Who doesn’t love traveling? Taking off from the mundane routine of real life, exploring a new place and its food, sights, and culture, or simply relaxing with a book or beverage in hand, traveling truly is a stressbuster. However, once you start traveling with your babies, it often becomes a mental load. If you’re on the fence about starting to travel with your kid(s), we recommend reading our article – Is Traveling with a Baby a Good Idea. If you ask us, travel is where we live our best lives!
Traveling with babies can be a rewarding experience, but it also comes with its unique set of challenges. From packing baby essentials to ensuring a smooth journey, every detail requires careful consideration. Read our blog on the 5 Baby Travel Essentials: The Ultimate Checklist for 2024 if you need some help and guidance. One significant aspect of budget management becomes the task to find cheap flights.
According to a report by World Travel and Tourism Council, travel in 2024 is going to be slower, longer, and more immersive, making it a perfect combination for travelers with young children. With longer stays and vacations, it naturally will burn a hole in the pocket, but with our suggestions below, you can truly crack the code and travel with your baby without breaking the bank!
In this blog post, we’ll explore 7 realistic and easy-to-follow tips to help you find cheap flights when traveling with your little ones.
1. Find Cheap Flights in Incognito Mode.
One of the golden rules to find cheap flights, especially when traveling with babies, is to plan ahead. Booking your tickets well in advance gives you access to lower prices and a wider range of options. Airlines often release their cheapest seats months before the departure date.
However, repeated searches often adds cache memory, leading to higher prices for your IP address. Instead, simply browse in the Incognito Mode to ensure that your search history is not saved, which then gives you an easier access to compare prices for various airlines.
While many might prefer to buy the tickets directly from the airline website, the modern travel websites are becoming safer and more user-friendly by the day. These third-party platforms are now making life so much easier by scouring the internet for you and coming up with comparative prices for the locations of your choice.
2. Look for Promotions and Sales.
While window shopping for different flights, do keep an eye out for promotions and sales, and consider setting up fare alerts to receive notifications when prices drop for your chosen route. Most of the search engines offer exciting deals during special holidays. For example, the Republic Day Sale just went live in India for Easemytrip.com.
Other seasonal promotions in USA happen during Independence Day Weekend, Labor Day, Black Friday, and End of Year. Return to this blog to get easy access to such promotions and find cheap flights… we will keep them updating intermittently!
3. Consider Flexible Dates and Times.
Flexibility is key when it comes to scoring the best deals. To find cheap flights, be open to adjusting your travel dates and times, as flying on off-peak days or during less popular hours can significantly reduce costs when booking the tickets. A good rule of thumb that we follow is to book tickets on Tuesday and Wednesday, between 9 PM to 12 AM. We have gotten serious discounts when we booked during these time frames. Additionally, though mid-week flights are usually cheaper than those on weekends, Thursdays generally have higher cost of tickets, per our experience.
Everyone knows about red-eye flights that often offer lower prices, however, a secret sauce is aiming for flights just after the morning rush hour, where we have gotten great deals as well.
Also, when looking for flight combinations, use flexible date search on travel websites to explore various options and find the most cost-effective itinerary.
4. Explore Nearby Airports/Towns/Cities.
This is another great way to find cheap flights. Consider flying into or out of nearby airports rather than your primary destination. Smaller airports or those serving as secondary hubs might have lower fees and less congestion, resulting in cheaper flights. It might be even easier to get tickets because of low traffic.
However, it’s always prudent to compare prices between two neighboring cities that have access to your destination. We have used this strategy to find cheaper flights to Colombo, Sri Lanka. We had options of flying out of Chennai or Hyderabad in India, and flights from Hyderabad gave us better deals in terms of timing, price, and layover!
It is true that it may require additional travel time or ground transportation to actually reach your destination, the potential savings can make the inconvenience worthwhile, especially when traveling with a baby.
Additionally, neighboring locations can be a spot to explore as well, should you have the time. Look forward to some of our great hacks to utilize layovers soon.
5. Utilize Airline Miles and Loyalty Programs.
Airline Miles and Loyalty Programs are quickly gaining popularity to find cheap flights. If you often travel with your baby, it’s worth exploring the different airline loyalty programs and frequent flyer miles. Accumulating miles through credit card rewards, airline partnerships, and regular travel can lead to significant discounts or even free flights!
Though we are yet to experience a free flight in our travels, we know better that this is a reality for so many travel bloggers! Of course, this experience is in our wish list, and with the support of you, our readers, we hope to get a chance to explore this option and share insights and tips around it. It’s good to know that most airlines also offer family-friendly perks, such as priority boarding or extra baggage allowance, which can enhance your overall travel experience. Again, we will write more details about the perks of flying with a baby soon.
6. Consider Budget Airlines.
Yes, this might raise some eyebrows for some of you, as comfort should definitely a high priority when traveling with babies. While budget airlines may not always provide the same level of convenience and amenities as full-service carriers, like bassinet seats, extra legroom, free meals, kid-friendly menus, and so on, they can be a cost-effective option, especially for short-haul flights. We used Vietjet for our trip to Vietnam and it was a beautiful experience.
Here’s a quick tip from us: Compare prices between traditional and budget airlines, factoring in additional fees, and evaluate whether the potential savings justify any compromises in terms of comfort or convenience.
Some budget airlines also have family-friendly policies, so be sure to check for those as well.
7. Pack Strategically to Avoid Extra Fees.
While the cheapest tickets are for the cabin baggage only options, it might be difficult to book such tickets when traveling with a small baby. However, airlines often charge extra fees for checked baggage, and these costs can quickly add up. Now, it’s evident that traveling with a baby requires additional essentials, but there are ways to pack smartly. Look forward Pack strategically to minimize the need for excess baggage. Consider bringing lightweight, compact baby gear, and take advantage of items like diaper bags that are exempt from baggage fees. Additionally, check the airline’s policies on bringing strollers and car seats for free, as these items are essential for traveling with a baby.
Read our articles on the best Travel Strollers and Diaper Bags of 2024 for some great options to browse and buy.
Bonus Tip: Don’t Forget to Check for Last-Minute Deals.
While it’s generally advisable to book in advance, last-minute deals can sometimes offer unexpected savings in your quest to find cheap flights. Occasionally, once you are habituated traveling with your kid, try being spontaneous. For such scenarios, where your travel plans are flexible and you can afford to be a bit impulsive, keep an eye on last-minute flight deals.
Per our experience, airlines offer variable discount rates for unsold seats close to the departure date, allowing you to snag a bargain. However, be cautious with this approach, as waiting until the last minute might limit your options, especially when traveling with a baby.
Yes, it’s risky, but a good tip is to use such deals for quick getaways, perhaps on a long weekend, which don’t really require a lot of planning. Check out our article on 8 great getaways for your next long weekend.
Learn to Find Cheap Flights Today!
Traveling with a baby requires careful planning, and finding budget-friendly flights is a crucial part of the process. As daunting as it might sound, the actions are not too difficult, and become easier with practice. In a nutshell, you can really find cheap flights without much pain, if you follow the simple rules of traveling smartly.
By booking in advance, staying flexible, exploring different airports, leveraging loyalty programs, considering budget airlines, packing strategically, and monitoring last-minute deals, you can optimize your travel budget and make the journey with your little one a more enjoyable, enriching, and exciting experience.
As we end today’s episode, here’s a quick tip we often use – When we book our seats, or even at the check-in counter, we ask for a window seat and an aisle seat. More often than not, we get the middle seat empty too! Sly, but works in our favor. So, why shouldn’t benefit from it too, right? After all, we got your back!
Wish you the best in your quest to find cheap flights! Happy Traveling!
