How to Get Cheap Last-Minute Flights, According to the Experts

Figuring out how to get cheap last-minute flights has always been a complex, dizzying affair—and that’s before the pandemic transformed the travel landscape and forced airlines to shift their business models based on new patterns of supply and demand.

First off, it helps to have a basic understanding of how the airlines’ fare pricing models basically work. Airlines set fares based on how full the flight is at a certain point in time, meaning identical seats on the same flight can be sold for many different prices. As a result, for travelers who want to snag the best rate—or get a cheap last-minute flight—keeping track of the flight deal newsletters to subscribe to, the right days of the week to book, and other factors to score the lowest fare can be a full-time job itself.

If you feel like you’re the only flier still paying full-price for airfare, don’t fret. We’ve assembled the best tips and tricks from frequent travelers and cheap flight gurus to ensure you’ll never overpay for your seat again, whether you’re in economy or a higher class, and where it’s still possible to score a good deal—even at the last minute. 

Be flexible with destinations

Travel experts often advise checking to see if flying a day earlier or later or from a nearby airport—options that are now offered on most online search sites—might result in cheaper fares. But for bigger savings, consider extending your flexibility to the destination as well. If your dates are fixed, browse the options on Skyscanner, which allows users to select “explore everywhere” as the destination. Then skim for the best value over a certain timeframe. 

When flying to Europe, remember that you don’t need your ultimate destination to be your first stop. If direct flights to Paris are pricey, look around and see if routes to, say, Brussels are cheaper on those dates. 

Huw Owen, cofounder of TravelLocal, an agency that specializes in creating uniquely local trips, also advises looking at “secondary and tertiary cities” throughout Europe. Such destinations not only can be cheaper for airfare, they also let travelers potentially avoid some of the chaos that larger hubs, such as Amsterdam Schiphol and London Heathrow, have struggled with as a result of labor shortages and other challenges sparked by the pandemic.  

“This is a great option for those who are doing a week- or two-weeklong itinerary in a particular country, where it doesn’t matter where you land and you can have your local operator collect you and start the adventure from there,” Owen explains. “We’re seeing this above all in Europe, where the competition with low-cost airlines has allowed secondary cities to become the new gateways to a destination, for example flying into Porto instead of Lisbon in Portugal. And in Georgia you can now fly to the historical city of Kutaisi, which is a lot cheaper than flying into the capital, Tbilisi.”

Take advantage of waived change fees

One traveler-friendly benefit of the emerging post-pandemic landscape? As of late 2020, many airlines have finally scrapped those dreaded change fees once and for all—hallelujah! So if you see a too-good-to-pass-up deal, grab it while it’s still available—and if you do end up changing it, you won’t take a big hit. “The reason this is beneficial for last-minute bookings is if you’re especially worried that the fare might drop after you book, now you’re covered,” explains Scott Keyes, founder of Going (formerly Scott’s Cheap Flights). “If you pay $300 for your flight and a few days after booking the price drops to $200, you can rebook it at the new price and get the $100 difference back in flight credit.”

Search for fares individually

It takes some extra time, but searching for a single seat at a time—even if you’re flying with a family of four—can save you big. The reason? Those automated fare systems controlling that alphabet soup of prices are poorly designed and will only look for four seats of the same exact price, returning you a quote of $400 each, perhaps.