We at Chexy love travelling like others, but let's be real: the costs can add up fast. Whether you’re an avid traveller or looking to go on your first trip, paying for flights, accommodation, and meals can put a dent in your wallet… but it doesn’t have to! 

There are so many travel hacks and ways to book cheap flights that can help you save money. Here are eight of our insider tips and tricks on how to save on travel: 

1. Be Flexible

The simplest and probably most important trick to save money on flights is to be flexible when booking. Consider travelling on off-peak times, like Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays, and avoid travelling in peak seasons, like Christmas, Thanksgiving, and school holidays, as prices tend to spike!

Use flexible tools when searching for flights. For example, Skyscanner has a “flexible dates” option, where you can see prices for specific dates in green, yellow, and red. Always choose the green dates and try to fly during the cheapest months for the best prices. 

Air Canada also has a Flexible Dates option, where you can see the best flight prices in a grid:

If you’re a true avid traveller, you’ll know not to book travel with cash. Instead, use a travel rewards credit card to earn points you can swap for free flights (see point 3 for more info)!

2. Book in Advance and Choose the Best Days to Fly 

Booking a flight last minute (i.e. a few days to a week before departure) can be much more expensive than booking farther in advance. 

Let’s take a look at this example–we want to book a one-week round trip from Toronto (YYZ) to Barcelona (BCN) on an Air Canada flight:

Booking less than a week in advance gives us these prices: 

Whereas booking two to three months out gives us these prices:

There isn’t much difference in Economy class, but there’s a price drop of $775 for Premium Economy. Business class is also $1,683 cheaper. 

According to Expedia’s 2024 Air Travel Hacks Report, here’s when you should book flights:

• Book domestic flights at least one month before to save up to 33%. 

• Avoid booking international flights too early, as prices can be quite high; book 30-37 days before the flight. 

You may have heard of an “optimal” day to book flights, but there’s no definitive answer. Expedia suggests booking airfare on a Sunday to save up to 24%, but prices won’t vary that much when booking any other day of the week. 

However, flying on a Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday is often cheaper than flying on any other day of the week. Flying overnight can also be cheaper since fewer people will want to be flying at that time. 

3. Use Points and Miles

Using points and miles that you’ve stashed away from paying rent and other big expenses with your travel credit card is one of the best ways to get super-discounted or free flights. You could even score a flight in business class! 

The Aeroplan rewards program is our top pick for earning points and using them for free flights, as it’s one of the most flexible airline loyalty programs out there. You can redeem your points for Air Canada flights or use them on any of the 24 other Star Alliance airlines. 

The best way to earn these points is by using an airline or American Express credit card, where you can transfer your points to Aeroplan or another airline loyalty program. You will quickly rack up the points by using them for everyday expenses and booking travel. 

Here’s an example of how you can use those points for free flights: 

We want to book a flight from Toronto to Lisbon in Economy class. Normally, it would cost just over $1,000 for a one-way ticket. However, we can get it for free with 25.9k Aeroplan points. 

Learn more about how to book flights with Aeroplan points in this article, and a more in-depth guide on booking flights with points and miles. 

4. Use a Credit Card That Doesn’t Charge FX Fees

When booking flights with a Canadian credit card, watch out for foreign exchange fees, which can be up to 2.5% to 3% of the cost of your flight ticket. 

You won’t need to worry about this when booking on sites like Air Canada, Google Flights, or Skyscanner, but some airlines, like RyanAir and EasyJet, only allow you to book in the native currency. 

Let’s say you’re booking a flight with a low-cost European airline that costs you $500 CAD. If you use your Canadian credit card, you will be paying $500 + 2.5%, which adds up to $512.50. This doesn’t look like a huge amount of savings, but if you book flights often, it can really add up. 

5. Travel During the Off-Season

In general, travelling anywhere in the summer months (June to August) will be the most expensive. Flights during the spring (April/May) and fall (September/October) seasons will likely be much cheaper due to people returning to work and school breaks being over. 

You’ll also want to avoid booking flights during local festivals and holidays, which could increase flight prices. 

In general, travelling during the off-season is not only much cheaper, but it gives you a lot more room to explore. There’s nothing worse than visiting the Coliseum in Rome on a hot summer’s day crowded with tourists! 

Photo by Nils Nedel on Unsplash

6. Charge Flights to a Travel Rewards Credit Card 

Booking flights with a travel credit card gives you three main benefits:

1. Earning points and miles much faster:

Most travel credit cards have a multiplier on the number of points you can earn when booking travel. For example, the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card earns you 3x the points on Air Canada purchases. 

Compared to a credit card that doesn’t earn you as many points, you’ll reach Elite Status much faster and be on your way to earning enough points for a free flight. 

2. Being covered by travel insurance:

Travel insurance is one of those things that some of us might overlook. You need to purchase it separately, it can cost a lot, and you might wonder if it’s even worth it. However, most travel credit cards come with travel insurance.

For example, the American Express Aeroplan Card comes with flight delay, baggage delay, travel emergency assistance, and a bunch of other insurance coverage, so you’re covered in the rare event of anything happening. 

3. Airport and travel benefits:

Many premium airline credit cards come with sweet perks, like free checked bags, airport lounge access, priority boarding and check-in, and travel credits. 

7. Set Price Alerts

If you’re looking for the cheapest flight possible and aren’t loyal to one specific airline, we recommend using an airline flight search engine like Google Flights and Skyscanner to set price alerts. This will notify you when a flight drops in price so you can buy your ticket and get the best value for your money.

Another useful tool is AirHint. When you input your flight, it will tell you if you should purchase the ticket right away or wait because the price might drop. 

Websites like Going can also show you deals on last-minute flights and cheap destinations. 

8. Use a Credit Card That Includes Travel Insurance 

This isn’t a way to save money on flights, but it helps reduce the cost of your trip. Paying for travel insurance can be a pain if you’re on a tight budget. If you don’t have it and something goes wrong, you’ll have to pay a lot out of pocket. 

A credit card that includes travel insurance (like these!) is the best way to be covered and not have to pay anything extra. Just make sure you book your ticket using that credit card. 

As we mentioned earlier, one of the best ways to earn points that you can swap for free flights is by using a credit card to pay your rent with Chexy! Using a credit card that earns you miles or points on every dollar is probably the best travel hack we’ve heard. 

Let’s say your rent is $2,000 a month, and you use an American Express credit card that earns you 1.25x Aeroplan points per dollar. You’ll earn 30,000 Aeroplan points a year on rent alone! Using this credit card for all your other purchases, you’ll easily rack up enough points for multiple free flights a year (in Economy, Premium Economy, and even Business Class!). 

So, what are you waiting for? Get started with Chexy today. 

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