I’ve been on a huge flight searching kick lately. The economy in Canada isn’t looking so hot these days (Obligatory, thanks Justin!), so many of us are tightening the belts and trying to find ways to save money any way we can. If you can pull off saving ~$100 – $200 or more off your flight, that’s the kind of money that can cover a nights stay in a hotel, or a full day of outings. As a consumer it’s always best to shop around and compare. Here are three of my favourite services that have been my go-to stops for finding discount flights in Canada, and abroad.
Hopper
Hopper is an app that’s available on iOS and Android. It’s a pretty simple interface, you simply select the dates you’re looking to fly, then hopper watches flights during that time and uses their fancy algorithm to determine if they think flights will get cheaper and you should wait, or whether you should buy now. I am always a bit hesitant with these kind of apps as I always assume they want more people to buy, but I have had some reminders setup on potential flights to the east coast of Canada that did end up saving me $300, simply by having that reminder on my phone setup.
Shop Local and find cheap flights
I’m surprised how often I hear that people don’t even talk to travel agents anymore. Granted, online tools have made it easier, but a quick email or phone call and you can sometimes find discounted flights that aren’t even listed online. When you’re traveling on a budget, every dollar saved on flights is a dollar you can put away for food, drinks, hotels, or experiences. If you’re looking for cheap flights to Toronto or Vancouver, try Nanak Flights, a Canadian based travel agency. Or go old-school and ring up some travel agents you find online or in that book of yellow pages you have near your doorway that you’ve been meaning to recycle. Can’t hurt to call!
Google Flights
If you’re not exactly sure where you want to go, or even are just curious how far $400 can get you, Google Flights interactive map allows to input your location and displays cities throughout Canada and the world along with their average cost to fly to during the set time frame you have setup. They appear to pull in from most of the big airlines, but I should mention I did notice that smaller airlines didn’t appear to be included as I did end up finding cheaper flights simply by shopping around. But it’s a fun tool to browse and explore.