How to Find Cheap Flights: The Student Edition

Every trick, tool, and hack I’ve used to find absurdly cheap flights as a broke college student — from error fares to student discounts most people don’t know exist.

I flew to 14 countries during college and never paid more than $400 for a round-trip international flight. My best deal: Boston to Lisbon for $112 round-trip. That’s not a typo. I’ve spent the last three years obsessing over flight prices, and I’m going to dump everything I know into this post. Buckle up.

The Tools You Actually Need

Forget the dozens of flight comparison sites. You only need three, maybe four.

Google Flights — Your Home Base

Google Flights is the best starting point for almost every search. Here’s why:

• The calendar view shows you the cheapest day to fly across an entire month. Click “Date grid” and you’ll instantly see which days are $200 cheaper.
• The “Explore” map lets you enter your departure city and see prices to every destination in the world. No destination in mind? This is how you find one.
• Price tracking actually works. Hit “Track prices” on any search and Google will email you when the price drops. I’ve gotten alerts that saved me $150+.
• Flexible dates — use the ”+/- 3 days” option on every single search. The difference between flying on a Wednesday vs. Saturday can be $100–200 easily.

Pro tip: Google Flights doesn’t include some budget airlines (notably Southwest in the US, and some European low-cost carriers). Always cross-check.

Skyscanner — The “Everywhere” Function

Skyscanner has one killer feature that Google Flights doesn’t: the “Everywhere” destination search. Type in your departure city, set the destination as “Everywhere,” pick your month, and it shows you the cheapest flights to every possible destination, ranked by price.

This is how I ended up in Morocco for spring break instead of Cancun. Flights to Marrakech were $280 round-trip from New York. Cancun was $450. Morocco was infinitely more interesting and cost less. Let the prices guide your destination.

Another Skyscanner trick: Search for flights to a whole country, not just one city. Searching “France” instead of “Paris” might show you a flight to Lyon that’s $150 cheaper — and Lyon is only a 2-hour train from Paris.

Skiplagged and Secret Flying — Error Fares

This is where it gets interesting.

Error fares happen when airlines accidentally publish the wrong price — $150 round-trip to Tokyo instead of $1,500. They’re rare, but they’re real, and they get snapped up fast. Two places to find them:

• Secret Flying (secretflying.com) — Publishes error fares and deals daily. Follow them on social media and turn on notifications. When an error fare drops, you have hours (sometimes minutes) to book.
• Skiplagged (skiplagged.com) — Uses “hidden city” ticketing, where booking a flight with a connection can be cheaper than booking a direct flight to the connection city. Example: a flight from New York to Dallas with a connection in Atlanta might be cheaper than a direct New York to Atlanta flight. You just get off in Atlanta. Warning: Only do this with one-way tickets and no checked bags. Airlines hate this and can cancel your return flight.

Student-Specific Platforms

These are the ones most students don’t even know about:

• StudentUniverse (studentuniverse.com) — Requires a .edu email to sign up. Discounts are typically 10–30% off regular fares. Best for international flights. I saved $180 on a flight to Bangkok through StudentUniverse.
• STA Travel deals — STA Travel closed their retail shops but their deals still exist through various student travel agencies. Check if your university’s travel office has partnerships.
• ISIC Card discounts — The International Student Identity Card ($33/year) gets you discounts with several airlines and booking platforms. Worth it if you’re taking two or more international trips per year.

The Myths: What Actually Matters and What Doesn’t

Let’s kill some bad advice that keeps circulating on TikTok.

”Book on Tuesdays” — Mostly a Myth

The old wisdom says airlines release deals on Tuesday afternoons. This was sort of true in 2010. In 2025, airline pricing algorithms adjust fares thousands of times per day. There’s no magic day of the week. What actually matters is how far in advance you book and how flexible your dates are.

That said, flying on Tuesdays and Wednesdays is genuinely cheaper than flying on Fridays and Sundays. The day you fly matters much more than the day you book.

”Use Incognito Mode” — Barely Matters Anymore

The theory: airlines track your searches via cookies and raise prices when you search repeatedly. This was a real thing years ago. Modern airline pricing is way more sophisticated now — it’s based on overall demand, not your individual browsing history.

Does it hurt to search in incognito? No. Will it save you money? Probably not more than $5–10, if anything. Don’t let incognito mode distract you from strategies that actually matter, like flexible dates and alternative airports.

”Use a VPN to Get Cheaper Prices” — Sometimes Works

This one has more truth to it. Airlines do show different prices based on your location. A flight from New York to London might show a different price if you appear to be browsing from India vs. the US. But the savings are inconsistent and small — maybe $20–50 when it works. It’s worth a quick check with a VPN set to the departure or arrival country, but don’t spend an hour cycling through countries expecting to find a 50% discount.

