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Take More Vacations: How to Search Better, Book Cheaper, and Travel the World
** USAToday Bestseller ** The founder of Scott’s Cheap Flights explains why we’re searching for airfare all wrong, shares the strategies that have saved his two million newsletter subscribers a collective $500 million on airfare, and presents a bold new approach for how to see the world while never overpaying for flights again. When Scott Keyes booked flights to Italy for $130 roundtrip and Japan for $169 roundtrip, he didn’t just uncover amazing fares; it was the beginning of a new approach that makes travel possible for anyone who has dreamed of seeing the world. What’s stopping us all from traveling more? The confusion of buying airfare—not knowing when to book, where to buy, or what to pay. Take More Vacations is the guidebook for anyone hoping to turn one annual vacation into three. Readers will discover why the traditional way of planning vacations undercuts our ability to enjoy them, and how a new strategy can lead to cheaper fares and more trips. Why cheap flights never have to be inconvenient flights, and all the steps you can take to get a good fare even when you don’t have flexibility. The surprising best week for international travel, and how small airports actually get the best deals. Keyes challenges the conventional wisdom that it costs thousands of dollars to fly overseas and shows readers how to make previously unthinkable trips possible.
304 pages, Paperback
Published May 11, 2021
316 people are currently reading
2861 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 182 reviews
September 25, 2020
This book isn't really about vacations as much as cheap airfare. If that's what you're looking for, this has lots of good tips. At times it reads like a commercial for the author's web site, which offers free and paid memberships to track air travel deals. If you're looking for lots of information about cheap air fare, this does have good tips. Our family generally avoids air travel not just for price reasons but for environmental ones, which the author doesn't speak to. Also, he says that one reason cheap travel deals are available is because so many companies pay for employee travel package deals that cover a large portion of the cost of every flight (even empty ones) and I suspect that may change after covid-19 because so many companies have seen that many meetings can actually be done remotely. I'm not sure how the tips will stack up a year or two from now when people want to fly again, but it's likely to still be of use.
I read a digital ARC of this book for review.
I read a digital ARC of this book for review.
May 18, 2022
When a book completely changes the way you think about travel, that warrants 5 stars. While it is full of tips, details, and examples of how to find cheaper airfare, it can be boiled down essentially to this: find a cheap flight first, then build your trip around that rather than choosing the destination first.
While that is an oversimplification of the book, that beginning premise helps the reader with a mindshift about travel and how it's better to approach travel by taking more, cheaper flights than fewer expensive ones.
Too bad the pandemic made me a tad agoraphobic, but now that I have this information in my back pocket, I can start thinking about the potential for travel again.
While that is an oversimplification of the book, that beginning premise helps the reader with a mindshift about travel and how it's better to approach travel by taking more, cheaper flights than fewer expensive ones.
Too bad the pandemic made me a tad agoraphobic, but now that I have this information in my back pocket, I can start thinking about the potential for travel again.
July 28, 2022
I’ve found this book contains some very useful information on how to find low fares. One of Keyes’ key principles is this: Instead of deciding first where and when you want to take a trip, you find a low fare to somewhere you’d like to go and then see which dates are available. Of course, this is for leisure travelers and not those restricted to certain dates.
May 27, 2021
I really wondered how a book about cheap flights could warrant 250+ pages. But Scott Keyes has really created a book about the macro and micro trends in travel and how cheap flights factor into and are affected by all of it. He gets into some interesting philosophical debates about economy versus premium travelers, the impact of travel on the climate, and the psychology of why we travel and what it means for our happiness.
True to its title, the book gets right at squashing fallacies and shedding light on what really works when it comes to booking low cost airfare. Scott Keyes shares his seasoned insight on the inner workings of the airline industry using various charts, lists, anecdotal examples, studies, and analogies. Note, though, that the majority of these tips are for budget travelers who don’t have the restrictions or demands of business travelers.
Indeed, the key mantra of the book is flexibility. The flexible traveler will be able to spend less on each flight and take more trips. A key tenant is that the you should let the price dictate the destination and then open yourself up to a better overall experience when you arrive. The savings going towards better accommodations, dining, along with the removal of the pressure to do more because of what you spent on your tickets. A fun and fast read, I recommend it to those planning their post pandemic adventures.
True to its title, the book gets right at squashing fallacies and shedding light on what really works when it comes to booking low cost airfare. Scott Keyes shares his seasoned insight on the inner workings of the airline industry using various charts, lists, anecdotal examples, studies, and analogies. Note, though, that the majority of these tips are for budget travelers who don’t have the restrictions or demands of business travelers.
Indeed, the key mantra of the book is flexibility. The flexible traveler will be able to spend less on each flight and take more trips. A key tenant is that the you should let the price dictate the destination and then open yourself up to a better overall experience when you arrive. The savings going towards better accommodations, dining, along with the removal of the pressure to do more because of what you spent on your tickets. A fun and fast read, I recommend it to those planning their post pandemic adventures.
June 21, 2021
Take More Vacations... although this book makes me hungry for travel and inspired for all the flight discounts his subscribers have attained over the years, I feel like the text is more bragging about travel deals discovered by clients through his website than pertinent suggestions to finding great airline prices. Could be condensed into top 10 list.
September 14, 2021
Probably could have listed the takeaways as a two-pager and avoided 250+ pages of writing, but I suppose you wouldn’t make much $ as a result.
The themes in this book often felt repetitive, however the subject matter truly did help to change the way I think about booking flights.
The themes in this book often felt repetitive, however the subject matter truly did help to change the way I think about booking flights.
June 27, 2022
9 STRATEGIES WHEN YOU DON'T HAVE FLEXIBILITY on flights:
1. Check fares out of close, drivable airports.
2. Check fares from nearby major hubs, like
LAX or JFK. If they're hundreds cheaper,
take a short positioning flight.
3. Check fares to airports near where you're
going and get to your final destination by
train, bus, or short budget flight.
4. Check if flying out a few days earlier or
flying back a few days later will be
significantly cheaper.
5.Even if you have zero flexibility on dates,
check a day before or after in case there
are, say, red-eye flights just past midnight.
6. Start searching as early as possible.
7. Don't wait until the last minute to book.
Flights will get more expensive in the final
three weeks, not cheaper.
8. Check Skiplagged.com for hidden-city
tickets.
9. If you've got a stash of frequent flyer
miles, see if there are any cheap award
flights
••••••
•Travel is good medicine. Frequent travelers are healthier, happier, and more professionally successful than people who rarely travel.
• Frequent short trips boost your well-being
more than one long trip. They let you visit more places, ensure you savor vacation rather than get used to it, and give you more anticipation because the next trip is always coming up soon.
•Cheap flights alleviate the pressure to be overly frugal during the trip itself and let you do more on your vacation than if you'd overpaid for airfare.
••••••
Flight First Method:
Step 1: See where the cheapest flights are.
Step 2: Pick one of the cheap flight
destinations.
Step 3: Pick one of the cheap flight dates.
••••••
Always consider driving/flying to nearby airports to get a better rate.
••••••
The best time to buy plane tickets:
Domestic Flights:
During peak season (summer, Christmas): 3 to 7 months before travel
During off peak time: 1 to 3 months before travel
International Flights:
During peak season (summer, Christmas): 4 to 10 months before travel
During off peak time: 2 to 8 months before travel
••••••
SET YOURSELF A 21-
DAY CALENDAR
REMINDER
I recently had to book a flight to Atlanta, and
because of schedule constraints there was one specific Delta flight I needed. The fare was
decent but not great when I started monitoring
about six weeks out from travel. I checked the
flight daily, hoping that the price would come
down. But rather than continuing to monitor up
until the last day, I set myself a calendar reminder to book exactly three weeks ahead of
travel.
Why did I set that specific day as my deadline? Because the cheapest tickets regularly include a 21-day advance purchase requirement in their fare rules. Even though the ticket I was monitoring hadn't gotten cheaper in the preceding few weeks like I'd hoped it would, I booked it because I knew that the cheapest fares would expire after Day 21
Lo and behold, the day after I booked, the fare shot up by $140, and then a week later another $150 as the next cheapest fare's 14-day advance purchase requirement passed. Setting myself a 21-day deadline (and a calendar reminder to make sure I wouldn't forget) prevented me from accidentally overpaying.
••••••
Cheapest times to fly typically: Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday. Jan, Feb, March, Oct, Nov
••••••
But if you're a student, teacher, parent, or just someone whose ability to travel is restricted to June through August, you're stuck competing
against millions of other travelers for the most
popular seats. Apart from scouting out cheap
summer flights many months in advance, the other way to get a good deal is to travel as early or late in the summer as possible. Flights in early June or late August are significantly more likely to be cheap (or at least not egregiously expensive) than flights in July.
••••••
SHOULD I GET TRAVEL
INSURANCE?
Some people think I'm reckless for never buying travel insurance, but I've got a good reason: My credit card's already got me covered. Many credit cards automatically carry travel protections at no cost, as long as you use the card to pay for your flight. The specifics will vary by card, but they often include compensation for flight delays Or cancellations including reimbursement for
lodging and meals, if necessary), lost, damaged, or delayed bags, rental car insurance, sometimes even foreign medical insurance. (If, like me, you find it hard to memorize your card's specifics, just Google [the name of your credit card] + travel protections.)
