Ways Families Can Save Money on Flights

HOW TO FIND CHEAP FLIGHTS WHEN TRAVELING WITH KIDS

Flights often end up being the most expensive part of your trip no matter what kind of traveler you are. If you’re a parent traveling with multiple kids, though, that cost can be astronomical.

On top of that, if your kids are in school you lose flexibility and the cheaper fares that result from being able to jet set during any season on any day of the week. My husband is a teacher, so if we want to travel as a family, we have to stick to the same peak season and holiday schedule as everyone else. Off-season and cheaper airfare are all but off-limits to us.

The insane costs of flying with kids can be enough to deter parents from traveling to far-off destinations altogether.

Over the years, though, I’ve picked up on a few secrets for finding more affordable flights so families can actually afford to go somewhere other than cities within road-tripping distance.

Be forewarned: finding affordable flights when you don’t have a lot of flexibility on dates can feel like an extra part-time job. You have to be willing to put in some time and effort researching, tracking, signing up for things, and more.

Ultimately you have to decide which is more important to you: your time or your money. We’re on a tight budget, so for me, it feels worthwhile every time to watch and wait and research before booking to find the cheapest possible flight.

With that in mind, if you’re hoping to travel long distances with kids in the near future, here are my best tips for saving money on flights for the whole family.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. This means if you click on a link and make a purchase, I may make a small commission at no extra cost to you.

VACATION PLANNING SERIES FOR FAMILIES

This post is STEP 3 in my vacation planning series for families. I’ll link the rest of the posts here as they are complete, so you have a step-by-step guide for planning the best possible family vacation.

In my experience, moms are often the ones doing the behind-the-scenes research, planning, calling, booking, list-making, grocery shopping, and packing, and it can take all the fun out of travel for her while the rest of the family sits back and enjoys.

This series is designed to streamline the process for busy moms who don’t have time to figure it all out on their own. I’ve also created a Family Travel Planner that will help organize your research and trip details so that you don’t constantly feel like you’re forgetting something.

STEP 1: How to Budget and Save for Your Dream Vacation

STEP 2: How to Choose the Perfect Destination for Your Family Vacation

STEP 3: Tips for Finding Affordable Flights for Traveling Families

STEP 4: How the Find the Perfect Accommodations on Your Next Trip

STEP 5: Tips for Planning your Family Travel Itinerary

FAMILY TRAVEL PLANNER

IF YOU HAVE A DESTINATION IN MIND:

TRACK YOUR FLIGHTS IN MULTIPLE LOCATIONS

This is where the initial legwork and research come in. As soon as a destination piques my interest, I begin my initial research to get a handle on flight costs.

First I go to Skyscanner and type in my home and destination airports. When it asks for dates, I choose “Whole Month” and then underneath that I click “Cheapest Month.” If I’m not nearly that flexible with times of the year, I will choose the month we plan on visiting. The app Hopper also has a similar feature.

When I have the cheapest time of year or week to visit, I start tracking those dates on multiple apps and websites, and I have updates either sent to my email or I have the app send me notifications.

I like that Hopper also has a feature that shows whether they think the prices will fall, or whether you should book now because prices will rise.

I use multiple websites/apps to compare because some don’t always include every airline or route.

Here are some of my favorite tools for tracking flight prices:

LOOK ON A TUESDAY OR WEDNESDAY

I never put much stock in this tip until I was recently trying to book tickets to San Juan, Puerto Rico for our family.

I checked the prices the Tuesday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving, and was very impressed by the cheap flight prices, but held off on booking because I knew Black Friday and Cyber Monday were coming up. I thought surely there would be even LOWER prices coming my way.

Dear reader, I’m going to be vulnerable and tell you that I almost cried when I saw the prices nearly double on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. I thought I had missed my chance at affordable airfare (even experienced travelers make mistakes!)

I made myself relax and wait until Tuesday rolled around to see if the prices would go back down, and, you guessed it, they did! I was able to book all 5 plane tickets on credit card reward points by waiting for a Tuesday.

USE THE PRICE MATRIX FEATURE

I alluded to this in my first tip, but unless your travel dates are set in stone, use a price matrix on one of the flight search engines to find the best days to travel.