The Real Strategies That Save Hundreds

Here’s what actually moves the needle.

Be Flexible on Dates — This Is the Biggest One

I cannot overstate this. The difference between the cheapest and most expensive day to fly in the same week can be $200–400 on international flights. If you can fly out on a Tuesday instead of a Friday, and come back on a Wednesday instead of a Sunday, you will consistently save 30–50%.

Practical tip: When your professor posts the exam schedule, immediately check flight prices for the days right after your last exam. The earlier you identify your flexible window, the better deals you’ll find.

Alternative Airports Save Real Money

Flying out of a smaller airport 1–2 hours from your city can be dramatically cheaper. Examples:

• New York: Check all three airports (JFK, EWR, LGA). Prices vary wildly between them.
• London: Stansted and Luton are budget airline hubs. A flight from Stansted might be half the price of the same route from Heathrow.
• Los Angeles: Check Burbank (BUR) and Long Beach (LGB), not just LAX.
• Chicago: Midway (MDW) is Southwest’s hub and often cheaper than O’Hare for domestic flights.

Also check nearby cities. If you’re in Boston, check flights from Providence or Hartford. If you’re in DC, check Baltimore.

Book One-Way Flights Separately

For international trips, booking two one-way tickets on different airlines is often cheaper than one round-trip. Example: fly to Barcelona on a cheap Norwegian flight, come back on a cheap TAP Portugal flight. Google Flights makes this easy — uncheck “Round trip” and search each direction separately.

This also gives you flexibility to fly into one city and out of another. Fly into Rome, train to Barcelona, fly home from Barcelona. No backtracking.

The 1–3 Month Sweet Spot

For international flights, the best prices are typically 1–3 months before departure. Too early (6+ months) and prices are at their default. Too late (under 2 weeks) and you’re paying desperation prices.

For domestic US flights, the sweet spot is 3–6 weeks out.

Set up price alerts as soon as you know your rough dates, and book when the price drops below the average Google Flights shows you.

Budget Airline Hacks

Budget airlines (Ryanair, easyJet, Spirit, Frontier, AirAsia) can be incredible deals or terrible rip-offs depending on how you play them.

The Rules

• Carry-on only. Budget airlines make their money on baggage fees. A “free” backpack-sized personal item is all you get. Learn to pack light. I did two weeks in Europe with a 40L backpack.
• Don’t pay for seat selection. You’ll get a random seat for free. It might be a middle seat. Survive.
• Bring your own food and water. A sandwich on Ryanair costs more than the flight sometimes. Fill a water bottle after security.
• Print your boarding pass or make sure it’s in the airline’s app. Some budget airlines charge you to print it at the airport. Ryanair charges 20 euros. That’s not a joke.
• Check the baggage dimensions carefully. Budget airlines measure your bag and they are ruthless. If it’s 1 cm too big, you’re paying $50–70 at the gate.

Stacking Budget Airlines for Multi-City Trips

This is my favorite technique for European trips. Instead of one expensive round-trip, build a route using multiple budget airlines:

New York to Dublin (Aer Lingus, $250) > Dublin to Barcelona (Ryanair, $25) > Barcelona to Rome (Vueling, $30) > Rome to New York (Norwegian, $200)

Total: $505 for a 4-city European trip. A single round-trip to any of those cities would cost more.

My Step-by-Step Search Process

Here’s exactly what I do every time I’m looking for flights:

1. Start with Google Flights Explore map to see what’s cheap from my airport this month.
2. Check Skyscanner “Everywhere” to catch deals Google misses.
3. Pick 2–3 potential destinations based on price.
4. Use Google Flights date grid with +/- 3 days flexibility to find the cheapest specific dates.
5. Check alternative airports for both departure and arrival.
6. Search one-way flights separately on each leg.
7. Check StudentUniverse for the same route to see if the student price beats it.
8. Set price alerts on Google Flights for my top choice.
9. Wait 1–3 days for a potential price drop, then book.

The whole process takes about 30 minutes. That 30 minutes regularly saves me $150–300 per trip.

The Mindset Shift

The biggest change in how I travel came when I stopped picking a destination first and looking for flights second. Now I look at what’s cheap and let that decide where I go. Some of my best trips — Morocco, Portugal, Colombia — happened because the flight was absurdly cheap, not because I had my heart set on going there.

When you’re a student with limited money and flexible time, let the deals come to you. Set up alerts, follow deal accounts, and be ready to book fast when something good pops up. Your future self, posting photos from a Lisbon rooftop that cost $112 to reach, will thank you.