How to find cheap and bargain flights

#airfaretips
How to find cheap and bargain flights
This is a compiled post

Here are just some of the tips that can be used to identify good fares. I dont promise all of these will work. I use it with combination of various API software that I have access to, but anyone with a little patience and effort can identify reasonable fares if they have a flexible travel window. Since I am not going to type these out, I am borrowing them from some othe sites that list them on their best tips.

1. Preferably book on Tuesday
The best time to book a U.S/North Americaln flight is usually Tuesday at about 3 p.m. eastern time. Many airlines release weekly airfare sales in the early morning hours of Tuesday, and by mid-afternoon, competing airlines have matched sale prices. In other words, shoppers now have the most deals to choose from.

2. Keep your searches top secret
You’re not crazy for thinking that a flight price has changed after searching it a few times in your web browser. Based on the cookies in your browser, flight prices do increase when a particular route is repeatedly searched, as the site wants to scare you into booking the flight quickly before prices get even higher. Always search for flights in incognito or private browsing mode to see the lowest prices.

In Google Chrome or Safari, incognito is enabled by hitting Command (or “Control” if using PC), Shift, “N”. For Mozilla Firefox or Internet Explorer, hit Command (or “Control” if using a PC), Shift, “P”. This will open a new browser window where your information is not tracked, thus not inflating prices as you search. Note: if you’re using an older version of OS X, open safari, then click “Safari” in the menu bar, and select “Private Browsing”.
Your cookies are reset each time you re-open an incognito window. So if you want to start with a clean slate for each flight search (so your previous searches aren’t “remembered”, potentially inflating costs), close all your incognito windows, open a new one, and then perform your flight search.

3. Use good fare aggregators
like – Momondo (you can use different country domain for this site) is my personal favorite. If I have a lot of time in hand and based on which country exchange rate has crashed recently I login from that country to check the same fares and invariably I find decent deals out.
But you can also try skyscanner.com (though it does not always have a lot of airline connections)
airfarewatchdog.com, kiwi.com, airwander.com
and ofcourse Google Flights gives you a good comaprison or flight timings and schedules (though never good prices).
Some of the sites I have mentioned actually make the whole trip into 2 trips if you are up for some adventurous travel or done mind extended layovers.

4. I love secretflying.com. On many occasions I have found excellent deals here. Once I manage to fly from Delhi to Hongkong in business class for less than US$500 using one of the deals on this site.

5. Know When to Buy
The hardest part of booking a flight is knowing when to stop tracking fares and make that final purchase. Kayak.com can help you reach that decision, offering fare predictions for most major cities. Just plug in your itinerary and the site will advise you either to book now or to wait, depending on whether the fare is expected to rise or drop. It also shows a fare history graph, allowing you to see whether your fare is headed in an upward or downward direction. The Hopper app will track itineraries and notify you when the fare drops.
Keep in mind that many airlines launch fare sales on Tuesdays — so if you decide to buy on a Monday, you may be gnashing your teeth when your destination goes on sale the next day

So yea with a mixture of the above tips, some effort and patience you can always find good deals, even during the peak and busy period.
However trends suggest that the best time to buy is 5-7 weeks before the travel date.

Happy hunting.