Because my credit card already carries travel insurance, buying additional insurance would
often be superfluous. This is especially true considering that, contrary to popular perception, travel insurance (whether you paid for it or it was included on your credit card) doesn't let you cancel a flight penalty-free. For that, you have to book a much more expensive ticket to begin with.
••••••
SOUTHWEST
AIRBITRAGE
The minute I get a wedding invitation (or similarly inflexible event), I'll book myself a flight on Southwest. Unlike most airlines,
Southwest doesn't charge fees to cancel a ticket.
So by booking through them, I've locked in the
price and ensured that's the maximum price I'll
have to pay. If I decide not to go, I can cancel the
ticket for free. If prices drop on Southwest or a
better or cheaper flight pops up on another
airline, I can cancel and rebook. And if nothing
better pops up, I'll know I got the best deal
could.”
••••••
Add-on fees. For the first eighty years or so of
commercial flights in the United States, checked luggage was included in the ticket price. But beginning in 2008, most airlines started charging passengers extra to check a bag. These fees have since become a massive revenue driver. In 2018, U.S. airlines collected approximately $5 billion in bag fees. They collected an additional $2.7 billion from reservation-change fees that year, and millions more from other ancillary fees like seat selection and onboard meals.
There's a hidden reason why airlines love add-on fees: They're taxed much lower than airfare. When you buy a domestic flight, the federal government levies a 7.5 percent excise tax on your fare, and airlines are required to include this tax in the fare they show you (rather than, say, the way stores don't show sales tax on the display price). Optional fees like bags and seat selection aren't included in the ticket price and thus aren't subject to the 7.5 percent excise tax. By no longer including bags in the ticket price, U.S. airlines saved $375 million in their 2018 taxes alone.
••••••
Airlines used to primarily make money selling coach tickets. Today, airlines generate a large and growing percentage of revenue from other sources like premium seats and frequent flyer miles.
••••••
Second, you're protected by the 24-hour rule only if you book directly with the airline. The
24-hour rule is a Department of Transportation
regulation that automatically gives travelers a
24-hour grace period after purchase during which they can cancel their ticket and get a full refund without any penalties or fees. Every
flight booking, even on foreign airlines, is protected by the 24-hour rule so long as it meets a few conditions: The flight is to, from, or within the United States. The flight is at least a week from departure. The fare was booked directly with an airline (not through an online travel agency).
••••••
While Google Flights excels in robustness, flexibility, and speed, one drawback is that it can sometimes miss cheaper fares if they're found only on smaller OTAs. Best practice, therefore, is to start your search on Google Flights, locate the cheapest route and dates that appeal to you, and then check that flight on a site like Skyscanner or Momondo to see if there's a lower possible price.
••••••
“When you're traveling with a group, instead of
just searching for the entire group, see if fares
are cheaper by booking one or two tickets at a
time.
In summer 2019, I searched for three
passengers from Portland to New York. Google
Flights showed a one-way fare of $178 per
ticket, an okay but not great price. When
reduced the number of passengers to two,
though, the price dropped to $117 per person.
booked those two tickets at $117, then booked
the third ticket at $178, resulting in a total cost of $412 rather than the original $534.
The reason this type of price discrepancy
sometimes occurs is that airlines want to put
your entire group into a single fare bucket. In
this case, there were only two tickets left in the
$117 fare bucket, with plenty more in the $178
bucket. Searching for three tickets priced all
three at $178, whereas searching for two priced them at $117 (and I knew I could book the third ticket for $178).
••••••
WHAT TO DO WHEN A
FLIGHT GETS DELAYED
OR CANCELED
Three things you should always do if your flight
gets delayed or canceled:
• Do your own research: If you need to get rebooked on a new flight, rather than waiting to hear what rebooking options they present you, check the airline's (or airline partners') flight schedule to see what other possibilities would work best for your situation. You're always your own best advocate.
2. Call international customer support: When a flight gets canceled, airline agents have hundreds of people to rebook, and even more when multiple flights are impacted by bad weather. Rather than spending hours in line, what I'll do is get in line but immediately pull up a list of the airline's international customer support numbers. A Minneapolis snowstorm will tie up Delta's main U.S. phone line, but calling the United Kingdom or Singapore line is likely to get right through. It doesn't make a difference if an airline agent is in a call center halfway around the world; they can still get you rebooked. Just be sure to check if your phone plan charges for international calls.
3. Ask for compensation: Assuming your flight interruption isn't weather-related, it never hurts to send an email afterward asking
for compensation. Airlines are unlikely to offer compensation proactively, but if you follow up after a big delay and politely explain why it was a hardship, you'll almost always be given hundreds of dollars or thousands of frequent flyer miles for your trouble. (This is especially true on European flights, where regulation
EU261 requires airlines to compensate passengers for long delays and cancellations.)
••••••
One way to make sure you're sitting with your travel companions is to fly Southwest. They use an open seating plan, and travelers are permitted on board by order of when they checked in (aside from those with elite status or who paid to jump the line). Set yourself a calendar reminder to check in exactly 24 hours ahead of your flight and you'll be certain to sit with your travel companions. If you're traveling with young children, you'll get to board early regardless.
••••••
If you only search for flights from New York to Santorini in a single itinerary, you can expect to pay $1,500. If you break your trip up into multiple itineraries, you could get to Santorini for $334 roundtrip. At that price you could bring your three closest friends along, cover their flights (what a mensch!), and still pay less than you would have without the Greek Islands
Trick.
••••••
In fact, depending on your final destination,
the last leg may work best on another mode of transportation altogether. Sometimes the
cheapest route to Venice is a cheap flight to Milan paired with a two-hour train ride to Venice. Many islands in Greece are accessible from Athens by ferry. (The website Rome2rio is
the easiest way to explore public transportation schedules and prices anywhere in the world. including trains, buses, and ferries.)
••••••
FINDING NONSTOP
ROUTES
Check the website Flightconnections.com to quickly and easily see all the nonstop flight
options to or from any given airport.
1. Check fares out of close, drivable airports.
2. Check fares from nearby major hubs, like
LAX or JFK. If they're hundreds cheaper,
take a short positioning flight.
3. Check fares to airports near where you're
going and get to your final destination by
train, bus, or short budget flight.
4. Check if flying out a few days earlier or
flying back a few days later will be
significantly cheaper.
5.Even if you have zero flexibility on dates,
check a day before or after in case there
are, say, red-eye flights just past midnight.
6. Start searching as early as possible.
7. Don't wait until the last minute to book.
Flights will get more expensive in the final
three weeks, not cheaper.
8. Check Skiplagged.com for hidden-city
tickets.
9. If you've got a stash of frequent flyer
miles, see if there are any cheap award
flights
••••••
•Travel is good medicine. Frequent travelers are healthier, happier, and more professionally successful than people who rarely travel.
• Frequent short trips boost your well-being
more than one long trip. They let you visit more places, ensure you savor vacation rather than get used to it, and give you more anticipation because the next trip is always coming up soon.
•Cheap flights alleviate the pressure to be overly frugal during the trip itself and let you do more on your vacation than if you'd overpaid for airfare.
••••••
Flight First Method:
Step 1: See where the cheapest flights are.
Step 2: Pick one of the cheap flight
destinations.
Step 3: Pick one of the cheap flight dates.
••••••
Always consider driving/flying to nearby airports to get a better rate.
••••••
The best time to buy plane tickets:
Domestic Flights:
During peak season (summer, Christmas): 3 to 7 months before travel
During off peak time: 1 to 3 months before travel
International Flights:
During peak season (summer, Christmas): 4 to 10 months before travel
During off peak time: 2 to 8 months before travel
••••••
SET YOURSELF A 21-
DAY CALENDAR
REMINDER
I recently had to book a flight to Atlanta, and
because of schedule constraints there was one specific Delta flight I needed. The fare was
decent but not great when I started monitoring
about six weeks out from travel. I checked the
flight daily, hoping that the price would come
down. But rather than continuing to monitor up
until the last day, I set myself a calendar reminder to book exactly three weeks ahead of
travel.
Why did I set that specific day as my deadline? Because the cheapest tickets regularly include a 21-day advance purchase requirement in their fare rules. Even though the ticket I was monitoring hadn't gotten cheaper in the preceding few weeks like I'd hoped it would, I booked it because I knew that the cheapest fares would expire after Day 21
Lo and behold, the day after I booked, the fare shot up by $140, and then a week later another $150 as the next cheapest fare's 14-day advance purchase requirement passed. Setting myself a 21-day deadline (and a calendar reminder to make sure I wouldn't forget) prevented me from accidentally overpaying.
••••••
Cheapest times to fly typically: Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday. Jan, Feb, March, Oct, Nov
••••••
But if you're a student, teacher, parent, or just someone whose ability to travel is restricted to June through August, you're stuck competing
against millions of other travelers for the most
popular seats. Apart from scouting out cheap
summer flights many months in advance, the other way to get a good deal is to travel as early or late in the summer as possible. Flights in early June or late August are significantly more likely to be cheap (or at least not egregiously expensive) than flights in July.
••••••
SHOULD I GET TRAVEL
INSURANCE?
Some people think I'm reckless for never buying travel insurance, but I've got a good reason: My credit card's already got me covered. Many credit cards automatically carry travel protections at no cost, as long as you use the card to pay for your flight. The specifics will vary by card, but they often include compensation for flight delays Or cancellations including reimbursement for
lodging and meals, if necessary), lost, damaged, or delayed bags, rental car insurance, sometimes even foreign medical insurance. (If, like me, you find it hard to memorize your card's specifics, just Google [the name of your credit card] + travel protections.)
