How to Get Cheap Flights Right Now – familytravelfever.com

Airfare eats most of our travel budget. Four seats instead of one, school holiday surcharges, and zero flexibility on dates — flying as a family is expensive by default. But it doesn’t have to wreck your trip budget.

We’ve booked flights for our family across the US and to Japan multiple times, and we’ve gotten better at it every trip. Some of these tips saved us hundreds on a single booking. Here’s everything that actually works.

Start With Google Flights (Seriously)

Google Flights is the single best tool for families searching for cheap airfare. Not because it’s new or clever — it’s been around for years — but because of two features most people skip over.

The price calendar shows you the cheapest day to fly across an entire month. If you have even a little flexibility (fly out Wednesday instead of Friday), you can often save $50-100 per person. For a family of four, that’s $200-400 just by shifting your departure by two days.

Price tracking is the other one. Hit the track button on any search, and Google emails you when fares drop. We set trackers for our spring break destinations starting in January. Booked when we got a price drop alert in early February — $187 cheaper per ticket than the original price we saw.

One thing Google Flights won’t show you: lap infant pricing. If you’re flying with a baby under 2, you’ll need to call the airline directly or check their site after you find the flight on Google. Domestic US flights are usually free for lap infants. International varies wildly — some airlines charge 10% of the adult fare, others charge 75%.

When to Book

Forget the old “book on a Tuesday” advice. According to Expedia’s 2025 Air Hacks report, booking 1-3 months before a domestic flight saves up to 25% compared to last-minute prices. Google’s own data says 39 days is the sweet spot for domestic, 49 for international.

But here’s the problem for families: school holidays. Everyone else is booking the same weeks. For summer travel, start looking in January or February. Spring break, start around New Year’s. You won’t find last-minute deals for peak school holiday periods — those flights only get more expensive.

The exception: shoulder seasons. The weeks right before school lets out or right after it starts back are dramatically cheaper. If your school district allows a few days of absence, flying out June 1st instead of June 15th can save you half.

The Flexibility Trick Most Families Miss

Skyscanner has an “everywhere” search — type in your home airport and pick “everywhere” as the destination. It shows you the cheapest places to fly from where you are. We’ve discovered destinations we never would have picked this way, simply because the flights were so cheap it made the whole trip affordable.

The same goes for airports. If you live within driving distance of two airports, check both. We’ve saved over $300 on a family booking by driving 90 minutes to a different airport.

Kayak’s flexible date search is another one worth using. It shows you a grid of prices across departure and return dates so you can spot the cheapest combination fast.

Mistake Fares and Deal Alerts

Airlines occasionally publish fares at the wrong price. A $900 flight shows up for $180. These “mistake fares” don’t last long — sometimes only hours — but they’re real, and airlines usually honor them.

To catch them, sign up for deal alert services. Going (formerly Scott’s Cheap Flights) is one of the better known ones. Thrifty Traveler and Secret Flying are others. The free tiers send you deals a few hours after they’re found. Paid tiers are faster, and when a mistake fare drops, speed matters.

One practical note for families: when you find a deal, book first and discuss later. Most airlines offer free cancellation within 24 hours of booking (it’s actually a US DOT rule for flights departing from the US). Book all four seats, then decide if the trip works. You can always cancel.

Budget Airlines — Worth It With Kids?

Spirit, Frontier, and other ultra-low-cost carriers look cheap until you add bags, seat selection, and the other fees. For a solo traveler, the savings are real. For a family of four who needs checked bags and wants to sit together? Sometimes it’s barely cheaper than a full-service airline.

Do the math every time. Add up:

Carry-on bag fees (Spirit charges for full-size carry-ons)
Checked bag fees per person
Seat selection (or risk being split across the plane — not great with a 4-year-old)
No free snacks or drinks

Southwest is worth a special mention for families. Two free checked bags per person, no change fees, and kids under 6 board early with a parent. For a family of four, the two free bags alone save $200-480 round trip compared to airlines that charge for checked luggage.

Book One-Way Flights Separately

This one surprises people. You don’t have to fly the same airline in both directions. Sometimes the cheapest outbound flight is on Alaska and the cheapest return is on Delta. Booking two one-ways is often cheaper than a round trip, especially when different airlines are competing on the same route.

Google Flights makes this easy — just search one-way for each leg and compare the total.

Credit Card Points (Even If You’re Not a Points Expert)

You don’t need to become a travel hacking guru. Just having the right credit card and putting your regular family spending on it — groceries, gas, subscriptions — adds up faster than you’d think.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred earns points worth about 1.25 cents each when booked through Chase Travel. The sign-up bonus alone can cover a domestic round trip. Capital One Venture is another solid option — flat 2x miles on everything, no transfer games needed.

The key: don’t let points pile up forever. Use them. A free flight for one family member effectively cuts your airfare bill by 25%.

Booking Flights to Japan With Kids

Japan flights from the US are a different game. Round trips from the West Coast usually run $600-900 per person in economy, and from the East Coast, $800-1,200.

A few things that help:

ANA and JAL are worth the slight premium over budget carriers for the kid-friendliness — meals, entertainment, blankets, and attentive crew
Zipair (budget subsidiary of JAL) flies LAX and SFO to Tokyo for around $400-500 one way, but it’s bare-bones — bring your own food and entertainment
Off-season means mid-January through March (excluding spring break) and November. Cherry blossom season (late March – April) and fall foliage (October – November) are peak pricing
Haneda vs Narita: Haneda is much closer to central Tokyo, which matters when you’re travelling with tired kids. Sometimes Narita flights are cheaper, but factor in the extra 60-90 minutes of train time plus the cost

We’ve had the best luck booking Japan flights about 3-4 months out in off-season, 5-6 months for peak periods.

The 24-Hour Rule

This is worth repeating because it changes how you should approach booking. The US Department of Transportation requires airlines to let you cancel a flight within 24 hours of booking for a full refund, as long as the flight departs at least 7 days out.

For families, this is huge. See a good price? Book it now for all four seats. Talk about it tonight. If it doesn’t work, cancel by tomorrow. Don’t lose a deal because you needed to check the school calendar first.

What Doesn’t Work

A few myths to stop wasting time on:

Incognito mode — airlines don’t raise prices based on your browsing history. This hasn’t been true for years, if it ever was.
Booking at 2am — there’s no magic time of day. Fare changes are algorithmic, not scheduled.
Waiting for the absolute lowest price — if you see a price you’re happy with, book it. Chasing the bottom means you might miss a good fare while it climbs.