One of my best travel tips for saving on airfare is to sign up for fare alerts. They save you from constantly having to price out tickets like a maniac. Seriously, I used to spend hours seeing if the fares on my desired flights had dropped. In fact, I still do once in a while just to make sure the fare alerts aren’t slacking … occasionally, they don’t pick up a flash sale.
Unfortunately, the number of websites that offer this free service has decreased because they have either shut down or were sold to an online corporate travel management company that wanted to use the software internally. And this was before COVID-19.
RELATED: Best Credit Cards for Every Day Spending
Unfortunately, my (former) favorite fare alert site, and the original to track airfares, Yapta, shut down in March. Joining them in the virtual graveyard is Hipmunk, after they were bought by Concur. And it looks like AirFareWatchDog has done away with the service, even though they’re still in business.
But don’t worry, there are still plenty of websites that track airfares and, yes, they’re free. Each site and app is a little different but if you’re wise and a little obsessive when it comes to getting the cheapest plane tickets, you might use all of these at some point:
Google Flights
The new Granddaddy of fare tracking is Google Flights. It’s easy to use and as you can see from the screenshot above, all you have to do is be signed into your Gmail and then slide “Track prices” just below the search engine. Google will then email you when the price goes up or down, which happens often, whether you’re searching for flights to Alaska or Zimbabwe.
Kayak does a great job tracking flights and you enable this function after you do a search and then toggle the switch, which I circled in the screenshot above. Once you do that, the site asks for your email address.
Hopper
Hopper doesn’t have a functioning website but they do have a great app that’s free to use and they will track airfares for you. After doing a price search, tap “Watch This Trip” and that’s it.
FareCompare, has been around since 2004 and even before you input your cities to do a search, you can click the box that says, “Alert me when prices change” on the far right side. Just checkmark it, then provide your email address.
Skyscanner
Skyscanner began in 2002 in Scotland and they offer fare alerts after you input your cities and then sign up with either your email address, Google, Apple or Facebook log-ins.
TripAdvisor
TripAdvisor offers fare alerts as well and it will pop up after you do a flight search, along with their annoying pop-up ads. Also, they try to sneak in a pre-checked box that says, “Also send me great deals on all flights.” Uncheck it if you don’t want their other emails.
As you can see, some of the originals are gone but there are still plenty of other sites that offer fare alerts, which can definitely help save you money. I still recommend manually pricing fares out once in a while, just to make sure you don’t miss a flash sale. Here’s our search engine with multiple sites. And of course, sign up to travel deals newsletters (I offer one, which you can subscribe to here) and follow your preferred brands, travel deal providers and influencers on social media.
Sep 21, 2020Johnny Jet
Advertisement
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
- Earn 80,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That’s $1,000 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®.
- 2X points on travel and dining at restaurants worldwide, eligible delivery services, takeout and dining out & 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases.
- Get 25% more value when you redeem for airfare, hotels, car rentals and cruises through Chase Ultimate Rewards. For example, 80,000 points are worth $1,000 toward travel.
- Get unlimited deliveries with a $0 delivery fee and reduced service fees on orders over $12 for a minimum of one year on qualifying food purchases with DashPass, DoorDash’s subscription service. Activate by 12/31/21.
- Earn 5X points on Lyft rides through March 2022. That’s 3X points in addition to the 2X points you already earn on travel.
Read more
The comments on this page are not provided, reviewed, or otherwise approved by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser’s responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
Editorial Note: The editorial content on this page is not provided by any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, and has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.
Continue Reading: Source Link