Because my credit card already carries travel insurance, buying additional insurance would
often be superfluous. This is especially true considering that, contrary to popular perception, travel insurance (whether you paid for it or it was included on your credit card) doesn't let you cancel a flight penalty-free. For that, you have to book a much more expensive ticket to begin with.
••••••
SOUTHWEST
AIRBITRAGE
The minute I get a wedding invitation (or similarly inflexible event), I'll book myself a flight on Southwest. Unlike most airlines,
Southwest doesn't charge fees to cancel a ticket.
So by booking through them, I've locked in the
price and ensured that's the maximum price I'll
have to pay. If I decide not to go, I can cancel the
ticket for free. If prices drop on Southwest or a
better or cheaper flight pops up on another
airline, I can cancel and rebook. And if nothing
better pops up, I'll know I got the best deal
could.”
••••••
Add-on fees. For the first eighty years or so of
commercial flights in the United States, checked luggage was included in the ticket price. But beginning in 2008, most airlines started charging passengers extra to check a bag. These fees have since become a massive revenue driver. In 2018, U.S. airlines collected approximately $5 billion in bag fees. They collected an additional $2.7 billion from reservation-change fees that year, and millions more from other ancillary fees like seat selection and onboard meals.
There's a hidden reason why airlines love add-on fees: They're taxed much lower than airfare. When you buy a domestic flight, the federal government levies a 7.5 percent excise tax on your fare, and airlines are required to include this tax in the fare they show you (rather than, say, the way stores don't show sales tax on the display price). Optional fees like bags and seat selection aren't included in the ticket price and thus aren't subject to the 7.5 percent excise tax. By no longer including bags in the ticket price, U.S. airlines saved $375 million in their 2018 taxes alone.
••••••
Airlines used to primarily make money selling coach tickets. Today, airlines generate a large and growing percentage of revenue from other sources like premium seats and frequent flyer miles.
••••••
Second, you're protected by the 24-hour rule only if you book directly with the airline. The
24-hour rule is a Department of Transportation
regulation that automatically gives travelers a
24-hour grace period after purchase during which they can cancel their ticket and get a full refund without any penalties or fees. Every
flight booking, even on foreign airlines, is protected by the 24-hour rule so long as it meets a few conditions: The flight is to, from, or within the United States. The flight is at least a week from departure. The fare was booked directly with an airline (not through an online travel agency).
••••••
While Google Flights excels in robustness, flexibility, and speed, one drawback is that it can sometimes miss cheaper fares if they're found only on smaller OTAs. Best practice, therefore, is to start your search on Google Flights, locate the cheapest route and dates that appeal to you, and then check that flight on a site like Skyscanner or Momondo to see if there's a lower possible price.
••••••
“When you're traveling with a group, instead of
just searching for the entire group, see if fares
are cheaper by booking one or two tickets at a
time.
In summer 2019, I searched for three
passengers from Portland to New York. Google
Flights showed a one-way fare of $178 per
ticket, an okay but not great price. When
reduced the number of passengers to two,
though, the price dropped to $117 per person.
booked those two tickets at $117, then booked
the third ticket at $178, resulting in a total cost of $412 rather than the original $534.
The reason this type of price discrepancy
sometimes occurs is that airlines want to put
your entire group into a single fare bucket. In
this case, there were only two tickets left in the
$117 fare bucket, with plenty more in the $178
bucket. Searching for three tickets priced all
three at $178, whereas searching for two priced them at $117 (and I knew I could book the third ticket for $178).
••••••
WHAT TO DO WHEN A
FLIGHT GETS DELAYED
OR CANCELED
Three things you should always do if your flight
gets delayed or canceled:
• Do your own research: If you need to get rebooked on a new flight, rather than waiting to hear what rebooking options they present you, check the airline's (or airline partners') flight schedule to see what other possibilities would work best for your situation. You're always your own best advocate.
2. Call international customer support: When a flight gets canceled, airline agents have hundreds of people to rebook, and even more when multiple flights are impacted by bad weather. Rather than spending hours in line, what I'll do is get in line but immediately pull up a list of the airline's international customer support numbers. A Minneapolis snowstorm will tie up Delta's main U.S. phone line, but calling the United Kingdom or Singapore line is likely to get right through. It doesn't make a difference if an airline agent is in a call center halfway around the world; they can still get you rebooked. Just be sure to check if your phone plan charges for international calls.
3. Ask for compensation: Assuming your flight interruption isn't weather-related, it never hurts to send an email afterward asking
for compensation. Airlines are unlikely to offer compensation proactively, but if you follow up after a big delay and politely explain why it was a hardship, you'll almost always be given hundreds of dollars or thousands of frequent flyer miles for your trouble. (This is especially true on European flights, where regulation
EU261 requires airlines to compensate passengers for long delays and cancellations.)
••••••
One way to make sure you're sitting with your travel companions is to fly Southwest. They use an open seating plan, and travelers are permitted on board by order of when they checked in (aside from those with elite status or who paid to jump the line). Set yourself a calendar reminder to check in exactly 24 hours ahead of your flight and you'll be certain to sit with your travel companions. If you're traveling with young children, you'll get to board early regardless.
••••••
If you only search for flights from New York to Santorini in a single itinerary, you can expect to pay $1,500. If you break your trip up into multiple itineraries, you could get to Santorini for $334 roundtrip. At that price you could bring your three closest friends along, cover their flights (what a mensch!), and still pay less than you would have without the Greek Islands
Trick.
••••••
In fact, depending on your final destination,
the last leg may work best on another mode of transportation altogether. Sometimes the
cheapest route to Venice is a cheap flight to Milan paired with a two-hour train ride to Venice. Many islands in Greece are accessible from Athens by ferry. (The website Rome2rio is
the easiest way to explore public transportation schedules and prices anywhere in the world. including trains, buses, and ferries.)
••••••
FINDING NONSTOP
ROUTES
Check the website Flightconnections.com to quickly and easily see all the nonstop flight
options to or from any given airport.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 11, 2021
A book that not only shows you how to change your approach to airline ticket buying but also gives strategies for finding cheaper flights. It serves as a reminder to me of some tips I have heard in the past and also gives me new tips to try in the future.
March 6, 2025
While there are some helpful travel tips, this book often feels like an advertisement for the author’s website to book cheap flights. This book has also not aged exactly well with post Covid era travel such as change fees, points redemptions and the overall status of “cheap” fares.
September 10, 2023
I picked this book up at the library since I'm now retired and any travel is going to be on a very different budget than before. Authored by Scott Keyes, the originator of Scott's Cheap Flights website (now Going), it is filled with tips and strategies to save money traveling. Websites are shared, tips and insights are revealed. He talks about international options and multi-city itineraries and how to make them work. You have to remember that the book was written in 2019 so the prices quoted then are not necessarily relevant now, but the principles are the same.
To fill up the pages, there's lots of background information about how airlines function, how they set pricing, why certain old beliefs about saving money aren't true, etc. There are statistics about why people travel, why it's a good idea to travel, etc. I skimmed through those pages because I was specifically interested in saving money and I now have multiple strategies to do that. Thanks Scott!
Challenges tagged:
Nonfiction: 5/9
Library Love: 60/65+
COYER 2nd chapter: 3 pts (136 total)
To fill up the pages, there's lots of background information about how airlines function, how they set pricing, why certain old beliefs about saving money aren't true, etc. There are statistics about why people travel, why it's a good idea to travel, etc. I skimmed through those pages because I was specifically interested in saving money and I now have multiple strategies to do that. Thanks Scott!
Challenges tagged:
Nonfiction: 5/9
Library Love: 60/65+
COYER 2nd chapter: 3 pts (136 total)
February 10, 2022
The book is really an eye opening experience for me to see travel and cheap flights differently. Scott offers explanation of the internal working of how airlines set price, where and when to find cheap tickets, and several strategies to book flights cheaply. Besides that, a part of the book that I enjoyed so much is the psychology of traveling and how it would be good for us. One example is taking 3 short one-week trips over a year is more satisfying than only one long vacation. Or when the flight tickets are so cheap, we are less pressured to do too much during the trip, and enjoy it the way we want - after all, we know that the next trip is always shortly after.
Seeing the world and new people is exciting - I know that during my earlier years of traveling. But Covid-19 happens and after a few years of lock down, I start to feel too cozy and comfortable at home. This book somehow is a wake up call for me to get back to travel.
Seeing the world and new people is exciting - I know that during my earlier years of traveling. But Covid-19 happens and after a few years of lock down, I start to feel too cozy and comfortable at home. This book somehow is a wake up call for me to get back to travel.
Read
March 18, 2022IN 2013, I FLEW NONSTOP FROM NEW YORK CITY TO MILAN on a flight that typically cost $850 roundtrip. I paid $130.
But at $130, the question was no longer “Can I afford to go?”; it was “Do I want to go?”
After that serendipitous trip to Milan, word spread to coworkers and friends who all had the same request: “Scott, when you find another deal like that, can you let me know so I can get it too?” Rather than trying to remember everyone I’d promised to alert, I started a simple little email list: Scott’s Cheap Flights.
Today, Scott’s Cheap Flights has over two million members who have collectively saved over $500 million off normal flight prices since 2015.
