How to Get Cheap Flights in 2025 — Top 10 Tips & Deals

Learn to find cheap flights in 2025: student discounts, Trip Coins, credit card deals, last-minute savings & flexible changes on Trip.com.

How to Get Cheap Flights - Best 10 Tips & Video Tutorial

Let’s break down all the best ways to get cheap flights, from student discounts to loyalty perks.

Tip 1: Book Flight + Hotel Bundles on Trip.com – Save 6% on Average

Booking flights and hotels together on Trip.com’s “Bundle and Save” feature can cut your travel costs by an average of 6% compared to booking separately. This works because Trip.com negotiates bulk rates with airlines and hotels, passing the savings directly to travelers . Whether you’re planning a family vacation, couples’ getaway, or solo trip, bundling simplifies your booking while keeping more money in your pocket.

Tip 2: Choose the Best Time for Cheaper Flights

Booking at the right time avoids overpaying—this data works for travelers worldwide, no matter where you’re flying:

• Domestic flights (any country): Book 1–3 months before departure. Prices usually jump 25% if you wait until the last 2 weeks (e.g., Los Angeles → San Francisco, Chicago → New York City).
• International flights (Europe): Book 3–4 months early. Popular summer routes fill fast, so early bookings lock in low fares (e.g., New York → London, Boston → Paris).
• International flights (Asia): Book 2–4 weeks early. Some carriers drop prices closer to departure (e.g., Seattle → Tokyo, Los Angeles → Seoul).
• Holiday travel (Christmas, Lunar New Year): Book 6–8 months early. These dates are globally busy, and prices spike once seats start filling (e.g., San Francisco → Vancouver for Christmas, Los Angeles → Taipei for Lunar New Year).

Trip.com’s calendar marks low-price dates in green—you don’t need to track data yourself; just look for the green highlights.

Tip 3: Find the Cheapest Day to Book & Fly

Cheapest Day to Book Flights

Sundays are the cheapest day to book. You’ll save about 6% on domestic flights and 17% on international flights compared to Mondays or Fridays. Airlines often update prices on Monday evenings, so Sunday bookings typically catch the best post-update deals (e.g., a Los Angeles → Tokyo flight booked on Sunday might cost $650, vs. $760 on Monday).

Cheapest Day to Fly

• Domestic flights: Saturdays are cheapest. They’re about 17% cheaper than Sundays, since most people prefer returning home on Sundays (e.g., Dallas → Denver on Saturday might cost $80, vs. $94 on Sunday).
• International flights: Thursdays are cheapest. They’re roughly 15% cheaper than Sundays because fewer business travelers choose Thursdays for long-haul trips (e.g., San Francisco → Shanghai on Thursday might cost $580, vs. $670 on Sunday; New York → Bangkok on Thursday might be $720, vs. $830 on Sunday).

Trip.com lets you sort flights by “Cheapest Day” so you can see these savings at a glance.

Tip 4: Find Trip.com Flight Deals & Promos (Weekly Update)

Trip.com offers many flight deals for global travelers—these are all available on the site/app, no fake perks:

1. Student Flight Discounts (Up to 30% Off)

This is for full-time students aged 16–35 (any global university/college). Here’s how it works:

• Upload a valid student ID or acceptance letter during booking (the name on your ID must match your flight ticket).
• Filter flights with the “Student Fare” option to see discounted seats.

2. Flight + Hotel Bundles (Save 20%)

Booking flights and hotels together on Trip.com is cheaper than booking separately.

3. Seasonal Sales

Trip.com runs real sales throughout the year:

• Black Friday (November): Up to 40% off flights
• Christmas Sale (December): Discounts on winter routes
• Lunar New Year Sale (January/February): Deals on Asian routes

Tip 5: Earn Free Discounts by Trip Coins

Trip Coins are Trip.com’s loyalty currency—they’re free to earn and never expire. Here’s how it works for flights:

• Earn coins: For every $100 spent, you can get 25 travel coins. For instance, a $500 flight can earn 125 Coins.
• Extra bonus: Write a review (with photos) after your trip and you can get 50 to 200 reward coins. Recommend a friend. When they book their first flight, both of you can get 500 coins.
• Coin exchange: 100 travel coins = 1 US dollar for the next flight. If you have 1,000 coins, you can save 10 dollars on a 200-dollar air ticket.
• Global use: The coin is applicable to any flight on Trip.com, no matter where you are flying

Tip 6: Link Frequent Flyer Numbers for Double Rewards

You can earn both airline miles and Trip Coins on the same booking—this is real and works with many global airlines. Learn more about Frequent Flyer Numbers.

