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Call it a how-to. Call it inspiration. The purpose of this newsletter is to tell you how my sister used eight-yes, EIGHT-flight hacks to save $1,100 on a flight. I'm going to walk you through all eight hacks so that you, too, can put them to work on your next booking.
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A bit of background
In 2024, she and her friend decided they wanted to walk the Camino de Santiago French Way, a 485-mile pilgrimage route from the southwestern corner of France to Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain.
Flexibility with dates and location are some of the best ways to score a great deal on airfare. In this case, she knew exactly where she wanted to travel (the start-point of the trail), but she could be a little flexible with timing.
If she'd flown from her home airport (PDX) to Biarritz (BIQ), the nearest airport to the start of the walk, she would've spent an average of $1,707 roundtrip on airfare based on when she booked the ticket and when she traveled. And yet, she paid $579 roundtrip.
Here are all the flight hacks she used to lock in a great deal.
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1. Travel in shoulder season
The best time to walk the Camino de Santiago is anywhere from April to October, depending on who you ask. For my sister, she could be a little flexible with timing, but she wanted to enjoy some of that Spanish summertime. And as we all know: Flights to Spain during the peak summer season are anything but cheap.
For the best of both worlds, she targeted the end of August. Flights notoriously drop 25-30% in the second half of August compared to the first half. Why? A number of factors, but largely because kids head back to school, meaning demand-and prices-for routes like these drop.
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2. Use a Going deal-even if it's just a starting point
She's a Going member and an avid user of the Going app. She also follows airports other than her home airport that she knows receive a ton of great deals every single day, including Chicago (ORD), one of the top airports for cheap international flights.
In February, she received a deal notification from Chicago to Bilbao for $560 roundtrip on Turkish Airlines at the end of August. Originally, she'd been looking for a deal out of her home airport, but with some other flight hacks in her back pocket, she could make this work. (If you don't have the Going app downloaded, now's the time to do it.)
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3. Reposition yourself
A great deal is a great deal, even if it's not from your home airport. Say you live in Portland but you find a great deal out of Seattle, or you live in Detroit and find a deal out of Chicago, or you live in New York City but find a deal out of Philadelphia. If you can reposition yourself either by driving, taking a bus, train, or some other form of transport for a lower cost than flying to your final destination out of your home airport, it can be worth booking the deal.
Sometimes even a short flight is necessary, like in this case. Luckily, my sister didn't have to pay for her repositioning flight out of pocket...
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4. Cash in points and miles
She used about 12,000 credit card points to reposition herself to Chicago. No one ever said you had to pay with cash! If you have credit card points or miles stashed away with an airline loyalty program, this could be the time to bust them out.
We always say credit cards should fit your lifestyle. So if you're spending the money anyway-like on groceries, gas, etc-it can make sense to charge those purchases to a points-earning credit card, where you can reap the benefits in the form of basically-free flights.
New to points and miles? No problem! We have a three-part crash course that can help you start earning and spending your points like a pro. Sign up here!
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5. Take advantage of stopover programs
That Chicago-Bilbao deal that she found? It routed through Istanbul. Conveniently, Turkish Airlines has a stopover program, so economy passengers can stay one night in a 4-star hotel in Istanbul if your layover is at least 20 hours long. Your final destination doesn't even have to be in Turkey-you can use the program if you're just transiting through.
Stopover programs vary by destination. For instance, with Icelandair, you can stay up to seven nights each way in Reykjavík when flying between North America and Europe, not including free accommodation. Etihad's stopover program offers up to two nights in Abu Dhabi, including two free nights in a participating hotel. Essentially, these programs let you explore a whole new destination for little more than your original flight price.
Unfortunately for my sister, the deal that she'd booked through the Going app only had a stopover of 16 hours, meaning she didn't qualify for the program. Enter: another flight hack.
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6. Use the 24-hour rule
The 24-hour cancellation rule is a regulation by the US Department of Transportation that mandates airlines to offer free cancellations or changes to flights within 24 hours of booking, as long as:
- the flight is at least seven days away
- was booked directly with the airline
- and originates in or goes to the US on any airline
When I told my sister about the Turkish Airlines' stopover program, she was able to cancel her original ticket within 24 hours and rebook her ticket for just a day later on an itinerary with a layover of at least 20 hours in Istanbul. Stopover crisis: averted.
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7. Get close with the Greek Islands Trick
It's like the repositioning trick, just on the other end. Essentially, you get as close to your destination as possible, then use a car, bus, train, ferry, or even short flight to get you the rest of the way there. It's a popular hack to access the Greek Islands, like if you fly into Athens and then take a ferry to Santorini, but you can use it for other destinations, too.
Like my sister. In French Basque Country, there aren't a ton of major airports. Instead, she flew into Bilbao, just over the border in northern Spain, and took a bus to her final destination.
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8. Book an open-jaw itinerary
The idea with a through-hike is that you start in one location and end up in another. Many travelers want to do the same with their trip (though not always on foot). Sometimes you want to fly into Rome and out of Milan, into Tokyo and out of Sapporo, or into Sydney and out of Melbourne. It saves you the time and hassle of backtracking to your original destination-and may cost the same as (or less than) a standard roundtrip ticket.
Instead of backtracking to Bilbao, my sister booked an open-jaw ticket with a return from Porto, adding yet another city to this epic itinerary. (And who wouldn't want to sip fine port wines after a nearly-500-mile cross-country trek?!)
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Final thoughts
You don't have to use all eight of these flight hacks to save hundreds of dollars on flights-you don't even have to use half of them! With the right timing and the tiniest bit of flexibility (even if you don't think you can be flexible), you can score a deal and plan an epic itinerary no matter the destination or season-blisters not included.
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Written by:
Brooke Vaughan
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Brooke Vaughan is a St. Louis-born, Portland-based writer and editor. She graduated from the University of Missouri School of Journalism with a master's degree and has contributed to publications including AFAR, Tripadvisor, Time Out Barcelona, and Huckberry.
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