How to Find the Best Flight

Finding the best flight with the best airline at the best time on the best date, can be extremely stressful. You found the airline you want but the times don't match your schedule. Then you switch airlines, so the times work, but the price is significantly more. So you try switching your dates and you're back to square one.

I use 2 websites that make this so much easier!


Both these websites scan all airlines from the requested departure and arrival cities to create a "one stop shop" experience. They also allow you to broaden your search by selecting to include other nearby airports. I use both because, while they are extremely similar, they have a few unique features:


If your travel dates are flexible, you can select to show flexible dates. This gives you an option to choose from 1 to 3 days before or after your preference, upcoming weekend dates, or all prices for a month for the number of nights you prefer. Note that I checked the box for "Include nearby", to see options from nearby airports.

Click "Search" and then the magic happens. In seconds, you'll have countless options to choose from: 

On the left side of your results page are filters to choose from, which help narrow your search.

I find the filter system more comprehensive on Kayak than Sky Scanner.

They'll even sometimes make a forecast on the price trend to give you advice on whether to book now or watch the prices and create an optional price alert:

***Tip - give the page some time to load.  It may seem like it's fully loaded, but unless you see this advice section in the top left hand corner, there are other fares being added.

Remember, these are only forecasts.

After you're done filtering, select the best flight for you:

Hacker Fares are one of the main reasons I use Kayak. This allows you to book 2 one way flights on 2 different airlines, so that your round-trip flight times or cost is better suited for you.

Sky Scanner

The search page doesn't allow you to choose flexible dates like Kayak. However, a cool unique feature is the ability make your destination flexible. If you know where you want to leave from and when, but you'd like ideas on where to go, Sky Scanner can help with this.

Instead of typing in a destination city, type "Everywhere" to get ideas on where to go. Click "Search flights" and then the magic happens:

How cool is that!?

One thing to keep in mind with Sky Scanner as well is that these are estimated fares. When you click on one of these countries, the result might be different if the prices have changed since they last estimated them.  

The results page is similar to Kayak, however it lacks in a few areas. My advice is if you're using Sky Scanner to find destination ideas, then once you've chosen your destination, go over to Kayak to view results.  

For example, Sky Scanner won't allow you to filter by layover time, which sometimes can be very important. It also won't give you a forecast on the price trend. Most importantly, there are no "Hacker Fares." On occasion, Sky Scanner will mix 2 airlines together, but it's not as consistent as Kayak, as seen above. Notice the jump in price between airlines is different than the Kayak results. This is because they're not combining airlines. However, if you'd like to stick to one airline because of frequent flier miles, status, etc., then this works just as good as Kayak.

I hope I was able to help with your search for flights. Happy hunting!