• When booking a flight, please look for the "Frequent Flyer Number" field (under "Passenger Information").
• Enter the phone numbers of airlines such as Delta Air Lines, British Airways, Qantas Airways or Air China.
• After the flight, you will receive air miles (as usual) and travel coins used at the time of booking.

Tip 7: Use Trip.com’s Flexible Date Flights for More Savings

Airlines With Flexible Ticket Options (U.S., Europe & Asia)

Many airlines offer flexible fare types (often labeled “Flex,” “Flexible,” or “Refundable”) that allow easier date changes or cancellations.

Note: Policies vary by fare class and may change, so always check details on Trip.com before booking.

How to Book a Flexible Flight?

The easiest way to book flexible flights is to start from the airline's official website, which can ensure that you clearly see all the fare rules. Look for "Fare type" (avoid "Basic Economy Class" as it offers little flexibility), and select the options marked "Flexible", "refundable", "Additional" or "Free" (these options are more expensive than the basic fare but offer flexibility).

Before booking a ticket, click on links such as "Fare Rules" or "Fare Conditions" to check two key things: whether changes are charged (or free), and whether cancellations can get cashback (not just airline credit). Once the rules meet your requirements (such as free date changes), the reservation is completed.

Trip.com offers “Flexible Flight” tickets, see more about how you can save with flexible flights. Arranging dates flexibly is one of the easiest ways to save money - here's how you'll learn step by step on Trip.com:

• When you search for flights, switch to "Flexible Dates" (it is next to the date field). Choose a range like "±3 days" (meaning 3 days before or after your ideal travel date).
• Trip.com will display a calendar encoded in different colors: green dates are the cheapest, yellow ones are mid-range, and red ones are expensive.
• You can also add nearby airports to see more affordable options.

Tip 8: Find Discounts 1–2 Weeks before Departure

If you need to catch a flight as soon as possible, Trip.com's "Last Minute" page shows the discounted seats that airlines want to fill. Here are our expectations:

• Timing: The best time to trade is 1-2 weeks before departure (not the day before, as prices usually rise then).
• Flight times: Early morning (5-7 a.m.) or late night (after 10 p.m.) flights are the cheapest. For instance, a flight from Berlin to Amsterdam at 6 a.m. might cost 40 dollars, while at noon it would cost 60 dollars.
• Global Routes: Trip.com covers all regions. New York → Shanghai, Los Angeles → Bangkok, Las Vegas → Tokyo.

Tip 9: Book & Save on Multi-City Flights

If you are going to more than two places (for example, London → Paris → Rome, Tokyo → Seoul → Beijing), use Trip.com's "Multi-City" search to save:

• How to book: On the Trip.com flight homepage, select "Multiple Cities", and then add the destination and date.
• Savings: Booking this way is 30% cheaper than separate one-way tickets.
• Easy Management: All flights are in one booking—you can change or cancel the whole trip from “My Trips.”

Tip 10: Find Budget Airlines on Trip.com

Trip.com enables you to filter out budget airlines around the world - all of which are genuine airlines with all costs displayed at the front:

Popular Budget Airlines for U.S. Travelers

If you're flying from the U.S. to top destinations across Asia (Shanghai, Tokyo, Bangkok) or Europe (Rome, Paris, London), these budget airlines often offer the best-value fares:

• Asia: AirAsia, Scoot, ZIPAIR
• Europe: Ryanair, easyJet

How to Find Them on Trip.com?

On the Trip.com flight results page, simply check the “Budget Airlines” filter to quickly surface low-cost options for routes to Asia and Europe.

Transparent Pricing (No Hidden Fees)

Trip.com always displays the full total price before you book — including taxes and any checked baggage you add. F

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