After all, the airlines want you to stay baffled. It’s in their financial interest. The less you know about airfare, the more you’ll spend on it.
A 2016 Airbnb poll found that millennials say traveling is more important than saving for a house, buying a car, or paying down debt.
The United States is the only advanced economy—and one of the few nations worldwide—that doesn’t guarantee workers any paid leave.
On your next flight, ask your seatmates what they paid.
This is called loss aversion. “Losses hurt about twice as much as gains make us feel good,” Nobel Prize–winning economist Richard Thaler has argued. By this calculation, a flight currently selling for $1,500 would have to drop to $500 for us to have the same intensity of feeling as when it rises to $2,000.
Wishful Thinking: Our desire for something to be true often outweighs an objective analysis of whether something actually is true.
What do we do with necessary but unpleasant tasks? We procrastinate. We put them off. But as with wishful thinking, if the temptation to put off distasteful chores results in booking flights at the last minute, we’re resigning ourselves to expensive flights in the process.
Subliminal cognitive biases are pushing us to overpay for tickets. Though in theory we’d all prefer cheap flights, in practice susceptibilities like loss aversion and procrastination unintentionally drive us to book expensive flights.
James Fallows in his book China Airborne, is “when people imagine themselves transformed, improved, by adopting a new style.”
Vacations, like many parts of life, have diminishing marginal utility.
“hedonic adaptation.” This is the idea that an individual’s overall happiness reverts to baseline levels even after major shocks like losing a limb or winning the lottery. A three-week vacation isn’t three times better than a one-week vacation because our baseline resets not long into the trip.
2011 paper, “If Money Doesn’t Make You Happy Then You Probably Aren’t Spending It Right,” researchers from Harvard. Instead, it’s about consciously spending your money in ways that will increase personal happiness.
because you don’t have the nagging dread that comes from overpaying.
Step 1: Pick where you want to travel.
Step 2: Pick when you want to travel.
Step 3: Check the price.
It may sound tautological, but if you want cheap flights, then prioritize cheap flights.
Step 1: See where the cheapest flights are.
Step 2: Pick one of the cheap flight destinations. Step 3: Pick one of the cheap flight dates.
First, Priya pulled up Google Flights, set her destination as Europe, and chose the FLEXIBLE DATES option in order to look at one-week trips anytime over the next six months. Perusing the results, she saw that fares happened to be expensive to places like Vienna and Milan, but they were currently under $450 roundtrip to Amsterdam, Barcelona, and Budapest. All three sounded like great places to visit, and after consulting some friends she ultimately decided on Budapest. Because her time off at work was flexible, she let the calendar of cheap flights guide her vacation planning, rather than selecting specific dates in advance. Flights to Budapest happened to be cheap throughout September and October, so she pulled out her credit card and booked a trip to Hungary in early September for $415 roundtrip.
booking well in advance is superior because it ensures maximal anticipation.
Think of finding airfare as a Russian reversal joke: “In Soviet Russia, cheap flights find you!”
She explained their strategy: “Typically what we do is we’ll think, ‘Hey, we really want to have a vacation. All right, do we want warm or cold? Are we trying for Europe? Are we trying for the beach?’ And then we’ll know how many PTO days we’re comfortable taking
In my twenties, I was time rich and cash poor.
But at $130, the question was no longer “Can I afford to go?”; it was “Do I want to go?”
After that serendipitous trip to Milan, word spread to coworkers and friends who all had the same request: “Scott, when you find another deal like that, can you let me know so I can get it too?” Rather than trying to remember everyone I’d promised to alert, I started a simple little email list: Scott’s Cheap Flights.
Today, Scott’s Cheap Flights has over two million members who have collectively saved over $500 million off normal flight prices since 2015.
After all, the airlines want you to stay baffled. It’s in their financial interest. The less you know about airfare, the more you’ll spend on it.
A 2016 Airbnb poll found that millennials say traveling is more important than saving for a house, buying a car, or paying down debt.
The United States is the only advanced economy—and one of the few nations worldwide—that doesn’t guarantee workers any paid leave.
On your next flight, ask your seatmates what they paid.
This is called loss aversion. “Losses hurt about twice as much as gains make us feel good,” Nobel Prize–winning economist Richard Thaler has argued. By this calculation, a flight currently selling for $1,500 would have to drop to $500 for us to have the same intensity of feeling as when it rises to $2,000.
Wishful Thinking: Our desire for something to be true often outweighs an objective analysis of whether something actually is true.
What do we do with necessary but unpleasant tasks? We procrastinate. We put them off. But as with wishful thinking, if the temptation to put off distasteful chores results in booking flights at the last minute, we’re resigning ourselves to expensive flights in the process.
Subliminal cognitive biases are pushing us to overpay for tickets. Though in theory we’d all prefer cheap flights, in practice susceptibilities like loss aversion and procrastination unintentionally drive us to book expensive flights.
James Fallows in his book China Airborne, is “when people imagine themselves transformed, improved, by adopting a new style.”
Vacations, like many parts of life, have diminishing marginal utility.
“hedonic adaptation.” This is the idea that an individual’s overall happiness reverts to baseline levels even after major shocks like losing a limb or winning the lottery. A three-week vacation isn’t three times better than a one-week vacation because our baseline resets not long into the trip.
2011 paper, “If Money Doesn’t Make You Happy Then You Probably Aren’t Spending It Right,” researchers from Harvard. Instead, it’s about consciously spending your money in ways that will increase personal happiness.
because you don’t have the nagging dread that comes from overpaying.
Step 1: Pick where you want to travel.
Step 2: Pick when you want to travel.
Step 3: Check the price.
It may sound tautological, but if you want cheap flights, then prioritize cheap flights.
Step 1: See where the cheapest flights are.
Step 2: Pick one of the cheap flight destinations. Step 3: Pick one of the cheap flight dates.
First, Priya pulled up Google Flights, set her destination as Europe, and chose the FLEXIBLE DATES option in order to look at one-week trips anytime over the next six months. Perusing the results, she saw that fares happened to be expensive to places like Vienna and Milan, but they were currently under $450 roundtrip to Amsterdam, Barcelona, and Budapest. All three sounded like great places to visit, and after consulting some friends she ultimately decided on Budapest. Because her time off at work was flexible, she let the calendar of cheap flights guide her vacation planning, rather than selecting specific dates in advance. Flights to Budapest happened to be cheap throughout September and October, so she pulled out her credit card and booked a trip to Hungary in early September for $415 roundtrip.
booking well in advance is superior because it ensures maximal anticipation.
Think of finding airfare as a Russian reversal joke: “In Soviet Russia, cheap flights find you!”
She explained their strategy: “Typically what we do is we’ll think, ‘Hey, we really want to have a vacation. All right, do we want warm or cold? Are we trying for Europe? Are we trying for the beach?’ And then we’ll know how many PTO days we’re comfortable taking
In my twenties, I was time rich and cash poor.
December 11, 2024
My dad recommended this book to me since I love planning vacations. I enjoyed reading it. My key takeaways:
When flights are canceled and bumped at the airport called the international airline number while you’re in line to rebook.
If your flight is oversold and you’ve got flexible plans asked to get bumped up to business class on your new flight.
Don’t fly budget airline they don’t partner with other airlines and you’ll get stuck when it goes wrong
Tuesdays Wednesdays and Saturdays are cheapest days to travel
I agree with his exclamation that the happiest part of travel is anticipation. Researchers have found that people‘s happiness about a trip peaks before they leave
Also loved that he pointed out frequent short trips boost your well-being more than one long trip. It gives you more anticipation because the next trip is always coming up soon
Travels good medicine frequent travelers are healthier or happier and more professionally successful than people who rarely travel
Cheap flights alleviate the pressure to be overly frugal during the trip itself unless you do more on vacation than if you overpaid for airfare
Save something especially fun for the final day. It will have an outside impact on our memory afterward
We tend to enjoy memories more than the trip itself. That’s because we get to relive a trip highlights for much longer than we were actually on vacation
When flights are canceled and bumped at the airport called the international airline number while you’re in line to rebook.
If your flight is oversold and you’ve got flexible plans asked to get bumped up to business class on your new flight.
Don’t fly budget airline they don’t partner with other airlines and you’ll get stuck when it goes wrong
Tuesdays Wednesdays and Saturdays are cheapest days to travel
I agree with his exclamation that the happiest part of travel is anticipation. Researchers have found that people‘s happiness about a trip peaks before they leave
Also loved that he pointed out frequent short trips boost your well-being more than one long trip. It gives you more anticipation because the next trip is always coming up soon
Travels good medicine frequent travelers are healthier or happier and more professionally successful than people who rarely travel
Cheap flights alleviate the pressure to be overly frugal during the trip itself unless you do more on vacation than if you overpaid for airfare
Save something especially fun for the final day. It will have an outside impact on our memory afterward
We tend to enjoy memories more than the trip itself. That’s because we get to relive a trip highlights for much longer than we were actually on vacation
March 7, 2024
Had some decent insight into search engines and how ticket pricing and booking works but it still basically means you have to continuously search for cheap flights (or pay to be a member of his email list). I'd really had enough by the chapter about if I should take a flight because of emissions carbon footprint. Really?! I'm reading a book about how to find cheap flights more easily, I'm probably not concerned about emissions and what not, or not enough to read a whole chapter on it.
