Updated: How to Find the Best Flight Deals in 5 Minutes a Day
Last year I wrote about the best sites to find flight deals without having to invest a lot of time and effort. Since then I’ve come across other great sites for cheap flights so I’m updating my list.
Note: these sites are best if you’re flexible on your destination and dates rather than looking for a specific trip.  Checking sites like these is how I wound up going to Vegas for $75, Easter Island in business class for $1100,  Milan, Sicily for less than $300, etc.
I recommend subscribing to their daily email newsletters and/or following them on Twitter or liking them on Facebook and requesting notifications every time they have a new post. Or just make it a daily habit to skim their listings.
The Flight Deal scours the web for the best deals from New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Miami, Dallas Fort Worth, Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland (OR), Seattle, and Chicago O’Hare. They provide date ranges, an explanation of how to make the most of it, and even instructions on how to book.
Fare Deal Alert is the companion site to The Flight Deal offering deal alerts from Atlanta, Charlotte, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, Orlando, and San Diego with instructions on how to book.
Secret Flying seems to have the widest offering of cheap flights, posting both good fares and mistake deals for destinations across the world, not just those originating in the US. Because so many of their deals are very time sensitive, I follow them on Facebook and get notifications when they add a new post.
Airfarewatchdog lets you see the cheapest flights, both published and unpublished, from your chosen airport, so it’s great if you don’t have a particular destination in mind and/or if you’re tracking fares for multiple cities.
Exit Fares aggregates a lot of the deals posted on other sites, including the sites above and flight deals posted on other blogs and airfare websites. You choose the departure airport you’re interested in and they send a daily email with everything that has come up.
Mighty Travels offers a free daily email of the best airfares from your chosen airport. Pretty similar to Airfarewatchdog and I haven’t noticed any unique fares pop up. You can also pay a monthly fee to get text notifications, but not sure that it’s worth it.
Mileage Run forum on FlyerTalk — a great resource for random cheap flights and identifying routes that can maximize your mileage earning. They typically feature fares that earn miles at < $.05 cents per mile or less.
Milepoint Mileage Run thread — not updated as frequently as FlyerTalk, but good airfare deals do pop up.
Did I leave some sites out? Feel free to add them in the comments below!
Thank you very much for those useful links. I started using them already. The only problem is that I live in Beijing and most of proposals are for the States or Europe. I found some interesting proposals for me anyway:))