I Help people find cheap flights around the world, AMA!

What are your favorite and least favorite airlines?

Favorites: All the Middle Eastern ones, Singapore, just amazing service especially if you fly upfront. Least Favorite: I loathe Norwegian and WOW for their confusing pricing (but love them for lowering fares everywhere), also I really hate flying United.

Honestly is there anyone that enjoys flying United?

no. they break guitars

I flew Turkish about two years ago now and they were amazing - I recommend them to anyone going overseas where they offer the destination. What is your opinion on them (if you've used them)?

Love em, love the Lounge, Love Istanbul, love the free Turkish delight you get on the plane

Hi Ari! Wanted to say thank you for the advice you gave me last year when I was talking about my recovery from cancer and wanting to go out and travel.

I actually just got back from a trip to Victoria with the fiancé that you, in a round about way, ended up encouraging. So thanks for that (:

We’ve been telling everyone we can about your service and we’re excited to utilize it shortly ourselves.

I’ll ask a similar question to last time, maybe your answer has changed: where is your favorite “no name” place to travel; I.e not one of the big usual destinations (Paris, Rome, Tokyo, etc) but either a smaller country or less touristy city?

Thanks for doing what you do!

Glad to have helped!

Malta is really just a bizarre place to me. It's European but not really and no one ever thinks to go there.

If you don’t mind me asking a follow up, what makes it so unique?

It's not unique, it's bizarre. It's this island in the med that's half arabic half Italian, somehow they're in the EU, it's just weird.

Any tips for freebies in flight? (Upgrades /leg room etc)

Depends on the airline, but these days it's all about Status and/or having the co-branded credit card. It also depends if you're flying out of a major hub airport or the end of the line deep in the middle of nowhere. I always get much better results at backwater airports :)

Any advice to get cheaper flights in the summer?

Book way in advance. Summer is ALWAYS expensive. Everyone goes somewhere. This is the number one question I Get

Is there any way to fly to Australia from the US for less than a grand roundtrip? I'd really want to go there, but the options I've seen (Qantas, American, United) are so pricey...

The deals pop up, I've sent at least 3-4 in the last few months that were 700 or so

Any general travel tips? I fly 3-4 times a year domestically out of CHS. I prefer Delta, fly comfort. I recently booked a flight to New Orleans in April and I feel like I searched the whole of the internet but couldn't find anything less than $600 unless I was willing to fly super late.

Stop flying out of Charleston, is RDU or CLT doable at all?

Typically wouldn't save enough on the flight to make it worth the drive CLT is about 3 hours away and RDU is 5.

yup, then you're screwed

We want to go to Kauai as a family. We were thinking of going in the fall but are open to different times. How far out is the best time to get flights? Thanks so much for doing this AMA!

It depends from where on the country, HI goes on sale from the west coast often.

Are they just cheap one ways but the return flight may be much more expensive?

No, almost always round trip

I signed up and got all of the emails for a month or more looking for something out of my city. It's an international airport in the midwest and there weren't any deals. Are deals just for people who have a major airline hub in their city?

Which airport? Just because it has the word international does not mean it's international. BHM, looking at you

Did you ever recommend someone a cheap flight that turned out in some tragedy due to the cheapness of the airline etc.? Genuinely curious, not trying to be mean or something

never saw that

What is the best travel site to book tickets through?

I don't have a preference really.

Flights are one (big!) part of the travel equation. But when planning trips I’m finding that the cost of lodging is also expensive, especially if you’re looking at hotels/ inns/ motels and not couch surfing or hostels.

Do you have any tips for finding cheap but decent hotels?

Have you ever stayed in and enjoyed a hostel or similar group lodging?

I think Hostels are good, I also really like AirBNB, it depends on what you rbudget is

No uk? :(

We used to do UK, but honestly on the short haul routes you guys are covered by all of the Low Cost Carriers, and the Long Haul was not that cheap.

Worst airport you've been to?

Newark Terminal A by far

I'm in Mexico and want to go to EU and Asia soon.

Any thoughts on where to begin?

How do places like Skyscanner and Kayak impact your business?

Also...what do you do that these portals dont?

Thanks.

fly up to the states, much cheaper.. out of MIA

Hi Ari.. i still get your emails every fortnight and i love looking through them for gems.

But there's been a death in the family and I need to travel to India in April and all the prices are above 900.. any recommendations ?