It was clear that by maybe chapter 8, he was trying to stretch this book out so it could be more than an ebook or digital handout. So much of it could have been condensed into a few points or steps. Just sign up for his email list if you are a serious tourism traveler and want to find good deals. He will do the work for you and you won't waste your time reading this book.
It was clear that by maybe chapter 8, he was trying to stretch this book out so it could be more than an ebook or digital handout. So much of it could have been condensed into a few points or steps. Just sign up for his email list if you are a serious tourism traveler and want to find good deals. He will do the work for you and you won't waste your time reading this book.
June 12, 2021
Thank you to the publisher for an ARC copy to review.
This book is chock full of tips that I found very helpful. It could have used a little tighter editing, but the content is unique and it provides a great introduction to how to fly more cheaply. I was glad to see a section on the issue of environmental impact of air travel, although it's more of a justification that it's okay to fly, especially in economy class. Although the author's website is mentioned quite a few times, there's a lot of advice readers can pursue on their own without signing up for the service.
This book is chock full of tips that I found very helpful. It could have used a little tighter editing, but the content is unique and it provides a great introduction to how to fly more cheaply. I was glad to see a section on the issue of environmental impact of air travel, although it's more of a justification that it's okay to fly, especially in economy class. Although the author's website is mentioned quite a few times, there's a lot of advice readers can pursue on their own without signing up for the service.
June 13, 2022
If you enjoy traveling and would absolutely travel even more if plane tickets just weren't so expensive, then this book is for you! I learned a ton about how to save a lot of money when booking cheap flights from this book. Granted, the book probably could've been an hour shorter if they stopped repeating that we're living in the the "golden age of cheap flights" (seriously, I got the idea after the 5th iteration), but the content of the book is still fantastic. Highly recommended.
December 30, 2022
Actually Helpful!
I don’t know what I was expecting, but this book has transformed how I think about vacations. I’ve always been a thrifty traveler, but this takes it to new heights. And the introduction to Google Flights - I already found two tickets to Puerto Rico for $150! Get. This. Book.
I don’t know what I was expecting, but this book has transformed how I think about vacations. I’ve always been a thrifty traveler, but this takes it to new heights. And the introduction to Google Flights - I already found two tickets to Puerto Rico for $150! Get. This. Book.
January 28, 2022
Pretty good tips on how to travel cheaper. Could've been a bit more concise. At times too US-focused for my taste.
September 3, 2023
I am so excited to find my first cheap flight!!!! Awesome book.
June 20, 2021
This book is fantastic! Scott Keyes from Scott's Cheap Flights wrote this book to share tips and tricks for cheap travel. The book is packed with information and strategies. I've followed SCF for years and still came away from the book with lots of ideas for future trips. I would highly recommend!
August 10, 2024
Full of helpful tidbits but probably could have been a quarter of the length
Read
December 22, 2025The most expensive mistake we make when booking flights is choosing a trip rather than choosing a fare. #takemorevacations
There’s a quote popularly attributed to Theodore Roosevelt that “comparison is the thief of joy ” #takemorevacations
They surveyed travelers on longer vacations , 23 days on average , and found that well - being peaked on Day 8 and declined thereafter. #takemorevacations
Step 1 : See where the cheapest flights are . Step 2 : Pick one of the cheap flight destinations . Step 3 : Pick one of the cheap flight dates. #takemorevacations
Imagine for a moment that all flights are now $ 250 roundtrip . Where would you go ? Greece ? Sri Lanka ? Zanzibar ? Few of us have sat down and listed every place in the world we’d visit if airfare were no concern , but if we did , I suspect most of our lists would number in the hundreds if not thousands . We have countless places we’d visit if flights were cheap , yet so many of us plan a vacation as though there’s only one place in the world in which we’re interested. #takemorevacations
Or you could do what Shanna did and book a Park / Sleep / Fly package : a one - night stay at a nearby hotel ( usable on either end of the trip ) , a shuttle to the airport , and free parking for the duration of the trip. #takemorevacations
GOLDILOCKS WINDOWS FOR CHEAP FLIGHTS SEASON DOMESTIC INTERNATIONAL Off - peak 1 to 3 months before travel 2 to 8 months before travel Peak 3 to 7 months before travel 4 to 10 months before travel. #takemorevacations
In general , Tuesday , Wednesday , and Saturday are the cheapest days to travel . Friday , Sunday , and Monday are usually the most expensive days. #takemorevacations
( If , like me , you find it hard to memorize your card’s specifics , just Google [ the name of your credit card ] + travel protections . ) #takemorevacations
Though there’s no specific cheapest time to book flights , fares are most likely to become cheap two to eight months in advance for international travel and one to three months in advance for domestic travel. #takemorevacations
The cheapest times of year to travel are fall and winter , and the cheapest days of the week are Tuesday , Wednesday , and Saturday . Summers , peak holidays , Mondays , and Fridays tend to be the most expensive. #takemorevacations
Google Hotels : A new entrant in the hotel booking scene , but a fast and powerful site that offers a far better user experience than most other online travel agencies . Airbnb / Vrbo : Especially affordable when I’m looking to stay in the center of town , where hotels are often cringingly expensive . Roomer : A site where you can buy other people’s nonrefundable accommodations for a fraction of what they paid. #takemorevacations
RedWeek : Similar to Roomer but for timeshare bookings . Prepaying : If you’re confident your plans won’t change , you can often save 20 percent or more by prepaying for a hotel rather than booking a refundable stay . Booking directly : Because hotels pay large commissions to online travel agencies ( as much as 30 percent ) , they’re often willing to give a sizable discount to travelers who book directly . Sometimes contracts with travel agencies forbid hotels from publicly offering lower rates , but if you call a hotel directly and ask if they’ll offer a lower rate over the phone , many will. #takemorevacations
there are three primary causes for price fluctuations : autopilot pricing , unexpected customer demand , and competition. #takemorevacations
When thinking about where to book flights online , there are three categories of sites : airlines , OTAs , and flight search engines . Each has its advantages and drawbacks to consider. #takemorevacations
from what I’ve seen there is a cheapest place for car rentals : Costco Travel. #takemorevacations
TOP FLIGHT SEARCH ENGINES Google Flights Kayak Skyscanner Momondo. #takemorevacations
Google Flights lets users input up to 7 origin airports and up to 7 destination airports , 49 possible routes in total. #takemorevacations
Best practice , therefore , is to start your search on Google Flights , locate the cheapest route and dates that appeal to you , and then check that flight on a site like Skyscanner or Momondo to see if there’s a lower possible price. #takemorevacations
The reason this type of price discrepancy sometimes occurs is that airlines want to put your entire group into a single fare bucket . In this case , there were only two tickets left in the $ 117 fare bucket , with plenty more in the $ 178 bucket . Searching for three tickets priced all three at $ 178 , whereas searching for two priced them at $ 117 ( and I knew I could book the third ticket for $ 178 ). #takemorevacations
The cheapest countries are typically Morocco , South Africa , Kenya , Tanzania , and Uganda. #takemorevacations
Save something especially fun for the final day. #takemorevacations
While poking around , however , he stumbled across flights from Rome to Rabat for $ 59 roundtrip . “ Interesting , ” he thought , mentally filing it away. #takemorevacations
Check the website Flightconnections.com to quickly and easily see all the nonstop flight options to or from any given airport. #takemorevacations
Third , armed with the three cities we know are cheapest to reach from Dubrovnik , confirm that prices are in the same ballpark when reversing the route . In this case , starting in London brings the fare from $ 75 to $ 81. #takemorevacations
Conversely , we didn’t have to worry about booking flights around Southeast Asia far in advance because the short routes and fierce competition meant fares wouldn’t get exorbitant . Our one - way flight from Hong Kong to Borneo : $ 98 . The next flight to Bali : $ 95 . Onward to Singapore : $ 99 . From there to Hanoi : $ 105 . And on to our final stop in Seoul : $ 168 . Total cost of flights to traipse around Southeast Asia for nearly a month : $ 565 per person. #takemorevacations
including TAP ( up to 5 days in Portugal ) , Finnair ( up to 5 days in Finland ) , Qatar Airways ( up to 2 days in Doha ) , and All Nippon Airways ( up to a week in Japan , typically for about $ 100 extra ), #takemorevacations
includes a seat on United Flight 2032 . In other words , you can buy a flight to Newark for $ 121 , or the same flight to Newark plus a flight to Richmond for $ 88 . A cheap flight aficionado would buy the $ 88 ticket and just skip the Newark – Richmond leg . This tactic is called hidden - city ticketing , and it can save hundreds on airfare. #takemorevacations
Given their concealed nature , hidden - city tickets can be hard to find . Rather than spending hours testing various routes looking for a cheaper fare , there’s a flight search engine , Skiplagged , that does the legwork for you . Unlike other OTAs , Skiplagged specializes in finding discounted hidden - city tickets . In general , you’ll only find cheaper. #takemorevacations
There’s one week of the year , though , that’s a hidden gem for international travel : Thanksgiving . Most kids are out of school for at least a five - day weekend if not the entire week . Ditto for most adults at their jobs , so few if any vacation days are required for Thanksgiving trips. #takemorevacations
Unlike cash , miles are great for one - way international flights . When paying with cash , a one - way international flight is almost always significantly pricier than half a roundtrip flight . When redeeming miles , though , a one - way international flight is almost always half the cost of a roundtrip flight . Therefore , miles can be especially good value if you need a one - way international flight. #takemorevacations