We often hear that certain days are generally cheaper than others, but I find there are so many variables that it helps to just let the computer tell me the cheapest days. Sometimes it’s a Saturday to a Tuesday. Sometimes it’s a Thursday to a Monday.

Maybe one week of the month is significantly cheaper because it’s before or after a local event or holiday.

Google Flights and Skyscanner have wonderful flight matrices.

LOOK FOR AIRLINE HUBS OR FOCUS CITIES

This might not apply to you depending on where you live, but it’s worth mentioning just in case.

I’m lucky enough to live in Florida where there are multiple international airports within driving distance of our home town. When I was booking our Puerto Rico flights, the JetBlue prices stood out to me as significantly cheaper than other airlines.

When I did some research as to why that was, I found that San Juan was one of JetBlue’s “focus city” airports. In that same article, I found that Fort Lauderdale was another focus city for them. We ended up booking incredibly cheap fares from FLL to SJU, even though that meant we would have to drive 4 hours to FLL for our flight.

I found this article which lists many major airlines and their hubs or focus cities. Hopefully this helps you!

Driving longer distances for cheaper flights is not for everyone, but it might be worth it to you!

USE A TRAVEL REWARD CREDIT CARD

There are some people who are, like, really into travel hacking and signing up for 13 different credit cards to get the signup bonus. They always seem to be booking every trip on points.

Full disclosure: that’s not me. I have one travel rewards credit card which I use very responsibly. I might look into getting another card this year but will have to do my research before doing so.

I use the Chase Sapphire Preferred, and love that I can use the travel portal to book with almost any airline. We got the 50,000 point signup bonus, then used our card for regular purchases like groceries, gas, and online subscriptions for a few months. With the points we had saved, we were able to pay for all 5 flights to Puerto Rico. (You can use my link for access to the 60,000 point signup bonus).

Again, this tip is not for everyone, but if you have a dream trip in mind and the cost of flights is the only thing standing in your way, I would highly consider looking into this option.

COMPARE DOLLARS AND POINTS

If you have airline loyalty points saved up, or credit card reward points that can transfer to that airline, you can search for flights on the airline’s website in points instead of dollars.

Sometimes certain routes seem expensive, but for some reason, they are very affordable to book in points. It’s worth looking into!

CHECK DIFFERENT AIRPORTS

Similar to learning about hub airports and focus cities, make sure to check different airports at both your departure and destination. Sometimes it’s cheaper to fly into a nearby city, then rent a car and drive the hour or 2 to your destination.

LOOK INTO BUDGET AIRLINES

Budget airlines like Frontier, Spirit, and Allegiant often don’t appear in search engine results. Be sure to check their websites directly for rock bottom prices. Just be aware that you may pay extra fees for things like having a carry-on bag or choosing a seat. Those extra fees can add up.

SEARCH ONE-WAY FLIGHTS

I learned this tip from my dad. Always check one-way flights to and from your destination, even with different airlines for each leg of the trip. The benefit is that you can search for the cheapest options AND the best time that works for you each way. If you try to book round trip with one airline you might be stuck with times that don’t work for you.

BROWSE INCOGNITO

We all know our devices are learning from our search history, and this could actually affect the prices you’re seeing in your search results for a trip. Try clearing your cookies or opening an incognito window on your browser to see if that makes a difference in the prices you find.

SIGN UP FOR AIRLINE LOYALTY PROGRAMS

Anytime you fly with an airline, make sure to register with their loyalty or frequent flier program and enter the number when you buy your tickets. Once you’re signed up for the program, you can check the airline’s website for ways to earn extra points.

For example, when I booked our plane tickets through JetBlue I signed up for their free loyalty program TrueBlue. Under the TrueBlue tab on their website, they list ways to earn. Other than the obvious options of purchasing flights and flight upgrades, you can also shop online with the featured retailers listed on their site. These include stores like Gap, Apple, American Eagle, Crayola, and more.

You can also fill out surveys, partake in their dining club (featured restaurants), and book with partner hotels.

