The Luxury Travel Atlas
How to Find the Best Flight Deals 2026
Our biggest secret to affordable airfare is simple: flexibility. Here’s the exact process we use before booking any flight.
"What is the best way to book cheap flights?"
Before we even consider hotels or car rentals, we always secure flights first. Finding the least expensive flights at the best price is the foundation for an entire trip — and it means watching for the dip between the price falling and rising again.
- The one exception to booking flights first: New York City. Hotel prices there spike hard during UN General Assembly (September) and Christmas — validate hotel prices before airfare when NYC is the destination. More in our guide on the best time to visit New York City.
- Flying long-haul or international? See our dedicated guide to long-distance international flight savings.
How Far in Advance Should You Book?
Booking too early means an empty plane and higher prices. Booking too late means a full plane and the highest prices of all. The sweet spot is where airlines charge the least to fill remaining seats.
| Destination | When To Book a Flight |
|---|---|
U.S. Domestic Trips | 3 weeks to 2 months in advance |
U.S. to Mexico or the Caribbean | 3 weeks to 3 months in advance |
U.S. to Europe | 2 – 6 months in advance |
General International Travel | 1+ month minimum in advance |
Cheapest Day of the Week to Fly
Business travel clusters Monday/Tuesday out, Friday back; leisure travel clusters Friday–Sunday. Shifting your trip by a day or two — Thursday-to-Sunday, Wednesday-to-Saturday — often means lower fares.
- Domestic: Sunday night, Tuesday evening, Wednesday, or Saturday afternoon departures tend to be cheapest.
- International: Thursday departures are almost always best, with Sunday night a close second.
Expedia’s data points to Saturday as the best day to fly domestically, and Thursday internationally. A Hopper study found midweek (Tuesday–Thursday) departures a better deal, especially in the U.S. — potentially a 15% savings.
Cheapest Day to Buy Your Ticket
You should check fares every day of the week — but when it comes to actually purchasing, we buy after Tuesday midnight and before Thursday noon. That window consistently shows the deepest price drops. Wednesdays are the top performer, with Saturdays a close second.
- We rarely buy plane tickets on Monday, Tuesday, Friday, or Sunday.
Searching Flights With Flexible Dates
On Delta’s site, toggle “My dates are flexible” to see the full price spread around your target date.
Our process:
- Analyze days of the week: mid-week flights are usually cheaper than Friday/Sunday weekend flights, driven by business-travel and family-travel patterns.
- Search a range around your target date: want New York on October 15th? Check a few days before and after.
- Compare the flexible-dates calendar: the absolute cheapest fare often requires an unworkable same-day round trip — but the next-best combination (e.g., Wed out, Thu back) usually still beats a fixed-date search.
Searching Flexible Dates:
Lets try searching ATL to LGA on Oct 14-17.
- Below, on the Flexible Dates depart & return calendar, I can see which flight is most affordable, which ends up being #1 on the image below.
- Problem with #1 is that I have to fly in and fly out on the same day for the cheapest (in green for $222) flight – that’s not happening.
- But I can see that if I fly to LGA on Wed, Oct 14 (#2) and return from LGA on Thu, Oct 16 (#3), the flexible price calendar says the cheapest flight is now $272 (#4). This will work.
Search the Whole Month Price Calendar:
If you just want to get to New York anytime in the month, toggle to the Price Calendar view. This is a game-changer! It visually highlights the cheapest days to fly within a broader timeframe. You can also toggle between upcoming months, maybe November or December or next year.
- Side note, we can also see below that Wednesday’s & Saturdays are the most affordable days to fly to LGA from ATL during the month of October.
- Why are Wednesdays cheaper? On Wednesday’s plane aren’t full due to slow business travel day & low family travel. Saturday is the same issue, not to many business or family travel to/from LGA after morning.
On the Price Calendar, you can adjust Time Length (#1), Show Non Stop or All Flights (#2) or Show Price In $USD or using Skymiles (#3).
Find Cheaper Flights via Nearby Airports
Flying to LA? Don’t limit your search to LAX — Burbank (BUR) or John Wayne (SNA) can be considerably cheaper, and SNA is convenient for Orange County. Here are the major metro alternates worth checking:
Los Angeles
Main: Los Angeles Airport (LAX)Alternates: Burbank (BUR), John Wayne (SNA)
New York City
Three major airports serve NYC
Alternates: JFK, LaGuardia (LGA) in Queens, Newark (EWR) in New Jersey
Miami / South Florida
Main: Miami International (MIA)
Alternates: Fort Lauderdale (FLL), Palm Beach (PBI)
San Francisco Bay Area
Main: SFO (Delta, United hub)
Alternates: Oakland (OAK), San Jose (SJC)
Palm Springs
Main: PSP.
Alternates: Los Angeles (LAX)
Washinton DC
Three major airports around DC.
