All Our Best Tricks & Tools to Find the Cheapest Flight, Every Time
- Author
- Gunnar Olson, Kyle Potter
- Published
- Thu 28 Aug 2025
- Episode Link
- https://thrifty-traveler-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/all-our-best-tricks-tools-to-find-the-cheapest-flight-every-time-m06Mpg2S
We’re going back to basics this week by showcasing all the strategies, tips and tricks that we use to book the cheapest flight - every single time we fly. That requires some mythbusting about the dumbest tips out there (here’s looking at you, incognito searchers and Tuesday-only bookers) and shed some light on the actual best tips (i.e. Google Flights Explore and price alerts). Never get fleeced on flights again with these tips.
Special shoutout to the sponsor of this week’s episode, Abundo Wealth!
00:00 - The 2 most important rules to booking cheap flight: The Flight First Rule and the 24-hour rule
06:50 - Something Hot: Rethinking your departure and destination cities - use positioning flights and the best tip for booking cheap flights to Europe
13:30 - Something Cold: Clearing your cookies and why there’s no best day to book flights
18:40 - A word about the founding sponsor of the show: Abundo Wealth!
19:32 - The Extra Mile: Why flexibility is everything for finding cheap flights
21:50 - Google Flights primer: Google Flights Explore, Price Alerts and more!
30:00 - Why it pays to take the connection and why it doesn’t pay to be loyal to an airline
34:19 - Watch for pricing shenanigans: One-way flights and the solo passenger penalty
38:00 - How long before my flight should I book?
42:10 - What are the cheapest times of year to fly? Enter: Shoulder Season
46:00 - When to use points and miles instead
48:30 - Get some help from Thrifty Traveler Premium or other award search tools
51:00 - Use your credits, companion certificates and more - and how to stay organized
53:45 - Why you should never stop booking (& booking again) to make your trip cheaper (or better)
57:00 - Listener Question: Using points/miles + cash and when to mix and match
1:00:00 - Gunnar’s BRUTAL confession about his most expensive flight
Produced by Gunnar Olson
Edited by David Strutt
Show music: “All That” by Benjamin Tissot
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