Did you know that airlines and hotels charge different prices for same product based on where you are located. For example European prices are generally always higher compared to what they charge customers from USA or Asia.
Shangri La Hotel at Shard, London price from a Asian portal – Trip.com is 14% cheaper than booked at Expedia or Hotels.com
The Discounts Expected on Cyber Monday
It’s not uncommon to expect certain stores to slash up to 60-70% off their prices. Popular items include headphones, video games, cameras, clothing, shoes and more. The question is, do these kinds of deals translate over to flights?
Cyber Monday Flight Deals
If 70-80% off or more on airfare seems kind of high, that’s because it likely is. The truth is, despite it being Cyber Monday, the chances of flights being 70% off or more are very slim. This is especially true for international destinations. There are always exceptions but generally the cheapest Cyber Monday flight deals won’t be this juicy.
But, there is some good news!!!
You can still score flight deals that may not be available on any other day. Below are some tips that will maximize your chances of finding the best Cyber Monday flight deals possible.
Don't actually wait until Cyber Monday
Just because it’s in the name doesn’t mean you have to wait until the Monday after Thanksgiving. Airlines will start posting discounts earlier, start searching about a week before Cyber Monday.
Go incognito
Some may consider this to be a myth but there are too many anecdotes for you to ignore it completely. It’s thought that major airline websites track your recent search history and can potentially display higher prices to people they think are actively searching for cheap flights.
Try hiding your location or clearing your cache before you browse flights. It may not work but it’s certainly worth a shot.
Shop around for flight deals
You would probably shop around for jeans, so why not flights? It’s important to browse different sites to make sure you are getting the best deal. Sometimes airlines will have prices that are exclusive to visitors of their websites, so make sure you go to them directly.
Do not skip out on smaller, discount airlines such as WOW Air, Porter or RyanAir.
Most importantly use sites that scan the web for the cheapest flights. compareflights.org is the perfect search engine for the cheapest flights including Cyber Monday flight deals.
Make sure you use all 3 of these sources to maximize your savings!
Check frequently and act fast!
The best Cyber Monday flight deals won’t come easy! Check flight prices frequently starting a week before Cyber Monday. Mix it up and check at different times of the day, as flight prices may vary hour to hour.
But when you do see a price you like, make sure you pull the trigger and book. The deal may not be available if you come back later. Just don’t let it get in the way of Thanksgiving dinner.
Use a flight scheduler
Using a flight scheduler like this one:
You can save even more by booking your flight for months that are historically cheaper for your destination. Even though you might be looking for Cyber Monday flight deals in December, it may be smarter to book your trip for January.
Which brings us to our next tip…….
The best Cyber Monday flight deals require flexibility!
More often than not, the person who’s travel schedule is not set in stone will get the better deal. Airlines often have certain restrictions on Cyber Monday pricing. These restrictions include flying out of certain airports or cities, dates and flight times.
The image below was taken directly from Air Canada’s Cyber Monday page for 2018. As you can see, the deals did not apply to flights going to Europe. If you had plans to go to Europe you have to be willing to change your destination. Somewhere in Asia maybe?
Make local transit a part of your travel
It’s definitely much cheaper to fly into certain airports than others. If there is another airport near your primary airport then check those prices as well. You can then fly into the airport with a cheaper flight and take transit to your final destination.
This picture from compareflights.org shows this concept:
Instead of flying from Toronto City Airport (YTZ), travellers would save $110 by flying out of Pearson International Airport which is in Toronto as well. Make sure you use this tip when shopping for your Cyber Monday flight deals this year.
The early bird doesn't always get the worm
The best day to search for Cyber Monday flight deals may not be on Cyber Monday. It may not even be any time during the week leading up to the big day. An article published last year by Narcity highlighted the data collected by Hopper. The data showed that the best day for flight deals was actually the day AFTER Cyber Monday.
Yes you heard that right. The best day to get the cheapest flights is Travel Tuesday! Hopper collects millions of data points per day and showed that more deals are actually available on Travel Tuesday.
You may be wondering if the time of day is important as well?
It turns out that the time matters as much as the date itself. Searching for flights between 6:30am and 9:30am gave the best results. So make sure you set your alarm clocks, it might be well worth it.
So there you have it. Everything you need to boost your chances of getting the best Cyber Monday flight deals. Happy shopping and Happy Thanksgiving!
