Flight Hacks

✈️ Flight Booking Hacks (For Lazy Travelers)

Want to stretch your points and cash without spending hours obsessing over flights? Here’s a quick guide to smarter, lazier booking—whether you’re using points, cash, or a mix of both.

💳 Use the Right Card When Booking

  • Get travel protections like trip delay, trip cancellation, and lost baggage insurance. Cards vary in their terms so be sure to check! The Venture X, for example, will cover you if you paid a portion of the fare and the delay is 6 hours or more. Other cards require longer delays, payment of the full fare, or the purchase of a round-trip.

  • Earn maximum points on airfare or airline fees. Use a card that gives big bonus points on flights like the Amex Platinum or Chase Sapphire Reserve.

🔍 Search Smarter, Not Harder

  • Start with Google Flights to find the best cash fares. Compare with points values to make sure you're getting a good deal.

  • Use the calendar view and date grid to quickly spot cheaper departure dates.

  • Add multiple airports to search nearby cities (e.g., JFK + EWR or LAX + BUR).

  • Check if two one-way flights are cheaper than a round-trip—especially if you’re mixing and matching airports.

🗺️ Stay Flexible

  • Search open-ended destinations (e.g., "Europe" instead of "Paris") if your goal is a good deal, not a specific place.

  • Filter results based on what actually matters to you (e.g., main cabin only, no red-eyes, no basic economy).

  • Book refundable vs. changeable vs. nonrefundable based on your flexibility—not all changes are treated equally.

📬 Set Alerts and Automate the Hunt

These services send out mistake fares and award availability—no hunting required.

🛒 Extra Cash-Saving Tricks

  • Buy discounted airline gift cards from places like Costco or Raise, or take advantage of gift card sales form the airlines themselves (just know you won’t get credit card travel protections).

  • Use a shopping portal (Rakuten, TopCashback) if booking via an OTA like Expedia or Priceline.

  • If your booking portal or airline offers price drop protection, take advantage—but read the fine print.

✈️ Points-Specific Booking Hacks

  • Know your minimum lazy value — if you're getting under 1.0–1.25¢ per point, you're probably better off using cash.

  • Watch for transfer bonuses from Amex, Chase, Citi, or Bilt—they can boost your redemption value by 20–30%+.

  • Check for promo deals like:

    • Flying Blue Promo Awards

    • Singapore Spontaneous Escapes

    • Delta SkyMiles Deals

    • Alaska Global Getaways

These can unlock ultra-cheap award pricing—especially for international flights.

✈️ Positioning, Seats & Bags

  • Use positioning flights to reach cheaper departure cities (especially on international trips).

  • Book tickets one seat at a time if you're traveling in a group—airlines sometimes show higher prices for multiple seats.

  • If flying a domestic airline, check bags with a co-branded credit card (e.g., Delta Amex, United Explorer) to avoid fees.

🔚 Bottom Line

Flight deals don’t have to be complicated. With the right tools and a few low-effort habits, you’ll fly farther for less—without going down a rabbit hole of 47 browser tabs.