How to Find Cheap Flights in 2027: 10 Tips Tested With Real Fares

How do you find cheap flights? Look for your flight at least two months ahead, leave midweek, and skip summer if you can.

If that sounds too simple, you're not alone. We've all heard tricks like searching in incognito mode or booking on a Tuesday. So what actually gets you a cheaper flight?

We put the tips to the test with our flight data. Timing mattered most, but not the way most people think. Here are the ten tips that work.

1. Shop at Least Two Months Ahead

Shop for U.S. domestic flights at least two months before you fly. Prices were at their lowest anywhere from about two to six months out. Any time in that window gets you the best price.

Waiting is what will cost you the most. In the last three days before the flight, domestic flights cost about 37% more.

Don’t expect booking earlier than two months to get you any extra savings.

Trips abroad follow the same pattern, just more gently. International round trips cost about 12% more in the last three days, and prices were lowest about one and a half to four months ahead.

U.S. domestic round-trip prices compared with the typical price for the same route and month. Round trips cost 37% more than the typical price when searched 0 to 3 days ahead, 30% more at 4 to 7 days, 19% more at 1 to 2 weeks, and 7% more at 2 to 3 weeks. They cost 1% less at 3 to 4 weeks, 4% less at 1 to 1½ months, 5% less at 1½ to 2 months, 7% less at 2 to 3 months, 8% less at 3 to 4 months, and 7% less at 4 to 6 months.

2. Leave Midweek

U.S. domestic flights that leave midweek cost less. Tuesday is the cheapest day to leave on a U.S. domestic flight, at about 6% below the typical price, and Friday is the most expensive, at about 8% above.

For trips abroad, the day you leave doesn't change as much, but small savings can still be found. Our guide to the cheapest day to fly digs deeper into finding the best days.

3. Skip Summer When You Can

January and February are the cheapest months to fly. July is the most expensive, at about 40% above the typical price.

Trips abroad follow the same pattern, with a bigger gap. February and January are the cheapest months there too, and July costs about 52% more than the typical price.

U.S. domestic round trips, each compared with its own route's typical fare. Below zero means cheaper than typical.

4. Don't Count on Nearby Airports

Flying from a nearby airport rarely saves money on U.S. domestic flights. Across six big metro areas, nearby airports were cheaper on just 33% of dates. On a typical route, they even cost a little more than the main airport.

Washington, D.C. was the exception. There, Dulles or BWI beat Reagan National on 74% of dates. In Los Angeles and San Francisco, the nearby airports usually cost more. In New York and Miami, prices were about even.

5. Look at Nonstop Flights First

For U.S. domestic flights, a stop rarely saves you money. For round trips, the cheapest nonstop flights and the cheapest connecting flights cost about the same. But on a typical route, connecting flights added about 7.5 hours to the whole trip.

One-way trips make the case for nonstop flights even stronger. There, nonstop flights were the cheaper ticket on 73% of dates. To see how prices compare on short and long trips, read our guide to nonstop vs connecting flights.

6. Book a Round Trip, Not Separate One-Way Tickets

For U.S. domestic flights, a round-trip ticket is usually cheaper than buying each direction separately. On a typical route, booking each direction on its own costs 33% more than a single round-trip ticket.

On the same routes and months, a typical round trip cost $441, while a one-way ticket for just the outbound flight cost $310. In other words, the flight home on a round trip costs far less than a second one-way ticket.

7. Let Alerts Watch the Price

For a round trip, when you start watching matters more than catching a lucky day. A U.S. domestic round-trip flight rarely moved more than about 3% up or down from its typical price. One-way prices were a different story, swinging from 19% below to 23% above the typical price.

Set a price alert at least two months before your trip so you don't have to keep checking. Free tools like Google Flights, Kayak and Hopper can track a specific route and dates and let you know when the price changes.

8. Compare Prices With Bags Included

A cheap fare isn't always the cheapest trip. Before you book, check what the ticket includes, especially on basic economy fares.