Alternates: DCA, IAD, BWI
These are just a few examples. I personally have flown into Las Vegas and driven to Palm Springs! Identifying airline hubs can be helpful for travelers, as it often means more direct flights and a wider range of destinations from that airport. It’s important to note the difference between a hub and a focus city. A hub is a major connection point for an airline’s network, while a focus city is a smaller-scale hub with a high number of flights to specific destinations.
Leveraging Airline Loyalty for Reward Tickets
Using “Shop with Miles” + “My dates are flexible” on an ATL–SFO search, we found a fare for just 28,900 SkyMiles — a 15% discount off the standard 34,100 thanks to our Delta SkyMiles American Express card (domestic flights only).
Immediately I can see a price from ATL to SFO for only 28,900 Delta SkyMiles, that’s actually a pretty good deal! Due to my American Express Delta Credit Card, I get a 15% discount when using miles. So versus me paying 34,100 miles + $12 USD, I only have to use 28,400 miles + $12 USD. These discounts only apply to domestic flights.
To get these discounts, check out Delta SkyMiles American Express Credit Card offerings:
International Check Flexible Dates:
As mentioned above when using cash, we can also search with miles on international trips. Only thing is, with Delta, no Delta American Express Credit Card discounts work on International flights. So, again, select “Shop with Miles” & “My dates are flexible” to get started on your search.
We can see after a quick search, we have found a flight to Rome Italy, FCO, from Atlanta, ATL, for around 61,000 points + $90 USD. Not to bad!
Using Google Flights to Track Prices
After you book a flight, track the price using Google Flights. If the price drops, cancel your original flight then rebook it for cheaper.
You will get a refund or eCredit from the airline for future travel from the difference saved.
- Purchase a flight from your favorite airline.
- Validate the date and time from the flight you are taking, you can see from my itinerary below I am flying to Cancun (CUN) on October 4 and returning to Atlanta (ATL) on October 11. Pay attention to your DATE & TIME to align with Google’s website.
- No head to the Google Flights website and find those same flights. Make sure you filter out the airline you are using so the results are more clear.
- From here, there is no need to continue further on the Google Flights website. You only need to toggle on Track Prices.
- Once you click the toggle for Track Prices, you will now receive emails from Google Flights ONLY when the flight adjusts. By the way, be patient. You will see the flights go way up in price and drop down extremely far. The prices will be very volatile, so just be patient.
- Lastly, you can also track all flights for that same day.
Rebooking When the Price Drops
Booked with points (or points + cash)? Cancel for a full refund and rebook.
Booked with cash only? Cancel, collect an eCredit, and rebook using it.
- Cancel your original flight through the airline’s site.
- Booked within 24 hours? You’ll get a full refund, not an eCredit.
- Booked more than 24 hours ago? You’ll receive an eCredit for the original fare.
- Rebook your new (cheaper) flight and apply the eCredit at checkout.
- Any unused balance rolls into another eCredit for the difference.
Lets go through a scenario. Read more on eCredit’s here.
- First we need to cancel our original flight. Go to your airline website, find your booked itinerary. From here, we need to cancel the flight.
- If you booked your flight within the last 24 hours, you will get a FULL refund — NOT an eCredit.
- If you booked your flight more than 24 hours ago, you will get an eCredit for the original price you paid for your ticket.
- Now that you flight is cancelled and you received an eCredit, you can now go back to the airline website & rebook your ticket direct.
- Find your flights you are looking for and at check-out under Payments, you will find eCredits listed to use.
- If you do not use the entire eCredit amount, e.g. you have a $1000.00 USD eCredit but the new flight is $600.00 USD, the airline will issue you ANOTHER eCredit for the difference in far (e.g. $400.00 USD).
Important Considerations:
- Expiration: Delta eCredits typically expire one year from the date of issue.
- Taxes and Fees: eCredits can be applied to the cost of the new ticket and any associated taxes and fees.
- Other Options: You can also redeem eCredits at Delta ticketing locations, but additional fees may apply.
- Combination: eCredits cannot be combined with mileage redemption (e.g., Award Travel or Miles + Cash tickets).
- Number of eCredits: You can use up to five eCredits per passenger.
Why Airline Prices Change Suddenly
Fares fluctuate mainly due to supply and demand paired with dynamic pricing algorithms — constantly adjusting for seat availability, time until departure, competitor pricing, and historical booking trends.
Last topic here. Lets discuss one last thing and that is why flight prices constantly fluctuate. Mainly flight prices fluctuate due to a combination of factors, primarily driven by the principles of supply and demand and sophisticated dynamic pricing algorithms used by airlines. These algorithms constantly adjust prices based on factors like seat availability, time until departure, competitor pricing, and past booking trends.
I asked a friend of mine at Delta about pricing, and they shared a key insight:
“Airlines aim to maximize their revenue, but competitive pricing among carriers often helps keep fares in check. The presence of multiple airlines on a route generally prevents any single airline from setting excessively high prices.”
