Though I have previously written about How to Find Cheap Airfare, I wanted to share some more on the budget flight sites I don’t use when searching for deals. For me, I would rather feel more confident in sharing my personal financial information, than saving a little bit for a flight. But that is just me. I know there are many out there that want the best deal regardless of some of the cons, thus I decided to share what I have learned about some of the other ways to book budget flights.
Budget flights
When I am planning real travel I follow the ways I mentioned in my previous post, but when I am dreaming about traveling I often visit these sites to explore the “options”. It is always easier to dream about traveling when the flights appear to be “so much more affordable” than where I might normally book. Here are my favorite budget sites to look at when dreaming of travel and why I don’t actually use them.
One of the biggest cons for me is that sometimes these stellar prices don’t actually exist.
This is so misleading.
Momondo pros and cons
Pros of Momondo include the instant comparison of bookings across travel sites, no pop ups, and a fairly easy to use site. But the cons, for me, outweigh the pros. By searching multiple sites, more often than not you will be booking through a third party site. I, personally, would rather not give my payment info to a third party site, because there is no trust there. This is not shocking that they utilize so many third party sites for booking purposes because, as I learned upon doing some research for this article, they were acquired by The Priceline Group in 2017 (which searches many sites as well).
One of the biggest cons for me is that sometimes these stellar prices don’t actually exist. This is so misleading. I don’t book through Momondo, personally, because every time I have gone to check prices, they were either the same as Google Flights or non existent when I went to the third party site. These false prices are why I always use Google Flights when I am actually planning on booking (you can read all about how I use Google Flights in my post A Complete Guide to Google Flights). Unfortunately, Momondo is still one of those sites you hear lots of people telling you to check out before booking your flights for the cheapest prices. I am all for trying to find the best deal but I wouldn’t hold your breath with Momondo until you have the confirmation from the airlines.
Skyscanner pros and cons
Skyscanner is another aggregate travel site that I reference when dreaming of traveling. I love using Skyscanner for it’s flexible search, which is helpful when I am exploring potential options for where to go to, but that is about it. Even then, Google Flights allows you to search everywhere too. What makes Skyscanner flights stand out is that you can search by “cheapest month” and that is quite unique. Yet, from there I would move back to Google Flights to check the accuracy of these prices.
Similar to Momondo, Skyscanner’s third party sites aren’t always accurate. However, I believe the interface is much better than Momondo’s so I am more likely to use Skyscanner instead. Another commonality between Skyscanner and Momondo is the questionable partner sites. Again, be careful as to who you trust with your personal info and whom you trust paying, these companies, unfortunately, have had many complaints filed against them due to “nonrefundable booking errors.” But, when looking at options, I am always down to see if Skyscanner sees a better deal than my aggregate of choice, Google Flights. If they show a better deal, then I try to find those same pricing by going through the airlines’ official sites.
Secret flying pros and cons
I stumbled onto Secret Flying rather recently but quickly became obsessed. Some pros of Secret Flying include their deal alerts & error fares. I love how transparent they are about the reality of error fares and that sometimes they don’t work out but sometimes they do. I use their mobile app and set up alert for deals from the US.
Though all that is great, I am not in love with many things of Secret Flying. I despise their interface, both in the app & the website (though the app is better than the website). I also hate that deal alerts only are as granular as the US. Most of the deals shown to me are from Los Angeles, which works out in some ways because that is an easy airport for me to fly from but I wish they allowed me to see deals specific to my current (& smaller) home airport, Salt Lake City. That being said, I believe they show me more deals from Los Angeles because that is the closest airport to my current destination (but that is only a guess because the interface doesn’t give me any insight). I have yet to book through any of their deals so I can not verify if they are genuine or not. Regardless, with these pros & cons, Secret Flying is still a site I check often as I dream of traveling more.
There you go! Here are three other, a little less mainstream, sites to check out when you are looking for budget flights. This should go without saying, but still these reviews are all my opinion. If you’ve booked through one of these sites let me know in the comments below. I would love to hear some of your experiences.
Related content: How to Find Cheap Airfare and A Complete Guide to Google Flights
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