If you're flexible with your destinations, here are the steps to take to turn Google Flights into a cheap flight finder:

 Step 2: Add your departing city and date. Then look at a broad range of options appearing on the map. If you do not have a certain date or destination, search through the "Flexible dates" option.

 If you're flexible enough about your destinations, you'll always find a deal. But when you are set on one particular location, you are at the mercy of whatever rate pops up. But as soon as you become flexible, the whole world suddenly widens to you and you'll discover great airfare deals.

 Many years ago, you were generally stuck flying with traditional costly airlines. That's not true anymore. Budget airlines today service both short and medium-haul routes all over the world.

 For example, AirAsia provides incredible cheap flight deals around Australia and Asia for less than $150 dollars! Indian and Middle Eastern air carriers sell cheap flight tickets throughout Africa and the subcontinent.

 Nowadays you could travel most of the route around the world using a budget airline. They may be less comfortable and you might have to pay for upgrades such as meals and checked bags, but these airlines can take you anywhere without wiping out your savings account.

 Being flexible with your route you'll be flying is another way to find a cheap flight. For instance, at times it's cheaper to travel to London and use a budget airline to Amsterdam instead of flying directly to Amsterdam from the actual departure city.

 To utilize this approach, learn how much it costs to fly directly to the target destination. Next, open Google Flights, type in the destination's details like country name to see the rates to nearby airports. If the difference happens to exceed $150 dollars, find out how much it actually is to fly from the 2nd airport to the main destination.

 You could repeat this for departing as well. It may be cheaper to travel out from a close by airport. It may be a good practice to search other airports just to see if it's more affordable to take a flight/car/train/bus there and then fly to your ultimate destination.

 Although flight rates continue climbing the nearer you get to departure, there exists a great spot along the way when airline companies start to reduce or increase flight prices based on demand. Do not wait till the last moment but do not book too far in advance. The ideal time to buy your flight ticket is about 2 to 3 months prior to your departure, or even about 5 months prior if you're flying there in their peak season.

 This is not an absolute rule, but use it more as a guide. Airlines generally raise rates nearer to departure since people booking last minute are usually price-numbed business flyers so they'll pay the going price without protest. Moral lesson is, don't book at the last minute.

 For most trips, airfare is the most expensive part of the trip. While prices for transatlantic flights have gone down in recent years, they can still put a sizeable dent in any travel budget. Whether you’re a budget solo traveler or a family looking to vacation abroad, finding a cheap flight deal can be what makes or breaks your trip.

 After all, if your flight is too expensive, you’re likely going to keep putting the trip off. I’ve seen it happen time and time again.

 And yet every day, airlines have thousands of amazing deals — from mistakenly published fares to special promotions to slashing prices to compete with another airline. Cheap fares are out there and they can make your dream trip a reality — if you know where to look.

 Today, I am going to help you master the art of finding a cheap flight. These are the exact steps I’ve been following for a decade to get the cheapest airfare possible every time I fly. If you follow them too, you’ll never be the person on a flight who paid the most for their ticket!

 The first thing to know about finding a cheap flight is that there is no magic bullet or one secret ninja trick to doing so. There are a lot of myths online about how to find cheap flights. In fact, you’ve probably come across a ton of them on your search to find the best flight deal!

 Most websites hire terrible reporters who recycle common and outdated myths. Here are the most common that are 100% not true:

 It is NOT cheaper to buy airfare on a Tuesday (or any other specific day for that matter).

 You can’t predict airline prices and websites that do are basically taking an educated (but probably wrong) guess.

Cheap Flights

 Airlines use advanced computer and pricing algorithms to determine prices and run sales based on the time of the year, passenger demand, weather, major events/festivals, time of day, competitor prices, fuel prices, and much more. Those so-called “tricks” don’t work anymore. The system is too smart. Throw them out. Let them die.

 Don’t listen to anyone who tells you otherwise. Anyone who is telling you doesn’t know what they are talking about. These myths will 100% lead you astray.

 Airline ticket prices vary greatly depending on the day of the week, time of year, and upcoming holidays, such as Christmas, New Year’s Eve, Thanksgiving, or the Fourth of July. August is a big month for traveling around Europe, and everyone wants to go somewhere warm in the winter or travel when the kids are out of school.

 In a nutshell, if you are going to fly when everyone is flying, then your ticket is going to cost more.

 Try to be flexible with your dates. If you are dead-set on visiting Paris, go to Paris in the spring or fall when fewer people visit and airfares are cheaper.

 But if you want to go in the middle of August? You’re out of luck. Hawaii over Christmas? Good luck! Prices will be at their highest.

 The solution is to fly off-season. Search alternative dates so that you can capitalize on the best day. The more rigid your plans, the less likely it will be that you find a deal.

 The solution is to fly off-season. Search alternative dates so that you can capitalize on the best day. The more rigid your plans, the less likely it will be that you find a deal.

 Moreover, it’s almost always cheaper to fly during the middle of the week than on a weekend because most people travel on the weekends and airlines hike their prices then. Prices are cheaper if you fly after or on a major holiday. Early-morning or late-night flights are also cheaper because fewer people want to travel then (who wants to wake up early?!). Fridays and Mondays are expensive because that’s when most business travelers fly.

 When searching on Google Flights, simply click on the date field to expand the calendar view and you’ll immediately see the cheapest days to fly within a two-month window. On this search from Austin to NYC, you can see that prices on certain days can be twice as much as on others:

 Airlines are not dumb. They know when a festival, holiday, major sports event, or school break is coming up — and they raise prices accordingly.

 If you can’t be flexible with when you fly, at least be flexible with where you fly. It’s best to be both, but if you really want to save the most money and get a cheap flight for your trip, you at least need to be flexible with one or the other.

 Airline search engines have made it really easy to search the entire world to find the cheapest ticket. You no longer have to search manually, city by city, day by day. Websites like Skyscanner and Google Flights offer explore tools that allow you to put in your home airport and see a map of the world with all the flights on it. This allows you to easily compare multiple destinations without having to brainstorm every possible option. You’ll likely even find some interesting destinations you hadn’t even thought of either!

 If you are flexible with where you want to go (i.e., anywhere but home), here’s what to do:

 Step 2: Next, put in your departure city and the date. Now you can look at a wide variety of options on the map. If you don’t have a specific destination or dates, you can search via the “Flexible dates” option:

 If you’re flexible on dates but have a preferred amount time you’d like to be away, you can filter by that too. You can select weekend, 1-week, or 2-week time frames:

 The truth about airfare is that there’s always a deal to some destination — it might just not be your first choice. However, if you’re flexible about where you want to go, you’ll always get a deal and save a ton of money in the process.