Also, don’t forget to sign up for your favorite airlines’ email list. If you are on an airline’s email list, you’ll have first access to their deals and flash sales.

COMPARE AGGREGATE SITES TO OFFICIAL AIRLINE SITES

After checking aggregate sites like Kayak, Skyscanner, and Momondo, make sure to check directly for those prices on the airline’s website and compare and contrast the prices.

I usually feel more comfortable booking directly through the airline, so I often use the aggregate sites simply as a search tool, then do my actual booking with the airline itself. This way I’m eligible for points with their loyalty program.

CONSIDER VACATION PACKAGES

Listen. I’m someone who is a very independent traveler. I like to do my own research and book my own trips.

BUT, I still consider vacation packages when booking my trips. A vacation package simply means several elements of your trip (flights, hotels, rental car, etc) are bundled up into one price, usually saving you a significant percentage of money.

This doesn’t mean you’ll be on one of those giant tour busses with 100 retirees with every second of your day planned out for you. It simply means that a lot of the details are taken care of in one fell swoop. You’ll still have lots of freedom to spend your vacation the way you want to spend it.

I’ve also noticed that you can save a significant amount of money by booking these packages. Just know that instead of spreading the cost of your trip out over time, you’ll be paying for everything at once. This is for people who have saved up the estimated cost of their vacation before even starting their research.

Check sites like Groupon, Living Social, JetBlue Vacations, and Travelocity.

BE WARY OF TAXES AND FEES ADDED ON AT THE END

Some flight prices look AMAZING until you actually start going through the process of booking them. Suddenly you find hidden fees everywhere with the airline nickel and diming you for seats, carry-ons, and other miscellaneous charges.

Make sure to read the fine print when looking at flight prices. Sometimes it pays off to go with a slightly higher price on a more reputable airline where everything is included because the fees on the cheap airlines add up to almost the same price for a lesser experience.

IF YOU DON’T HAVE A DESTINATION IN MIND…

Some travelers love searching for the VERY best deal, and they don’t necessarily have a destination picked out. They will go wherever the deals take them.

This can be a really fun strategy because you end up exploring cities you didn’t even know you wanted to see, but they end up being amazing experiences.

Here are some tips if you want to try your hand at more frequent cheap travel.

HAVE MONEY SAVED UP AND READY TO USE ON TRAVEL

The catch with a lot of these deals is that you have to book them quickly - often within 24-48 hours. That doesn’t give you a lot of time to decide or get funds together, so if you’re going to try this, make sure you have money saved up to travel BEFORE you start hunting for deals.

DON’T BE TOO SPECIFIC WITH YOUR DATES

A lot of travel deals that I’ve found require you to travel in the next few months. So if you find a Groupon for a cheap cruise, for example, you need to read the fine print to see what the required travel dates are. Often it’s within the next month or two, so if you’re trying to plan VERY far in advance, this may not be the strategy for you.

On the other hand, if you know you can sneak away mid-week or use your vacation time whenever you want, AND you’re comfortable pulling your kids out of school for a few days (I am…and I’m a former teacher married to a teacher), you can find some INCREDIBLY discounted deals.

SCOTT’S CHEAP FLIGHTS

If you’re looking to do more international travel, you must join this email list. Scott’s Cheap Flights has a free email list and a paid subscription (that’s actually pretty affordable). They only do international, not domestic flight, though.

Right now I only use the free service since we’re more focused on domestic travel. I think once this 4th baby comes along and all my kids have passports, I’ll be more likely to use the paid subscription to find amazing deals on international flights.

USE THE “ANYWHERE” FEATURE

If you’re itching to take a trip, you’re on a budget, and you’re not exactly sure WHERE you want to go, just THAT you need to get away, try looking at Skyscanner or Google Flights '“anywhere” feature.

You just type your home airport in the search engine and choose “anywhere” instead of a specific destination, and they will pull up the cheapest flights from where you live.

Maybe Denver, Las Vegas, or Washington DC wasn’t on your radar, but if a flight is available for under $150, you might suddenly be inspired to try it!

