Quick Ways to Find Cheap Airfare
Two questions come up quite often — how do I find a cheap fare to a certain destination and how do I find good mileage runs?
While there are definitely more sophisticated ways of doing both of those, the sites below are an easy way to  stay abreast of good airfare deals in only 5 minutes a day:
If you have a definite destination in mind:
airfarewatchdog — It delivers (or lets you see on the website) all the best airfares from or to a selected city. So if you’re interested in going, say, to Dublin, you can receive daily or weekly alerts on the best fares to Dublin from various airports in the US. Take 15 seconds to skim each email to see if nearby airports are listed and you’ll quickly pick up on any deals.
The Flight Deal — they are more selective and timely, so when a really great fare hits, you stand a better chance of getting a ticket before it’s gone. You can also sign up for an email newsletter or better yet, follow them on Twitter. If you’re not on Twitter frequently, Jeanne did a great post on how to receive text messages every time a new post comes up.
Travelocity Fare Watcher Plus — I’m not a fan because of the way they handled the customer service on the $200 off hotel & flight package debacle a few years ago, but the site does let you create a wish list of up to 10 destinations through FareWatcherPlus. They also let you set an alert when fares drop below a certain price.
If you’re open to mileage runs or opportunistic trips:
airfarewatchdog –This is where they truly excel. Every day I get an email of the cheapest fares to anywhere  from my home airport. Since it lists the airlines and timing restrictions I’m able to quickly skim to see fares of interest. It also helps you identify great mileage run opportunities to cities you never thought of, like Omaha.
Milepoint thread — Milepoint offers a forum for folks to share great fares they’ve found and it’s organized so you can skim quickly by airline code AND destination. It’s not updated as frequently as other forums, but it’s much friendlier, so a great place to ask questions if you’re getting into mileage runs for the first time.
Flyertalk thread — this is much more extensive than Milepoint, but also more in “code” so might be a little harder to follow until you get used to it. That said, it’s particularly helpful if you’re interested in cheap fares on specific airlines within a particular fare class.
The Flight Deal — they’re great for mileage runs because they do most of the work for you. In addition to flagging a good deal, they also tell you how to find it, book it, and do the math for you on cost per mile. They often provide the alternate fare price for those interested in upgrade eligible fares.
Google Flights — I’ve never actually used this, but Jeanne has found it helpful in finding last minute cheap fares.
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