How We Find Cheap Flights: The Websites We Check Every Time
Finding cheap flights often feels like pure luck. We’ve lost count of how many times we spent hours hopping between airline websites, refreshing pages, and comparing prices, only to close the laptop frustrated. Eventually, we realized that the best deals rarely show up there at all. They’re usually hiding on deal websites that track error fares, flash sales, and surprisingly low prices for you. These are the sites we now check first when planning a trip, especially when we’re flexible and ready to jump on a good deal.
Secret Flying
Secret Flying is one of the most popular platforms for finding extremely cheap flights worldwide, focusing on error fares and heavily discounted routes that often slip under the radar. It’s an informational website, meaning you don’t book flights directly there. Instead, it finds and publishes unusually low prices resulting from airline pricing mistakes, and links you to trusted booking platforms where you can lock in the deal. What we like most is its global reach. Deals aren’t limited to major hubs, and you’ll often see departures from smaller European airports too. Just be ready to move fast, because these fares rarely last long. We came across Secret Flying several times from other travellers, checked it out, and never looked back.
How it works
The team continuously monitors airline pricing and posts deals as soon as they appear, often within hours of a mistake going live. You can browse all deals for free and click through to external booking sites, such as Skyscanner or airline partners, to complete your booking.
Do you need a subscription or account?
No account or profile creation is required to use Secret Flying. Browsing deals is entirely free. However, you can sign up for email alerts or notifications if you want deals delivered directly to your inbox, which we did and received daily deals.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Excellent for finding error fares and extremely cheap flights
- Global coverage, including smaller European airports
- Free to use with no account required
- Great inspiration if you’re flexible with dates and destinations
Cons
- Deals disappear very quickly, so you need to act fast
- Email alerts can feel overwhelming, with multiple messages per day
- The website experience on mobile can be frustrating due to heavy ads
- Not ideal if you’re looking for specific dates or routes
Important Note
Secret Flying does not sell flight tickets. It only shows deals and redirects you to third-party booking platforms. Prices can disappear quickly, and availability is never guaranteed.
Pro Penguin Tip
If you find an error fare on Secret Flying, book first and plan later. Avoid adding extras, don’t refresh too much, and wait for ticket confirmation before booking accommodation.
Fly4Free
Fly4Free is a flight deals website we often check when searching for cheap flights around Europe. It often features airline sales, discounted routes, and error fares, many of them departing from smaller or less obvious airports we might not normally consider. It’s an informational platform, so you don’t book directly on the site. Instead, it curates cheap and mistake fares mainly for European travelers and redirects you to airlines or booking platforms. It’s useful for spotting deals you’d likely miss when doing a regular flight search on your own.
How it works
The team tracks airline prices and publishes deals as soon as they appear. When they spot a deal that’s significantly cheaper than usual, they publish it with all details, including departure airports, travel dates, and example prices. Each listing also includes a direct link to an external booking platform or airline. As with most deal sites, prices can change quickly, so timing and flexibility are key.
Do you need a subscription or account?
Browsing deals is entirely free. And then you can sign up for free and get deals sent directly to your inbox instead of checking the site manually. Fly4Free also has a mobile app (available for Apple and Android), which we downloaded and use with notifications turned on. This makes it much easier to catch deals quickly, especially since the best ones don’t last long.
We also downloaded the Fly4Free app and turned on notifications. It’s honestly been a game-changer for us. Instead of constantly checking the website or digging through emails, deals pop up on our phones when they go live. And since the really good ones disappear fast, getting notified right away makes all the difference.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Very strong focus on European departures, especially Central and Eastern Europe
- Regularly features deals from smaller regional airports, not just big hubs
- Includes both error fares and normal airline sales, so deals feel more realistic
- A mobile app with notifications makes it easier to catch deals in time
- Clean deal breakdowns with clear routes and dates
Cons
- Less global coverage compared to Secret Flying
- Some deals repeat across different days or departure cities
- Email alerts require creating an account
- The website experience can be distracting at times, especially on mobile
- Not ideal if you’re looking for ultra-long-haul or rare error fares
Pro Penguin Tip
Fly4Free is especially useful if you’re flying from Central or Eastern Europe. Always check nearby airports for even better deals. And as with all deal sites, prices can disappear quickly. Availability is never guaranteed, especially for error fares.
Skyscanner
Skyscanner is probably the most well-known flight search site, and it’s one of the first places we ever used when looking for cheap flights. While it’s not a deals website like Secret Flying or Fly4Free, it’s an essential tool in our search process. We use it to compare prices across airlines and booking platforms, especially when we’re flexible with dates or destinations. Features like searching the whole month or flying “Everywhere” make it much easier to spot the cheapest options and build a trip around a good price, rather than forcing specific dates.