Not all points transfer to all mileage programs . Chase points can transfer to United but not Delta . Amex points can transfer to Delta but not United . The full list of possible transfers is ever changing ; you can find the most up - to - date list online at bit.ly / pointstransfers. #takemorevacations
If you’re traveling somewhere remote , two itineraries ( the Greek Islands Trick ) are usually cheaper than one . Book the cheapest long - haul flight you can find , and then pair it with a budget flight onward to your final destination. #takemorevacations
Booking two itineraries also allows you to build your own layover and see two places on a trip instead of one . Just be sure to put enough buffer time between itineraries ( ideally at least a day ) so any delays won’t cause you to miss the second flight. #takemorevacations
Travel is wonderful , but it’s easy to overlook travel’s enduring gift of nostalgia . Ask anyone about their last vacation and their face will light up . They’ll talk your ear off if given the opportunity , because the joy of a vacation doesn’t end when we get home, #takemorevacations
There’s a quote popularly attributed to Theodore Roosevelt that “comparison is the thief of joy ” #takemorevacations
They surveyed travelers on longer vacations , 23 days on average , and found that well - being peaked on Day 8 and declined thereafter. #takemorevacations
Step 1 : See where the cheapest flights are . Step 2 : Pick one of the cheap flight destinations . Step 3 : Pick one of the cheap flight dates. #takemorevacations
Imagine for a moment that all flights are now $ 250 roundtrip . Where would you go ? Greece ? Sri Lanka ? Zanzibar ? Few of us have sat down and listed every place in the world we’d visit if airfare were no concern , but if we did , I suspect most of our lists would number in the hundreds if not thousands . We have countless places we’d visit if flights were cheap , yet so many of us plan a vacation as though there’s only one place in the world in which we’re interested. #takemorevacations
Or you could do what Shanna did and book a Park / Sleep / Fly package : a one - night stay at a nearby hotel ( usable on either end of the trip ) , a shuttle to the airport , and free parking for the duration of the trip. #takemorevacations
GOLDILOCKS WINDOWS FOR CHEAP FLIGHTS SEASON DOMESTIC INTERNATIONAL Off - peak 1 to 3 months before travel 2 to 8 months before travel Peak 3 to 7 months before travel 4 to 10 months before travel. #takemorevacations
In general , Tuesday , Wednesday , and Saturday are the cheapest days to travel . Friday , Sunday , and Monday are usually the most expensive days. #takemorevacations
( If , like me , you find it hard to memorize your card’s specifics , just Google [ the name of your credit card ] + travel protections . ) #takemorevacations
Though there’s no specific cheapest time to book flights , fares are most likely to become cheap two to eight months in advance for international travel and one to three months in advance for domestic travel. #takemorevacations
The cheapest times of year to travel are fall and winter , and the cheapest days of the week are Tuesday , Wednesday , and Saturday . Summers , peak holidays , Mondays , and Fridays tend to be the most expensive. #takemorevacations
Google Hotels : A new entrant in the hotel booking scene , but a fast and powerful site that offers a far better user experience than most other online travel agencies . Airbnb / Vrbo : Especially affordable when I’m looking to stay in the center of town , where hotels are often cringingly expensive . Roomer : A site where you can buy other people’s nonrefundable accommodations for a fraction of what they paid. #takemorevacations
RedWeek : Similar to Roomer but for timeshare bookings . Prepaying : If you’re confident your plans won’t change , you can often save 20 percent or more by prepaying for a hotel rather than booking a refundable stay . Booking directly : Because hotels pay large commissions to online travel agencies ( as much as 30 percent ) , they’re often willing to give a sizable discount to travelers who book directly . Sometimes contracts with travel agencies forbid hotels from publicly offering lower rates , but if you call a hotel directly and ask if they’ll offer a lower rate over the phone , many will. #takemorevacations
there are three primary causes for price fluctuations : autopilot pricing , unexpected customer demand , and competition. #takemorevacations
When thinking about where to book flights online , there are three categories of sites : airlines , OTAs , and flight search engines . Each has its advantages and drawbacks to consider. #takemorevacations
from what I’ve seen there is a cheapest place for car rentals : Costco Travel. #takemorevacations
TOP FLIGHT SEARCH ENGINES Google Flights Kayak Skyscanner Momondo. #takemorevacations
Google Flights lets users input up to 7 origin airports and up to 7 destination airports , 49 possible routes in total. #takemorevacations
Best practice , therefore , is to start your search on Google Flights , locate the cheapest route and dates that appeal to you , and then check that flight on a site like Skyscanner or Momondo to see if there’s a lower possible price. #takemorevacations
The reason this type of price discrepancy sometimes occurs is that airlines want to put your entire group into a single fare bucket . In this case , there were only two tickets left in the $ 117 fare bucket , with plenty more in the $ 178 bucket . Searching for three tickets priced all three at $ 178 , whereas searching for two priced them at $ 117 ( and I knew I could book the third ticket for $ 178 ). #takemorevacations
The cheapest countries are typically Morocco , South Africa , Kenya , Tanzania , and Uganda. #takemorevacations
Save something especially fun for the final day. #takemorevacations
While poking around , however , he stumbled across flights from Rome to Rabat for $ 59 roundtrip . “ Interesting , ” he thought , mentally filing it away. #takemorevacations
Check the website Flightconnections.com to quickly and easily see all the nonstop flight options to or from any given airport. #takemorevacations
Third , armed with the three cities we know are cheapest to reach from Dubrovnik , confirm that prices are in the same ballpark when reversing the route . In this case , starting in London brings the fare from $ 75 to $ 81. #takemorevacations
Conversely , we didn’t have to worry about booking flights around Southeast Asia far in advance because the short routes and fierce competition meant fares wouldn’t get exorbitant . Our one - way flight from Hong Kong to Borneo : $ 98 . The next flight to Bali : $ 95 . Onward to Singapore : $ 99 . From there to Hanoi : $ 105 . And on to our final stop in Seoul : $ 168 . Total cost of flights to traipse around Southeast Asia for nearly a month : $ 565 per person. #takemorevacations
including TAP ( up to 5 days in Portugal ) , Finnair ( up to 5 days in Finland ) , Qatar Airways ( up to 2 days in Doha ) , and All Nippon Airways ( up to a week in Japan , typically for about $ 100 extra ), #takemorevacations
includes a seat on United Flight 2032 . In other words , you can buy a flight to Newark for $ 121 , or the same flight to Newark plus a flight to Richmond for $ 88 . A cheap flight aficionado would buy the $ 88 ticket and just skip the Newark – Richmond leg . This tactic is called hidden - city ticketing , and it can save hundreds on airfare. #takemorevacations
Given their concealed nature , hidden - city tickets can be hard to find . Rather than spending hours testing various routes looking for a cheaper fare , there’s a flight search engine , Skiplagged , that does the legwork for you . Unlike other OTAs , Skiplagged specializes in finding discounted hidden - city tickets . In general , you’ll only find cheaper. #takemorevacations
There’s one week of the year , though , that’s a hidden gem for international travel : Thanksgiving . Most kids are out of school for at least a five - day weekend if not the entire week . Ditto for most adults at their jobs , so few if any vacation days are required for Thanksgiving trips. #takemorevacations
Unlike cash , miles are great for one - way international flights . When paying with cash , a one - way international flight is almost always significantly pricier than half a roundtrip flight . When redeeming miles , though , a one - way international flight is almost always half the cost of a roundtrip flight . Therefore , miles can be especially good value if you need a one - way international flight. #takemorevacations
Not all points transfer to all mileage programs . Chase points can transfer to United but not Delta . Amex points can transfer to Delta but not United . The full list of possible transfers is ever changing ; you can find the most up - to - date list online at bit.ly / pointstransfers. #takemorevacations
If you’re traveling somewhere remote , two itineraries ( the Greek Islands Trick ) are usually cheaper than one . Book the cheapest long - haul flight you can find , and then pair it with a budget flight onward to your final destination. #takemorevacations
Booking two itineraries also allows you to build your own layover and see two places on a trip instead of one . Just be sure to put enough buffer time between itineraries ( ideally at least a day ) so any delays won’t cause you to miss the second flight. #takemorevacations
Travel is wonderful , but it’s easy to overlook travel’s enduring gift of nostalgia . Ask anyone about their last vacation and their face will light up . They’ll talk your ear off if given the opportunity , because the joy of a vacation doesn’t end when we get home, #takemorevacations
July 28, 2022
i’m so glad i read this book‼️i only semi-kinda wanted to read this when i first picked it up, but i’m now i’m really glad i dissected it bc this book really speaks to my cheapskate soul LOLL. this main points in this book could’ve been summarized in a lot fewer pages but i like the little added extra cheap flights history and i’m excited to use all the tips for my next vacation. the main thing is, i’m glad that i get to look at travel differently and looking forward to putting the advice in action. thanks, scott!
September 11, 2020
This book was written for me. I have made travel decisions that have cost me and I have found travel bargains too. The author explains the history of airline pricing and why there are more bargains now than there were ten years ago. He shares why airfare isn't priced by miles traveled and why there aren't last minute deals to fill empty seats. And if you follow his advice you might just get a travel adventure you never expected.
I have always said that I am always happier knowing I have another trip planned. But now I have some research that back-ups my feelings. A lot of the steps Keyes outlines I was familiar with but he does lay it out in simple ways and explaining why it works. I have paid full airfares to get to Europe in summer because my child was school and that was the only window available. But on my last three trips been I was able to take advantage of deals that have landed me Thanksgiving in London, and two winter trips to France.
