

Collect all your companions’ personal details beforehand. Don’t ask your friends for their details and preferences when you’re already in the process of booking. It’s super stressful! Friends take forever to reply!

Your booking session might also expire. Worse, someone else might book the seat you’re eyeing while you and your companions are still deliberating. Happened to me multiple times: Just when we’ve finally decided, poof, it’s gone!

2. Keep An Eagle Eye Out On Social Media

Stalk them on Twitter and Facebook. Gone are the days when they would surprise everyone. They now announce the sale days ahead. It’s hard to know when exactly promos will happen, but there have been constant elements over the years.

They launch special sales during holidays and important occasions. For example, to celebrate their anniversaries, airlines usually launch massive promos as a treat and a marketing stunt. They also usually have promos on Easter, Valor Day, Independence Day, and New Year’s Day among others. Do bear in mind that I’m referring to booking periods, not travel periods.

3. Sometimes, High In Numbers Is A No-No

This is one thing that has been proven so many times. When you book for many people in one go, the site displays “SOLD OUT.” But when you book for just one or two people, you can have that same flight (same plane, same day, same time). For example, once, during a promo, my family members and I were booking tickets to Hong Kong. There were 9 of us. Every date we chose, we would get a SOLD OUT display. But when we tried just booking for two people, suddenly some slots became available. So what we did was book two flights and then my brother-in-law booked the same flight for three people using a different computer.

There are risks, though! These may be the last 2 or 3 seats so if you’re a big group, there’s always a chance you’ll end up taking different flights. If the announced sale period is November 3-6, book on November 3. There’s a big chance there won’t be anything left in the following days. The number of seats in a plane is finite and they can only put a few of them on sale but the demand is so big that they tend to get sold out easily.

Before the sale, decide on the following such as destination, Alternative Destinations (as Plan B, in case you don’t find fares), Travel Dates, Preferred Time and the personal details you need from your companions such as Full name (including middle name and as written on passport), Birth date, Email address, Contact number, Passport Number (some airlines require this), Passport Expiry Date (some airlines require this).

While you’re at it, ask them too if they prefer aisle or window seat and meal choice, if they’re willing to pay for them.

5. Who Needs Sleep?

I know it sounds ridiculous but if you really want to grab a cheap seat, book in the wee hours of announced date of sale. The sale usually activates at 12 midnight. You will have more chances if you’re searching within the first hour. Also, whenever there’s a sale happening, airline websites can’t seem to handle the volume of users trying to book at the same time, slowing down the system. This also leads to a lot of waiting times and errors.

This is what you can avoid when you book while the rest of the world is in slumber. If there are no more seats on your chosen dates, pick another. Obviously, weekends tend to get sold-out faster than other days of the week.

And finally, this is the most important thing to take note!

Be flexible when it comes to dates and timings. Be patient. I know it can get tiring clicking the Next Day/Previous Day button but if you really want it cheap, you shouldn’t mind going through all dates if necessary. If you have very specific dates that can’t be changed, then pray for the best. So if you guys want to find cheap flight tickets online to Mindanao or any place else, try to look into the Traveloka website which I personally find very useful as there will be price comparisons between flights and hotels. Good luck! 🙂