How it works
Skyscanner works as a flight search engine that compares prices across airlines and booking platforms in one place. You enter your route, or keep it open-ended, and Skyscanner scans hundreds of options to show you the lowest prices available. We use it most when we’re flexible, especially the “Whole Month” view or the “Everywhere” option, which makes it easy to spot cheap dates or destinations we hadn’t even considered yet.
Do you need a subscription or account?
You don’t need an account to search for flights on Skyscanner. You can browse, compare prices, and click through to book without signing up for anything.
If you want price alerts, you’ll need to log in (usually with a Google account) so Skyscanner can notify you when prices go up or down. They also have a mobile app (available for Apple and Android), which we use regularly. It’s handy for checking prices on the go and getting alerts when a flight suddenly drops in price.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- One of the most well-known and easy-to-use flight search tools
- Great for flexible travel with features like “Whole Month” and “Everywhere”
- Compares prices across many airlines and booking platforms in one place
- No account needed for basic searches
- Mobile app available with price alerts, which is very convenient
Cons
- Not a deals or error fare website, so you won’t find mistake fares here
- Prices can sometimes change after clicking through to a booking site
- Some third-party booking platforms may have less flexible conditions
- Requires an account to receive price alerts
Pro Penguin Tip
Skyscanner is best used after you’ve spotted a cheap route or when you’re flexible with your plans. We love using it to explore the cheapest month to fly or to see where we can go for the lowest price and build the trip around that. It’s not about chasing error fares here, but about finding the best possible price for the dates and destinations that make sense.
HolidayPirates
HolidayPirates works a bit differently from pure flight deal sites. Instead of only focusing on flights, it pulls together a mix of cheap flights, hotel deals, and sometimes full travel packages. The team constantly searches for good-value offers and posts them with clear explanations, example dates, and prices. When something catches your eye, you click through to the booking partner to check availability and book. We mostly use HolidayPirates when we’re feeling flexible and want inspiration rather than searching for one specific destination.
How it works
HolidayPirates is more about browsing than searching. Instead of entering routes or dates, you scroll through deals that are already live and bookable. The team highlights offers that are genuinely cheaper than usual, explains why they’re good value, and shows example travel periods. When something catches your eye, you jump over to the booking site to see if it still works for your dates. We tend to open HolidayPirates when we’re not sure where we want to go yet and just want to see what’s cheap right now.
Do you need a subscription or account?
You don’t need an account to browse HolidayPirates, and all deals are visible for free. If you want to stay updated, you can sign up for email alerts or download their app (available for Apple and Android). We’ve found notifications especially useful, since the best deals tend to sell out quickly and it’s easy to miss them if you’re not checking regularly.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Great for travel inspiration when you don’t have a destination in mind
- Includes flights, hotels, and package deals in one place
- Easy to browse without searching specific routes or dates
- App available with notifications, helpful for catching short-lived deals
- Good option for spontaneous or last-minute trips
Cons
- Less focused on pure error fares compared to Secret Flying
- Package deals can come with stricter cancellation or change policies
- Not ideal if you already know exact dates or destinations
- Prices and availability can change quickly after clicking through
Buy Me a Ko-fi
Cheap Flight Websites Comparison Table
| Website | Best For | Type of Deals | Coverage | Booking | Account Needed | App |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Secret Flying | Error fares & ultra-cheap flights | Error fares, flash sales | Global | Redirects to third-party sites | Optional (for alerts) | No |
| Fly4Free | Cheap flights from Europe | Airline sales, error fares | Europe-focused | Redirects to airlines or OTAs | Optional (for alerts) | Yes |
| Skyscanner | Comparing prices & flexible searches | Standard fares | Global | Redirects to airlines or OTAs | No (Yes for alerts) | Yes |
| HolidayPirates | Travel inspiration & packages | Flights, hotels, packages | Mostly Europe | Redirects to booking partners | Optional (for alerts) | Yes |
These are the four websites we open the most when we’re planning trips or just daydreaming about the next adventure. They’ve saved us hours of searching and helped us travel more by finding better deals along the way. We hope they help you do the same.
Now pack your bag, stay flexible, and waddle on to your next adventure.
Save This Pin for Later!
This post contains affiliate links. If you click and buy, I might earn a tiny commission, enough to help a penguin keep up its globe-trotting lifestyle. No extra cost to you, just more fish for me. Thank you for supporting the adventure!