The prices he quotes I have never seen for Utah but I know my deal prices for flights in my market area. And as suggested I have taken advantage of driving to other airports to save $100s of dollars. This book admits that it can't book you the best price if you need to be at certain location on a certain date. But if you are flexible and patient deals can be found.
As I said I found the guidance straight forward and informative. The only game changer is what Covid-19 will do the market and airline industry. I have passed on a few deals that I would have taken advantage of because certain countries don't allow travelers from the USA or the fear of where that country is in this pandemic fight. All I can hope for is that as Covid-19 subsides I can put Keyes advice to work and start really traveling again.
Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Wave and Harper Business for the ARC e-book in exchange for an honest review.
I have always said that I am always happier knowing I have another trip planned. But now I have some research that back-ups my feelings. A lot of the steps Keyes outlines I was familiar with but he does lay it out in simple ways and explaining why it works. I have paid full airfares to get to Europe in summer because my child was school and that was the only window available. But on my last three trips been I was able to take advantage of deals that have landed me Thanksgiving in London, and two winter trips to France.
The prices he quotes I have never seen for Utah but I know my deal prices for flights in my market area. And as suggested I have taken advantage of driving to other airports to save $100s of dollars. This book admits that it can't book you the best price if you need to be at certain location on a certain date. But if you are flexible and patient deals can be found.
As I said I found the guidance straight forward and informative. The only game changer is what Covid-19 will do the market and airline industry. I have passed on a few deals that I would have taken advantage of because certain countries don't allow travelers from the USA or the fear of where that country is in this pandemic fight. All I can hope for is that as Covid-19 subsides I can put Keyes advice to work and start really traveling again.
Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Wave and Harper Business for the ARC e-book in exchange for an honest review.
January 12, 2023
{REVIEW: TAKE MORE VACATIONS:⭐️/5} This book was terrible! It should’ve been called “Cheap Flights 101” & then I wouldn’t have even picked it up in the first place! It wasn’t even about taking vacations. It was basically 300 pages of repetitive information about how to possibly get cheap flights. Saying try this- try that- then repeating the same information over for 100 pages! Be glad I read it for you & you don’t waste your time on it! ✈️ ✈️ ✈️ ✈️
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July 29, 2021
read this and more reviews on Frayed Books:
http://frayedbooks.wordpress.com
If you like to travel or want to travel more – I highly recommend signing up for Scott’s Cheap Flights newsletter – its free! There is a paid premium membership too, but I don’t currently have that, although I see many say its worth the cost.
This book goes into detail about cheap flights and the mindset that you should have. My key takeaway from this book was let the cheap flights decide where you might go. Don’t lock yourself into one destination or a certain time frame if you can help it. If you have to work around a school schedule, its more difficult and you can only travel over summer or holidays, but if you aren’t restricted to that – let the cheap flights guide you and tell you when and where you might go. Or if you do have a specific place in mind – be patient and when a cheap flight pops up, don’t hesitate and book ASAP.
I’ve done a handful of traveling cross country driving across America, to Canada a few of times, to Japan twice, with a short trip to Seoul, South Korea, and most recently, Austria, Germany, and a layover in Lisbon, Portugal in December 2019. Who knew that would be the last big trip I’d take for well over a year and a half.
I miss travel. And this book was the perfect place to remind me about traveling and having something to look forward to. Take More Vacations doesn’t tell you how to plan the entirety of your trip, but focuses mainly on the flights aspect. It debunks rumors about how to find cheap flights, and that not clearing your search browser will affect prices or looking for flights at a specific day or time will make them cheaper – all false. Cheap flights can pop up at anytime. Holidays and weekends are more likely to find cheap flights but still not the rule.
Everything statistical Scott says in this book is backed up with studies done over the years and how trends have changed within the last decade. He also goes into detail about the history of flights & pricing, which was unexpected, but nonetheless interesting to read about. There is a chapter on the carbon footprint you as an individual leaves based on your flying habits. So this book isn’t ALL about cheap flights – there is some history I never knew before and I learned something new.
This book is more than just an advertisement for Scott’s Cheap Flights, to me its about a mindset and a way of thinking. Scott mentions how the anticipation of a trip almost always leads to feeling happier than when you’re actually on the trip. Same with the memories you have after a trip that you can look back on for the rest of your life. These are things I knew in the back of my mind, but hearing them again reiterated the point.
Take More Vacations made me think about just that – taking more short vacations rather than a long vacation. I’m now going to be monitoring emails and flights and see where I can go in 2021. I’ve always dreamed of going to the UK and I would love to return to Japan, but I’m not going to put myself into just those two locations. I’m going to be open minded and maybe travel somewhere I wouldn’t have thought of before. I’m embracing the idea of traveling solo – I’ve done it before and I really enjoyed it, so I’m not going to rely on others. If I want to take a trip, I’m going to take a trip.
I think this book is worth a read (or listen, as I listened to the audiobook) if you want to travel more.
Audiobook Thoughts
The author, Scott Keyes, narrated this book and I usually enjoy when authors narrator their own audiobook – and that was exactly the case here. I absorb a lot of information by listening to it and this really worked for me. I listened in small doses to absorb as much as I could but I was also eager to learn more ASAP! I do think I’ll pick up a physical copy of this book as well to highlight key points I want to remember and go back to.
Recommend?
If you want to travel more but don’t know where to start – give this book a try. You don’t have to be wealthy to afford a plane ticket – often times you just have to be patient and vigilant. If you see a $200-300 flight pop up, book it! This book changed my way of thinking about travel and motivated me to travel more – and it might help you too!
Frayed Books - blog | twitter | bookstagram | fb
http://frayedbooks.wordpress.com
If you like to travel or want to travel more – I highly recommend signing up for Scott’s Cheap Flights newsletter – its free! There is a paid premium membership too, but I don’t currently have that, although I see many say its worth the cost.
This book goes into detail about cheap flights and the mindset that you should have. My key takeaway from this book was let the cheap flights decide where you might go. Don’t lock yourself into one destination or a certain time frame if you can help it. If you have to work around a school schedule, its more difficult and you can only travel over summer or holidays, but if you aren’t restricted to that – let the cheap flights guide you and tell you when and where you might go. Or if you do have a specific place in mind – be patient and when a cheap flight pops up, don’t hesitate and book ASAP.
I’ve done a handful of traveling cross country driving across America, to Canada a few of times, to Japan twice, with a short trip to Seoul, South Korea, and most recently, Austria, Germany, and a layover in Lisbon, Portugal in December 2019. Who knew that would be the last big trip I’d take for well over a year and a half.
I miss travel. And this book was the perfect place to remind me about traveling and having something to look forward to. Take More Vacations doesn’t tell you how to plan the entirety of your trip, but focuses mainly on the flights aspect. It debunks rumors about how to find cheap flights, and that not clearing your search browser will affect prices or looking for flights at a specific day or time will make them cheaper – all false. Cheap flights can pop up at anytime. Holidays and weekends are more likely to find cheap flights but still not the rule.
Everything statistical Scott says in this book is backed up with studies done over the years and how trends have changed within the last decade. He also goes into detail about the history of flights & pricing, which was unexpected, but nonetheless interesting to read about. There is a chapter on the carbon footprint you as an individual leaves based on your flying habits. So this book isn’t ALL about cheap flights – there is some history I never knew before and I learned something new.
This book is more than just an advertisement for Scott’s Cheap Flights, to me its about a mindset and a way of thinking. Scott mentions how the anticipation of a trip almost always leads to feeling happier than when you’re actually on the trip. Same with the memories you have after a trip that you can look back on for the rest of your life. These are things I knew in the back of my mind, but hearing them again reiterated the point.
Take More Vacations made me think about just that – taking more short vacations rather than a long vacation. I’m now going to be monitoring emails and flights and see where I can go in 2021. I’ve always dreamed of going to the UK and I would love to return to Japan, but I’m not going to put myself into just those two locations. I’m going to be open minded and maybe travel somewhere I wouldn’t have thought of before. I’m embracing the idea of traveling solo – I’ve done it before and I really enjoyed it, so I’m not going to rely on others. If I want to take a trip, I’m going to take a trip.
I think this book is worth a read (or listen, as I listened to the audiobook) if you want to travel more.
Audiobook Thoughts
The author, Scott Keyes, narrated this book and I usually enjoy when authors narrator their own audiobook – and that was exactly the case here. I absorb a lot of information by listening to it and this really worked for me. I listened in small doses to absorb as much as I could but I was also eager to learn more ASAP! I do think I’ll pick up a physical copy of this book as well to highlight key points I want to remember and go back to.
Recommend?
If you want to travel more but don’t know where to start – give this book a try. You don’t have to be wealthy to afford a plane ticket – often times you just have to be patient and vigilant. If you see a $200-300 flight pop up, book it! This book changed my way of thinking about travel and motivated me to travel more – and it might help you too!
Frayed Books - blog | twitter | bookstagram | fb
July 5, 2021
Covid-19 changed travel for a lot of us, and Take More Vacations was a great mental break from the “rona effect” and self-imposed moratorium on travel for the time being. In non-pandemic life, I’m totally the hyper-planner who has a short-list of all the vacations I want to take for the next five years–okay, who am I kidding? I’m still that person, pandemic or not! So, I loved how the book got my creative travel-planning juices flowing again. I could live vicariously through the book examples until my life gets back to full vacation-planning mode.