Bags are the biggest add-on. As of April 2026, the first checked bag on a domestic flight cost $45 at Alaska, American, Delta, Southwest and United when you pay ahead, according to Frequent Miler. Southwest now charges for bags too.

Carry-ons aren't always included either. According to SmarterTravel, United's domestic basic economy and JetBlue's Blue Basic fares only allow a personal item, like a backpack that fits under the seat. Picking a seat or changing your flight can also cost extra on these fares.

So compare the full price, with bags and seats, before you pick the cheaper ticket. Google Flights lets you add bags to your search, so the prices you see include them.

9. Save Points for Pricey Trips

If you have airline miles or credit card points, save them for the trips that cost the most in cash. In our data, July flights cost about 40% more than the typical price, and flights searched in the last three days cost about 37% more. Those are the trips where points can save you the most.

Many airlines now raise points prices when cash prices go up, though. So before you book, compare the points price with the cash price, and check the taxes and fees you still have to pay. If the cash fare is low, paying cash and saving your points is often the better deal.

10. Move Fast on Error Fares

Error fares are prices an airline or booking site posts by mistake. They can be far below the typical price, but they rarely last long.

The hard part is catching them in time. A tool like RatePunk Flights can watch prices from your home airport and alert you when a flight costs less than usual, so an unusually low fare reaches you while you can still book it.

If you find one, book it fast, but hold off on nonrefundable hotels or tours. Airlines don't have to honor every mistake fare. As The Points Guy explains, a 2015 U.S. Department of Transportation policy lets an airline cancel a fare it can show was a mistake, as long as it refunds the ticket and pays back reasonable costs you had because of the booking.

Popular Tricks That Don't Work

Some of the most popular cheap-flight tricks don't hold up when you check the prices.

• Book on a Tuesday: the day you shop barely changes the price. For U.S. domestic flights, every day of the week was within about 1% of the typical price.
• Search in incognito mode: in a Consumer Reports test, incognito and a regular browser showed the same price 88% of the time.
• Use a VPN: when PCMag searched the same flights from over a dozen countries, most prices came out the same or very close.
• Book at least 6 months ahead: don't stress if you can't book six months out. Prices for U.S. domestic flights stayed about the same from six months ahead until about two months before the flight.
• Always fly from the smaller airport: smaller airports near larger hubs were the cheaper choice only in certain locations and on just 33% of dates.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it cheaper to book flights on a Tuesday?

No. The day you search usually doesn’t change the price. For U.S. domestic flights, every day of the week was within about 1% of the typical price. The day you fly matters more than the day you search.

Are flights cheaper in incognito mode or with a VPN?

No. In a Consumer Reports test, incognito mode showed the same price as a regular browser 88% of the time. A VPN didn't seem to help either.

Is it better to book directly with the airline?

It comes down to personal preference. Booking directly with the airline can make problems easier to fix, though. If your flight is delayed or canceled, the airline can change your ticket on the spot, without a booking site in the middle. Booking with the airline also comes with one other useful rule. The U.S. Department of Transportation also requires airlines to let you hold or cancel a reservation within 24 hours without a penalty, as long as you book at least a week before the flight. This rule only covers tickets you buy from the airline. Travel sites like Expedia or Priceline don't have to offer it, so check the site's cancellation policy before you buy.

Which month is cheapest to fly?

For U.S. domestic flights, January is the cheapest month to fly, followed by February. July is the most expensive. For trips abroad, February and January are the cheapest months.

How We Got These Numbers

The prices in this guide come from flight searches RatePunk tracked from the U.S. Most are round-trip economy fares seen May 8 to October 20, 2026. The cheapest months come from fares seen August 2025 to April 23, 2026. A typical price is the median, which means half the fares were cheaper and half cost more. These are prices shown in searches, not prices people paid.

About RatePunk

Reading fares and understanding what makes them move is our area of expertise, and the prices in this article come from our own flight data. We run RatePunk Flights, a paid membership that watches prices out of the airport you fly from. When a route drops well below what it normally costs, the deal shows up in your app and on your dashboard, so you can book it wherever you like, with the airline itself or a travel site you already use.