Cheap Flights! Get the Best Airfare Through Serendipitous Travel
If you’re like most travelers, you’re planning your trips completely backward if you want to have an amazing experience while saving money, says Scott Keyes of Scott’s Cheap Flights.
“The normal way that we search for flights is a three-step method called the Destination First Method,” says Scott, who joined me on the LIVE Without Borders podcast. “Step one: We decide where we want to go. Step two: We decide when we want to go there, and only on step three do we look at what the flights cost. By setting price as the last priority, it's not terribly surprising that we end up with some pretty expensive flights.”
Scott says we should flip that idea on its head by following what he calls the Flight First Method:
Step 1: Use something like the Google Flights’ Explore Page to find the cheapest airfare out of your home airport.
Step 2: Of all the cheap destinations available right now, choose the one you like best.
Step 3: Choose the dates that work best for you. Purchase!
“By setting price as the top priority rather than the last priority, that's how you get cheap flights,” Scott says, “That's how you take three or four vacations for the price you used to pay for one.”
Scott recently published the book Take More Vacations: How to Search Better, Book Cheaper, and Travel the World, which discusses his travel philosophy, as well as all his best tips on how to find the cheapest airfare, best accommodation prices, and more. But this isn’t just about saving a buck, it’s about traveling better.
“When I got this $130 round trip flight to Milan, I felt like I was a gambler playing with house money. I was like, oh my gosh, I can do everything. Yes, more truffle linguine. Yes, let me take this day trip skiing in the Alps. Yes, I'll go to that AC Milan soccer game. I got to take a better trip. I saved money in the process, even with lifestyle inflation.”
Scott’s Cheap Flights is a service that sends you email alerts when deals pop up for the airports you’re interested in. Photo courtesy of Scott.
But the real revelation came when Scott returned from that trip.
“If I'm taking four trips a year rather than one, because I've prioritized cheap flights…I'm so much happier when I get home because it's not the usual post-vacation hangover where you've got 11 months until your next trip and you're just like, ‘Oh, back to the grind, back to the day-to-day drudgery.’ No, no, no. When you've got four trips planned in a year, It's only three months until your next trip. And as soon as you get home, you're back to planning your next vacation. You're back to daydreaming and anticipating how much fun you're going to have on that next trip.”
Follow the LIVE Without Borders podcast to hear Scott’s best travel advice on how to find the cheapest airfare and accommodation.
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