Don’t forget, too, that you can use cheap flights to go to a city as your home base, then take some day trips from there. I’ve been considering flying to Vegas because of the incredible state parks and beautiful sights within an hour’s drive of the city.

Booking.com

AIRLINE SALES IN YOUR INBOX

Another variation on this idea is to check the flash sales airlines send to your inbox to see where the cheapest flights from your home city are. Southwest sends these emails out a few times a year, and it’s worth looking into if you’re itching to get away!

OTHER WAYS TO SAVE MONEY ON FLIGHTS

FLY CARRY-ON ONLY

Even when flying with kids, I do my best to fly carry-on only. When you have multiple people, checking a bag for $25 in each direction suddenly adds up to a couple hundred extra dollars.

Use packing cubes (compression if you’re really hardcore), limit the number of clothes you bring, and check with your airline to see what their policy is on bringing baby gear like car seats, strollers, and bedding (like pack & plays or travel cribs).

Also read: The Best Carry-On Suitcases for Families

IF YOU NEED TO CHECK A BAG, PREPAY ONLINE

If you absolutely MUST check a bag (I get it…babies and toddlers come with a lot of gear), just check one bag for the family, and prepay online for a cheaper price. Also, check if being a loyalty member or credit card holder makes you eligible for free checked bags.

(Or fly Southwest where you get to check a bag for free!)

Keep in mind that many international flights will allow you to check a bag for free, too, but make sure to read the fine print before you go!

BRING YOUR OWN SNACKS

Airport food is SO EXPENSIVE and usually not even that good. Although it’s a pain to grocery shop and prepare food before your trip, in my opinion, it really pays off in the long run. I love having my own snacks along so I can eat whenever I need to without having to hunt for the best restaurant or kiosk or shell out tons of money for a subpar bagel.

I’ve never had an issue getting my food through security, and that includes packets of superfood smoothies and protein powder. (I once even had my protein powder in a plastic ziplock bag in my carry-on. They just took it out to test it).

My favorite food and snacks to bring to the airport: pb&j sandwiches, apple slices, granola bars, protein bars, superfood smoothie packets, baggies of crackers, candy, nuts, and dried fruit.

BRING AN EMPTY WATER BOTTLE

Bring your reusable water bottle and make sure it’s empty when you go through security. Afterward, you can fill it up at water fountains throughout the airport (many airports now have the special water bottle fountains, too! This saves you from shelling out money on plastic water bottles. Good for your wallet and the environment! I like this one because it keeps my water nice and cold for hours on end.

LOOK FOR OFF-SITE PARKING

If you’re driving yourself, make sure to research cheaper parking options ahead of time. Airport parking can really add up, so check for discount lots that have free shuttles to and from the airport. I usually have success in finding good deals on Groupon.

DOWNLOAD MOVIES TO YOUR DEVICE AT HOME

If you’re bringing devices like phones, tablets, or laptops, be sure to download movies, tv shows, and books at home when you have wifi. That way if you’re at the airport and on the plane with a lot of time to kill, you won’t be tempted to pay insane prices for wifi to stave off boredom.

Lots of planes these days have personal screens on the seatbacks where you can watch movies or tv shows for free, but some don’t. It never hurts to be prepared!

LOOK FOR HOTEL SHUTTLES

Before you shell out big bucks for that airport taxi or rideshare, check so see if your hotel offers a free shuttle to and from the hotel.

CHECK IF YOUR TRAVEL CREDIT CARD GIVES YOU ACCESS TO LOUNGES

Certain credit cards offer perks like access to airport lounges. This can save you lots of money because they offer unlimited food and beverages in the lounges.

IF YOU’RE FLEXIBLE, BE WILLING TO GIVE UP YOUR SEATS FOR TRAVEL VOUCHERS

I’ve heard stories or seen people in multiple Facebook groups talk about how they were able to give up their seats on an overbooked flight in exchange for CRAZY travel vouchers. Of course, this only works if your plans are flexible and you don’t have somewhere you must be immediately upon arrival.

It can be tough to delay your plans if you’re traveling with kids, but if the voucher is lucrative enough, the hassle is worth it! You could be getting a whole extra trip or vacation for free just by delaying your flight a few hours.