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One-way trip smart and cheap: Top 12 must-do to book it wisely

Sara

Updated: May 15, 2024

The internet is full of pages and blogs with useful tips on how to best book trips, BUT they are almost always talking about two-way tickets, short or long travels around the world. Here we want to focus on the very different case that is the ONE-WAY ticket to your future life destination. You are not only going to visit the country, you are moving there, and the approach to what to put in the luggage and the whole organization changes. If you already feel overwhelmed, don’t you worry: we got you! We know the struggle, and here we want to give you the top 12 must-do to book your trip wisely, smart and cheap. 


For convenience of this article and for the more complex nature of it we will only talk about booking your trip by plane and we will not discuss different ways of transport, but if you want to know more about that, you can read our article: LINK. 


Booking one way ticket

Booking a trip smart and cheap requires a combination of research, planning, and flexibility. Here are our 12 favourite must-do to book the move wisely:


  1. Stay Flexible: Being flexible with your travel dates can save you a significant amount of money. Always look for flexible date search options on travel booking websites to find the cheapest days to fly. You are looking for a one way trip, because you are planning to move to a new country, do you really need to take that flight on a Friday night? Or can you wait for the middle of the week, when prices are lower? Stay open to alternative airports, routes, and accommodations to find the best deals. Sometimes flying to a nearby airport or taking a slightly longer route can save you quite some money.


  1. Book in Advance: Generally, booking your flights well in advance can result in lower prices. However, this might not always be the case, especially with budget airlines that may offer last-minute deals. So don't be desperate if you decide to start a new life, this should not stop you, you can always find a good deal out there also if short term. 


  1. Use Price Comparison Websites: With price comparison websites you can easily check the cheapest or best options available across different airlines, hotels, and travel agencies. Kiwi is our go-to website. It has plenty of options and flexibility on adding nearby airports, flexible dates and flexible destinations. I personally use it mainly as a starting point always go to the airline website to book the deal I want. There are also other websites that are worth a try like Skyscanner, Kayak, and Google Flights and can help you find the best deals.


  1. Sign Up for Alerts: Subscribe to fare alerts and newsletters from airlines and travel booking websites. They often notify subscribers about special deals and promotions. If you are afraid to receive too many email, you could also set the alert only for specific destinations on some websites.


  1. Choose carefully between low cost and traditional Airlines: Budget airlines may offer significantly cheaper fares than traditional airlines. Be sure to check for additional fees and restrictions, such as baggage fees and limited amenities. It might be cheaper to fly with traditional airlines when travelling with more baggage or when you are looking for more flexibility with your tickets and reeboks. However, some of the traditional airlines have a weird system that gives you almost the same price for one way or two way tickets (example Lufthansa: trip from Rome to Rio de Janeiro one way is 500€ and two way is 600€). So what do we recommend to you? Read the reebok and flexibility options, if you book your ticket with a specific date that could also be quite far from the way there (I guess you will have one occasion when you want to go back home to see your family and friends), and then if you change your mind and reschedule the flight is only 50€ you can just move it again and again. You will have a way back needed already paid for whenever you will need it.


  1. Travel Off-Peak: Here is the same concept that we previously discussed in the number 1, the flexibility is not just about the day of the week, but could also be about the season you want to leave your country. Travelling during off-peak seasons can lead to lower prices on flights. Avoiding holidays and peak travel times can help you save money.


  1. Package Deals: In case you don’t have a place to sleep yet, when moving to your next home destination. Look for package deals that combine flights and accommodations. Sometimes booking them together can result in substantial savings compared to booking them separately.


  1. Use Reward Points and Miles: If you have accumulated reward points or frequent flyer miles, consider using them to offset the cost of your trip. There are 3 main airline alliances: Star Alliance, Oneworld and SkyTeam and you can register for free with all of them. Many credit cards offer rewards programs that can be redeemed for travel.


  1. Stopover: A lot of airlines (especially the traditional ones) offer free or almost free stopovers in their headquarters. So on your way to your next home destination you can also have 1 or 2 nights to explore a new country or city. Most of the time you can leave your big luggage at the airport, so you can travel light. They might offer you accommodation, including transport, breakfast and/or dinner and sometimes even organize a tour of the city. You don’t believe me? Go and check the stopover program for Etihad, Qatar Airways, Turkish Airline, Tap, Iberia and Emirates ;)


  1. Book Directly: In some cases, booking directly with airlines can be cheaper than using third-party booking websites. Plus, booking directly may offer better flexibility in case of changes or cancellations. So personally I always go for the direct booking, even if I spend 10/20 Euros more than some third-party booking websites, when my trip is being cancelled or has some changes, I always get the best customer service directly from the airlines.


  1. VPN, cookies and incognito mode: You might have heard this already, Google is watching you. There are 3 things that will always help you avoid that your research in Google, or in the internet in general can make your tickets increase the price. Use a VPN (we use PureVPN, it’s a paid version but it’s really cheap and it works perfectly), delete the cookies from your browser and use the incognito mode. 


  1. Day of the week you are buying your ticket: You will find a lot of different ideas on this topic and no single answer. What we would like to recommend to you is to not be too impulsive and to have a look at it on different days and different hours of the day - and always following step 11 of course. And you might be lucky and find the best price. 


We hope you liked our post and hope that the 12 must-do to book your trip wisely are going to help you in your next move. Do you know more tips that you would like to share with us? We would love to hear them in our comment section below!


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