The book primarily focuses on best practices to stretch your dollar and, indeed, take more vacations. It busts myths about when to buy airfare, provides an overview/history of aviation and how flights (and pricing) have changed over time, and challenges the reader to think outside the box as they plan vacation. I’ll also say, yeah, as Scott is the founder of Scott’s Cheap Flights–yeah, there’s a fair bit of website name-dropping, and real-life examples of peeps who used his site/tactics to score deals. But hey, I mean … the success speaks for itself, and there’s nothing like a) stories, and b) true stories at that, to illustrate the point.
I was frankly surprised that Take More Vacations barely addressed the pandemic. On the one hand, that was really nice, almost like I could forget about it for a while. On the same token, it read as though the pandemic really hadn’t changed anything, when it certainly has in the short term–at least temporary moratoriums (moratoria? IDK, and yet, I’ve also used the word twice in this blog post, soooo there’s that) on change fees (some airlines have even eliminated them permanently, or so they say now, and I love it). We’ll see how “permanent” some of these changes are–and maybe that’s why Keyes wrote as though they didn’t exist.
Keyes does spend a chapter exploring overtourism and emissions. While he and I may not see eye to eye on climate, etc., I still appreciate his insight, particularly his examination of how effective (or not) airlines’s offers of emissions offsets actually are.
I received an eARC of the book from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
The book primarily focuses on best practices to stretch your dollar and, indeed, take more vacations. It busts myths about when to buy airfare, provides an overview/history of aviation and how flights (and pricing) have changed over time, and challenges the reader to think outside the box as they plan vacation. I’ll also say, yeah, as Scott is the founder of Scott’s Cheap Flights–yeah, there’s a fair bit of website name-dropping, and real-life examples of peeps who used his site/tactics to score deals. But hey, I mean … the success speaks for itself, and there’s nothing like a) stories, and b) true stories at that, to illustrate the point.
I was frankly surprised that Take More Vacations barely addressed the pandemic. On the one hand, that was really nice, almost like I could forget about it for a while. On the same token, it read as though the pandemic really hadn’t changed anything, when it certainly has in the short term–at least temporary moratoriums (moratoria? IDK, and yet, I’ve also used the word twice in this blog post, soooo there’s that) on change fees (some airlines have even eliminated them permanently, or so they say now, and I love it). We’ll see how “permanent” some of these changes are–and maybe that’s why Keyes wrote as though they didn’t exist.
Keyes does spend a chapter exploring overtourism and emissions. While he and I may not see eye to eye on climate, etc., I still appreciate his insight, particularly his examination of how effective (or not) airlines’s offers of emissions offsets actually are.
I received an eARC of the book from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
January 3, 2022
All the criticisms others here have made of this book are true and valid - but I found this sucker inspirational. I typically go on one big trip a year - and it's a road trip. I haven't taken a flight in over five years. I've only left the country twice, and both times only to Canada - which only technically counts as a foreign land.
This book has me looking up flights; thinking about options; and even wondering about getting a passport. I can't imagine I'll do anything right away (I still want to do my annual summer road trip and that's not fully fleshed out, plus omicron is thriving right now).
Some nice findings (mostly just putting this here so I can look back on it later if I need to): the best days to fly are Tuesday, Wednesay, and Saturday. The best months are January, February, March, October, and November. The best weekend to score a cheap international flight? Thanksgiving weekend. There's the "Greek Island Trick" where you set your destination as your starting point on Google flights, find what airports get to/from there the cheapest and see how cheap you can get to those airports.
Examples of some really good roundtrip prices you can get: $200 for a trip to Canada, $250 w/in the US or to Mexico, $300 to Central America, $400 to western Europe or Alaska/Hawaii, or China, $450 to northern South America, $500 to eastern Europe, $550 to SE Asia, $600 to Japan/Korea, $650 to South Asia, $700 to Africa or Australia or southern South America or Central Asia or the Middle East, and $750 to the South Pacific.
Keyes also does a good job explaining why these fligths are so cheap. (Various factors, a key one being the impact on corporations buying up many tickets for business travel, so others can end up being on there for less cost).
This is one book I definitely appreciated.
This book has me looking up flights; thinking about options; and even wondering about getting a passport. I can't imagine I'll do anything right away (I still want to do my annual summer road trip and that's not fully fleshed out, plus omicron is thriving right now).
Some nice findings (mostly just putting this here so I can look back on it later if I need to): the best days to fly are Tuesday, Wednesay, and Saturday. The best months are January, February, March, October, and November. The best weekend to score a cheap international flight? Thanksgiving weekend. There's the "Greek Island Trick" where you set your destination as your starting point on Google flights, find what airports get to/from there the cheapest and see how cheap you can get to those airports.
Examples of some really good roundtrip prices you can get: $200 for a trip to Canada, $250 w/in the US or to Mexico, $300 to Central America, $400 to western Europe or Alaska/Hawaii, or China, $450 to northern South America, $500 to eastern Europe, $550 to SE Asia, $600 to Japan/Korea, $650 to South Asia, $700 to Africa or Australia or southern South America or Central Asia or the Middle East, and $750 to the South Pacific.
Keyes also does a good job explaining why these fligths are so cheap. (Various factors, a key one being the impact on corporations buying up many tickets for business travel, so others can end up being on there for less cost).
This is one book I definitely appreciated.
August 6, 2022
I used to travel every other year internationally, but now travel 2-3 times thanks to Scotts Cheap Flights.
We are also planning a 10 person trip with my family + this would be my 4th trip using them so keep this in mind when reading below:
1. If you know about Scott's Cheap Flights you would know this book is about flights only. And how flights can be a game changer for your entire vacation. He goes in depth on why that is. And it should. There are studies on how and why people are happier after vacation and how many flights you can afford to play into it. The people complaining about length are not considering that fact that it all ties together and it's good to detail why you need to find these deals
2. It busts a lot of myths. Myths I believed until reading this book and being a member for years. The people only rating it 3 or 4 stars are you really acting like you didn't just clear your cookies last week? Please.
3. People who felt like it was bragging - Would you buy a book from a guy who paid $2000 for a flight or $120? Do we not tell people when they complement your outfit how you got it for a deal or on sale? That was the story on how he started, would you rather him not tell that story? That's the intro to most books by someone who started their own company. Because the simple fact is, it's not bragging if you turn around and help others get the same deal. I scored a $300 flight to Portugal thanks to Scotts Cheap Flights and posted it on Instagram, would I not turn around and tell others how I found that deal? What an overly sensitive, ridiculous comment.
If you also want to take just as many flights at the same time as having a full time job I recommend this book to really change your way of thinking!
We are also planning a 10 person trip with my family + this would be my 4th trip using them so keep this in mind when reading below:
1. If you know about Scott's Cheap Flights you would know this book is about flights only. And how flights can be a game changer for your entire vacation. He goes in depth on why that is. And it should. There are studies on how and why people are happier after vacation and how many flights you can afford to play into it. The people complaining about length are not considering that fact that it all ties together and it's good to detail why you need to find these deals
2. It busts a lot of myths. Myths I believed until reading this book and being a member for years. The people only rating it 3 or 4 stars are you really acting like you didn't just clear your cookies last week? Please.
3. People who felt like it was bragging - Would you buy a book from a guy who paid $2000 for a flight or $120? Do we not tell people when they complement your outfit how you got it for a deal or on sale? That was the story on how he started, would you rather him not tell that story? That's the intro to most books by someone who started their own company. Because the simple fact is, it's not bragging if you turn around and help others get the same deal. I scored a $300 flight to Portugal thanks to Scotts Cheap Flights and posted it on Instagram, would I not turn around and tell others how I found that deal? What an overly sensitive, ridiculous comment.
If you also want to take just as many flights at the same time as having a full time job I recommend this book to really change your way of thinking!
April 7, 2025
Let me preface this review by saying that I am a huge fan of Scott Keyes. I have been a Going (formerly Scott’s Cheap Flights) member for a long time. That being said, my review is really a 3.5 rounded up to 4 because I am such a big fan of his and his team. The good is he goes into much detail on the best ways to get cheap flights. However, after a few chapters, especially towards the middle, the book gets repetitive and starts to feel a little tedious to read. Maybe this is because I am not a novice traveler or a novice to his methods, so it felt extra repetitive to me. I was really struggling until about chapters 8 and 9, when the writing starts to reflect more of his personal life, and the chapters start to talk about travel and the effect on the environment and tourism where the book really picked back up for me. The blew through the last 4 - 5 chapters of the book in one sitting. The end is a little repetitive too, but it felt more like rounding everything out and bringing all the points home whereas the middle felt more like fluff. All that being said, this book is still essential and required reading for anyone wanting to add more travel into their lives. It’s also an extremely easy and quick read. I did also appreciate how the book wasn’t a sales pitch, even though he has a whole business on this.
I mean he’s essentially just a guy who was (I’m guessing) bored at work and prowling around the internet daydreaming when he stumbled on a less than $200 flight to Milan, and then kicked off an entire successful business on it. Awesome right?! He remains a personal hero of mine.
I mean he’s essentially just a guy who was (I’m guessing) bored at work and prowling around the internet daydreaming when he stumbled on a less than $200 flight to Milan, and then kicked off an entire successful business on it. Awesome right?! He remains a personal hero of mine.
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