Okay, what are the best metasearch websites to find cheap plane tickets and why? Luckily, a flight metasearch (like the 5 websites below) will show you both so you can compare.Īnd in some situations, there are exclusive prices listed on an OTA that you won’t find on the actual airline’s website (as it’s just a ‘special’ temporary deal). This is hard to say, especially because there isn’t a set rule! Sometimes it’s cheaper to buy directly through the airline, sometimes it’s cheaper to buy through an OTA. What’s usually the cheapest website to buy plane tickets from? It also allows you to see a larger number of flights than if you just look at one OTA – for example, doesn’t show flight results from American Airlines because of a legal fight between the two companies. And most of the time, flights with stopovers are much cheaper than direct flights. More than anything, it’s quick and easy and often the cheapest way! Instead of searching many websites and airlines, you can look on a single website and see all the possible flight options for your destination with all price options (sounds a bit like a Trivago commercial, doesn’t it?) for more than 200 companies that sell plane tickets.Īnother advantage of using meta searches is that you end up discovering different routes for where you want to go since it gives you options from different companies.

Then you pick the best one….(usually the cheapest one, right? )Īnd what’s the advantage of using metasearches to buy plane tickets? Instead, they are just ‘ plane ticket aggregators’ and show you your options for flights other OTAs are selling. But it’s important to know that these meta searches don’t actually sell the tickets themselves. In this article, we’ll talk about types of websites called “Meta Searches” that search for tickets on various OTAs and airlines. Yet, they don’t just sell them directly to the traveler….they also sell to physical or online agencies (also known as OTAs, or Online Travel Agencies) who then sell them to the traveler. For both questions! The thing is that, obviously, airlines are the ones who sell plane tickets. In quick terms, it’s about checking and comparing different websites.īut wait, there’s a difference in price between websites? And isn’t it better to buy tickets directly with the airline company?

Now that we’ve got that out of the way….let’s dive in with the top question on everyone’s mind: How do I find the best price for plane tickets? OTAs or Online Travel Agencies = the third party websites & companies that meta searches direct you to that actually SELL the plane tickets (yet aren’t the airlines themselves).

The 5 websites we recommend below are all metasearches. In general, metasearches do NOT sell flights directly. Meta searches = search engines (in this case for flights, but they also have them for hotels, tours, excursions, rental cars, etc.) that will show you flight options from all types of travel websites & companies (which we’ll call OTAs, like the next definition). These definitions might sound complicated at first, but no worries! Both of them are things you have probably used before, are essential to know about if you really want the best deals on your flights, and we’ll describe them in more detail below.? If you’re not already using these 5 websites, then you’re throwing money out the window!īefore we dive in, here’s some quick definitions for two words you’ll see a LOT in the article. The 5 best and cheapest websites to search for and buy your plane tickets + other tips to save money when booking your flight.

Best flight search engines