There are some good deals right now to Delhi, otherwise ask for a bereavement fair

Hi! So, haven't seen this asked but maybe I haven't scrolled far enough:

In various fields, I hear it said "you can do it right, or cheap, or on time; but only ever two of the three."

Is this true for your work? Like, say I had a destination in mind and was contacting you because I wanted it cheap; would the caveat be that I have to go one specific week of the year when it's cheaper? Or could you find a flight, cheap, for almost any time and any place?

So We find deals on a daily basis - it may not be where you want to go now, but that's where the deal is?

Did you know that by taking one commercial airline flight you're essentially rendering your carbon footprint large enough that you can't ever make up for it?

Do you factor in the carbon cost of these flights?

no, I'm in denial about climate change.

When is the best time to book a December 2018 trip from British Columbia, Canada to New Zealand?

now

Hi, thank you for doing this AMA. Do you any advice/tips for flying from the US(California) to Germany(Munich)?

Sure - California is a big place, but I see consistently good deals out of LAX and SFO as opposed to other airports. Sometimes the deals will be to FRA, so be flexible.

Thanks for posting! I get your emails and I'm waiting to buy in on a trip soon. What's the best credit card to use for getting travel points?

This is a complex question worthy of its own reddit, (/r/churning), but I am a big fan of the Chase Saphirre Preferred (not reserve) or AMEX Platinum, depending on who you fly. SPG Is also good.

I want to travel to Tuscany in 2018. Is there an off season? Where do I look for great rates? How far ahead do I need to book?

Can you go in the Spring?

What are your top tips for finding cheap flights from anywhere in Canada to anywhere else in Canada?

Go south of the border, and fly back in. Seriously, Canada to Canada is the worst. People get excited for deals to Edmonton!

How easy/likely is it to find a trip that intersects using points, finding cheap flights, and high demand time?

I fly a weekly for work and am hoping to use points to pay for a majority a (hopeful) trip to Tokyo for the 2020 Olympics. I was just curious to see how realistic it would be to actually do that.

If it's just you on the points, it will be doable, you're going to have to time it right and try and book as soon as the schedule is released, and use sites like ExpertFlyer to search for Award space for you.

1. How does your newsletter know where I'm looking to fly out of? It only asked for country

2. The prices you gave as examples are those one way flights?

Thanks for providing this great service!

You'll get an email, it will ask for more info. Those are roundtrips.

Are low cost airlines like southwest and Ryan Air the best choice? Or are they always the best choice?

It depends where you're going and how you feel about flying, does that make sense?

Are flights to Ukraine hard to find? (Asking because haven't been to there for many years and have relatives there)

nope, and in fact Ukraine International Airlines is usually pretty cheap

i booked a few flights for late may/early june several weeks ago.

all of them have been changed to make my travel times inconvenient.

when saving $$, how often do flights get changed? seems pretty strange all 3 flights i booked at a substantially better rate than others were changed

doesn't happen that much. You can cancel them no charge

When flying out of the DC area, is BWI, DCA, or IAD a consistently better choice, or does it really vary on route?

I tend to see best deals out of BWI and then IAD, rarely DCA.

I’m trying to get from Montreal to Las Vegas but prices seem to be very expensive. I don’t have a time set yet so I’m free to go whenever the prices are most affordable. Any suggestions? I check with Spirit form Plattsburgh as well and comes out to same prices.

Flights that have at least one end-point in Canada are ridiculously expensive compated to what the americans pay.

Hopefully OP has some tricks to get around that (though I'm not holding my breath)

Montreal is tough for deals, we'll see stuff out of Toronto or Vancouver down to Vegas.

Hey Ari, thanks for doing the AMA.

I booked an upcoming trip to EU a month or so ago...

One way into Copenhagen (from Dallas) for $250 and one way home (also Dallas) from Dublin for $260. Visiting for about 9-10 days.

I was pretty proud of myself as I always manage to do my due diligence and find good prices. Question is... could I have done even better, and if so, how?

I think that's pretty good for an open jaw using two one ways!

Can you help me find cheap flight to greece? Dates march 17-25

Looking for flights in March starting now is a bad idea; where are you flying from?

Trying to plan a week long vacation in September to Vancouver and Calgary. Leaving from the Madison/Milwaukee area. Any ideas what would be the easiest and cheapest flights? Where to leave from and which days of the week to fly on?

I know this is a long shot but can you go from Chicago?

have you ever smoke some dOobie ??? ??? is hella Gud mans!!!1!!!! Take a try man..

I don't partake but I am happy it's becoming legal finally.