Some websites let you look at all the possible places in the world that you can go for a great price. These deals are usually $100’s less per ticket than you would normally pay.
You can score great deals on flights and even entire vacations by using these explore features of travel websites.
The easiest to use sites for exploring cheap flights
These sites are amazing tools to find cheap flights when you have dates you are going but no specific destination in mind. It is so easy to use because it lets you see a visual map of everywhere you can go with your budget.
Here’s the best flight explore maps you can use and how to get to them. I chose them for you based on how user-friendly they are to use and how good of deals they find you. All of them have the option to set a price limit as your max, so it will only show flights that price or less.
(both are owned by the same company)
How to get to the explore map:
Momondo.com– click on boxes for destination (don’t type anything) and choose “anywhere” and “anytime” for both dates
Kayak.com – click “more” tab on upper right, then “explore”
You will love them because they:
- Most friendly user experience to view flights/prices
- Allows you to set parameters to “anywhere” and “anytime”, so you can easily see all your options
- Exact dates and holiday specific searches are also options
- Can set view to specific regions or zoom out to see entire world
- View flights on whole month view to find the cheapest time to go
- Can look at specific vacation categories (romantic, family friendly, beaches, ski, foodie vacations, nightlife, outdoor adventure, etc.)
How to get to the explore map:
Click on boxes for destination (don’t type anything) and choose “anywhere” and “anytime” for both dates
What you’ll love about it:
- The most filter options directly on the map page, including: class, baggage, stops, etc.
- Allows you to look (or not look) at flights with overnight layover
- Also can look at vacation categories (nightlife, beaches, family fun, etc.)
- Combine different modes of travel in the same view (airline, train, bus)! BTW, you will LOVE traveling by European high-speed trains if you haven’t done that before.
How to get to the explore map:
Flight comparison map (you can find it by scrolling about halfway down the home page)
What you’re going to love about it:
- Lets you view flights in a whole month view
- Once you select a destination you can adjust number of night stay to see cheapest option
- Gives suggestion of nearby dates that are even cheaper
Learn more about how these sites can get you great deals on flights!
How to use them
Open up the map and select your departure airport and the time frame that you want to go in.
Say I want to go on a cool trip but only can spend $500 on a flight. I decide my absolute parameters (such as price, timing, departure airport, stops, etc.) and look what is available.
By setting my parameters of price and departure airport, I quickly found a flight to Beijing for $333 roundtrip!!!
I like to play around with the parameters a little to see what other good deals are available. For example, I know flights from Denver to Vegas or LAX are usually cheap. So, I check flights departing from those major airports also to see if I can find a cheaper flight or more destination options.
When I find a destination that looks interesting for the price, I click on it. It will take me to more details about available flights like dates, specific prices, number of stops, length and location of layovers, etc.
I’ll look until I find one that works for me and book it! Usually this whole process takes less than one hour.
Travel cheap without giving up all your extras
Sometimes when you book the lowest priced tickets you lose certain perks. These perks can include things like earning points for miles to use on later travel, baggage allowance, or the ability to cancel your flight and get a refund. Budget airlines are the most notorious for not having these perks, or making you pay significantly to add them on.
Learn more about how to make more for free of those points with travel credit cards!
You will love the fact that by finding flights with the explore feature, you don’t have to only travel “budget airlines” or buy the least flexible ticket to save money!
This way, you can find the same deals flying major airlines which means that your flight can be more comfortable and earn you points to fly for cheaper (or free) your next trip.
The explore feature lets you set parameters to search within that let you look for things that are most important to you. Kiwi.com is especially easy to use to do this, as it allows the most filters directly on the explore page. Control the number of stops you make, the flight class, and baggage allowance to easily search for flights best for you. And then click into the flight you are interested in for more filter options like specific airlines.
Get a steep discount on your entire vacation by exploring flights + hotel
You can also “explore” great travel deals by looking at packaged deals of flights and hotels. These are often quoted at 50-80% off and will save you $1000’s of dollars.
Some of these deals also can include extras like activities, meals and all-inclusive packages!
This helps you save even more, since the more you bundle the more everything usually gets discounted.
These prices INCLUDE airfare!!
I love these options for traveling because it is booked through a travel company so you get a lot of help. They will contact hotels for you if you have specific needs. They are wonderful at answering any questions you may have.
And best of all, they do all the date coordinating so you don’t have to worry about making mistakes or not knowing where to go. It’s a GREAT way to go if you have some jitters about traveling to a new place.
Here are some of the best discounted vacation bundle sites:
Groupon/Living Social (are also both owned by the same company)
Keep in mind that many of these packages can have extra charges that are not included in the first advertised price. Usually even with these charges you can get a very discounted trip (just not as good as it first seems). But keep an eye out for them so you aren’t unpleasantly shocked when you go to pay.
If you have a question, ask! I have found most of the chat helps (especially through Groupon/Living Social) are very helpful.
It is also good to know that many of these bundles allow you so change your return date, so if you want to stay for longer you can! You will just need to find accommodation for the extra time.
Why should I try to be flexible (at least a little) on my dates or location?
Usually the more flexible you are, the more potential you have to save money on your trip. Sometimes leaving or coming a day or two differently than planned can save you $100’s!
I just helped a friend do this, and by leaving two days later (even when factoring the cost of two more hotel nights) she saved $500 on her flight!!
If you are able to be even more flexible than a few days, you may save even more. Say you can arrange things to be gone a week in March but it doesn’t matter which week. If you open up the view for vacations and flights to wider dates you might find that the first week is $300 less per person than if you went the last week.
If you can open it up to any time in the entire year, you can save $1000’s per person.
How does that work exactly? Let me show you an example.
Say you want to get away to a tropical destination near the holidays, so you look for flights to Hawaii. Normally you would search for your location and dates on a search website and you find that the tickets are about $550-$700 each.
BUT if you used an explore feature, you could quickly find flights to Costa Rica for $272 each! Even if you take the average price of Hawaii tickets of $600 each, you save $328 per ticket!!
Your budget for a two-person trip now is a four (and a half) person trip. Or you could upgrade your hotel, or do more expensive activities, or eat at an ultra-fancy place.
Your take-away from all this? Use the explore feature!!
You will find great deals so that you can go on more and better vacations that you ever thought that you could afford.
Have you ever tried to use explore or gone on a trip just because it was a great deal before?
