Trying to arrange a vacation but daunted by the sheer cost of air travel? The good news is there are travel hacks that you can perform to search for cheap, unsold plane tickets without using the typical flight search engines.
Few people understand that there are ways of getting extremely cheap airfares at the last minute.
In this guide we will share those tips and instruct you how to use the best potential alternatives of the Skycanner such as Cheapflights, Kayak, Flight Centre and BudgetAir.
What Are Unsold Flight Tickets?
Unsold flight tickets equal unsold airline seats. Airlines aim to fill every seat; otherwise, they lose money.
Generally, as the date of departure approaches, they reduce the prices of these last tickets to ensure they are sold.
Therefore, typically good bargains can be struck on such leftover tickets if one knows where and how to look.
How to Find Cheap Unsold Flight Tickets?
Having understood why unsold tickets are discounted, let’s see how to get them.
No. 1 Be Flexible With Dates and Destinations
If you can be flexible with your travel dates — and even your destination — you’ll have a much better chance of finding cheap flights.
Flights on weekdays (like Tuesday and Wednesday) are usually cheaper than at the weekend. Also, flying into smaller (or nearby) airports can save you a lot of money.
No. 2 Join Airline Reward Programs
You should also sign up for those airline reward programs if you’re not. This way, frequent flyer miles or points may offer some discount (or even a free) flight.
In addition to this, certain airlines provide their members with last minute deals so the participation is welcomed.
No. 3 Set Fare Alerts
Some flight booking websites will let you know about price drops. You can be notified when the price for a particular flight goes down through email or in-app.
This can be done with Kayak or Cheapflights, among other options.
The timing is crucial. For the most part, booking flights within 6 to 8 weeks of your scheduled trip is ideal for domestic traveling and 3 to 4 months for international ones.
However, in the case of unsold tickets, watch out for last-minute deals as immediate as within a week or two before the flight.
Best Skyscanner Alternatives for Cheap Flights
Although Skyscanner is effective, there are other alternatives which might prove better still especially in view of leftover tickets. Below are some of the best alternatives seen to be good:
No. 1 Cheapflights
Website URL: cheapflights.com
In case you are looking for the best available option to buy unutilized unsold tickets of flights then cheapflights is the one.
It enables the comparative shopping algorithm and scans many pages to get good prices for you. You can check and compare the prices of various flights, get notifications when a specific fare is met, and book special prices on the last minute scheduled departs.
No. 2 Kayak
Website URL: kayak.com
Kayak is an intelligent and smart travel widget that searches a lot of air, domestic and international, and travel sites for the best rate available.
There is a special feature called ‘Explore’, which shows all the possible cities to fly to within a given budget in case you are open to traveling anywhere.
Same as the previous one, Kayak is also excellent for spotting mistake fares and getting rid of non-booked cheap tickets.
No. 3 Flight Centre
Website URL: flightcentre.com.au
Flight Centre obtains travel agents on demand, and those agents have a possibility to speak with the airlines and potentially obtain lower prices.
Thus, it is especially helpful to find low cost unsold international tickets.
It also provides combo offers which are helpful in saving money when making flight, hotel, and car rental bookings.
No. 4 BudgetAir
Website URL: budgetair.com
BudgetAir is yet another website that helps in searching for inexpensive flights.
It specializes in helping you purchase the tickets on the last minute or giving you discounts on unsold tickets for domestic and international flights.
