You are so welcome

Towards the end of this post I’m going to show you guys how to fly and live in a different country for the summer, for FREE. Not a drill. Worth the read If I say so myself:)

When I traveled to Hawaii my plane flights were at least twice as expensive as it was to live there for 6 weeks. Part of that is because of where I stayed, and If you want to read about what it’s like to live in a rusty old tin can, click here. But really, I had no idea where to find cheap flights and knowing what I do now, I could have saved myself a lot of money. So, as per usual, you get to learn from my mistakes. You also get some pictures of last summers’ adventures so this text isn’t bland and boring. You are so welcome:)

The overview

So we all know that the earlier you book the flight, the better it is on your wallet (within reason, there’s a sweet spot), but that only saves you so much money. This is a short compilation of different websites for cheap flights and I’m going into each one briefly to explain how to use them to save yourself a good amount of money. If you want more flight hacks and travel hacks in general, I have a pinterest board where I save pins about saving money while traveling, and you can access that here. Most of what I talk about on this post I learned from other travel hackers and I’m compiling the most useful information here for you. Let’s get into it:)

Some general tips

When you’re going to look for cheap flights, turn on incognito mode on your browser. Airlines take your previous travel purchase history and use it to gauge how much you’re willing to pay for a ticket. That’s the price point they’ll hover around when they give you the “cheapest” options.

If you have a free-ish schedule, look at the last minute flights. Sometimes airlines will drop prices drastically just to fill the cabin. ALSO if you have a very free schedule, go to google flights (more on that later if you’re unfamiliar), enter your departure airport, and select “anywhere” in the arrival airpot box. Then hit search. Google will let you filter the results by price, flight duration, airlines, etc. You’ll be able to see where you can go on your budget or timeline and it may suprise you what you can afford. Love it when that happens:)

Kayak, BUT it’s not what you think

Hold. Your. Horses. I know the regular website is about as expensive as any other price comparison website. BUT, kayak helps you purchase tickets with a student discount. You DO have to prove that you’re a student however, so this is for my college people. Instead of heading to the usual kayak website, you’re going to go to http://Kayak.com/c/students. Put in your flight times there and Kayak will show you the cheapest student discounts available. The last time I checked prices here, I was able to take my flight from 150$ to 100$. Granted, I’m only going to AZ and your discount will depend entirely on where/what airline you’re choosing to fly. Keep it in your back pocket though and see if this becomes helpful information in the future.

It’s worth noting that some airlines and airports give really good student discounts and others don’t. It’s always worth checking this website but it won’t be your cheapest option every time.

Google Flights, and it is what you think

At this point a lot of people know about Google Flights. But if you’ve missed it so far, here are the details for you. Type “google flights” into the google search bar and the site will pop up right away. The beauty of google flights is that it will show you the cheapest days to travel. It helps to be flexible with your leave and return dates here, because google will let you scroll through the months and see the cheapest days to fly right away. Handy dandy if you ask me.

I recommend combining these two resources. First, go to google flights and find the cheapest days to fly. Then go to the Kayak student resource and and put those cheap dates in the “leave” and “return” boxes to get the student discount on the flights for those days. (It doesn’t always work like that but you save quite a bit when it does).

If you’re flying to or from the Salt Lake Airport:

ALWAYS check the provo airport for cheap flights first. A lot of people don’t even know there is a Provo airport. That’s because it’s tiny and only flies to a handful of other airports. But I have found it to almost always be the cheaper option for short flights compared to Salt Lake City. Also, you don’t have to walk across the continent to get to your gate, which is a big win.

How to fly and live anywhere for free for the summer

Allow me to blow your mind because this is a real thing. To access this absolute goldmine of adventures, head to the website worldpackers.com (it is a legitimate website, here are their reviews if you’re curious). This website offers a lot of different resources for world travelers on a budget. Click on “volunteer opportunities” and then dig into anything you’re interested in. You could be paid to fly to a hefty handful of other countries and volunteer on farms, humanitarian efforts, and eco projects around the world. A lot of these opportunities offer a free place to stay, as well as free meals and flights in payment for a pair of helping hands. They also usually give you several days a week off to explore the country you live in.

If you want to travel around instead of living somewhere for the summer they also have lists of inexpensive places to stay temporarily, including hostels, homestays, and campsites.

There’s a lot that worldpackers has to offer and my only caution would be to check the reviews and make sure your destination has a decent amount of good ratings. It’s a verified travel site and a great place to find a variety of inexpensive resources. My disclaimer is that I’ve never used this site because I discovered it over the winter, and I’m slammed with work this summer. But if you end up going somewhere using worldpackers, I’d love to hear about it!

That’s a wrap

I love new experiences. I don’t do a lot of major traveling because I super love weekend road trips and I usually get my fix in that way so I can go back to work the next week. But I have done my fair share of flying, and these are the resources for cheap flights that I’ve found so I can travel, comfortably pay for college and general living expenses, and build my savings. Because, repeat after me, “having career goals and being a travel junky are not mutually exclusive” you just gotta be a bit more tactical about it:) Where there’s a will there’s a way, amiright?

Thanks for reading!

I’m glad you’re here:)

-El