Finding affordable flights can sometimes feel like a full-time job. Especially when you’re traveling as a family, a difference of €100 per ticket can quickly turn into a few hundred euros.
Over the years, we’ve learned that finding a good flight deal is less about one magical trick and much more about being flexible, comparing properly and knowing where to look. These are some of the things we do when we’re planning our next family adventure.
1. Use Google Flights to see where you can go for less
One of our favourite ways to get inspired is the Explore function in Google Flights.
Not sure where you want to go yet? Perfect. Enter your departure airport, choose your dates or a flexible date range, and leave the destination open. Google Flights will then show you a map with destinations and prices.
This is particularly useful when you know when you want to travel but haven’t decided where yet.
We’ve often started planning a trip this way. Instead of thinking, “Where do we want to go?”, you can turn it around and ask, “Where can we go for a good price?”
And don’t forget to check more than one airport. Depending on where you live, for us Amsterdam, Brussels, Düsseldorf or Frankfurt can sometimes make a surprising difference.
2. Be flexible with your travel days
If your dates aren’t fixed, play around with them.
Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays can sometimes be cheaper because they tend to be less popular travel days. But there is no golden rule here. Flight prices depend on the route, season, airline and demand, so don’t automatically assume that Tuesday will always be cheaper than Friday.
For us, flexibility often makes a bigger difference than trying to find the “perfect” day.
Sometimes moving your trip by just one day can save enough money to pay for a family dinner, an extra activity or even part of your hotel.
3. Don’t automatically book a return flight
We often think of a holiday as: fly there, fly back from the same airport.
But that isn’t always the cheapest or most practical option.
When you’re planning a longer trip, check multi-city, open-jaw and one-way combinations as well. For example, you could fly into Tokyo and fly home from Osaka, rather than travelling all the way back to Tokyo just to catch your flight home.
You can also compare different airlines for the outbound and return journeys. Sometimes two one-way tickets together work out cheaper than a traditional return ticket.
This is something we always check when we’re putting together a more complicated itinerary.
4. Compare, compare, compare
Never assume that the first price you see is the price you have to pay.
We like to compare flights using several search engines, including Momondo, and then check the price directly with the airline before booking.
Why? Because the cheapest-looking option isn’t necessarily the best deal once you add luggage, seat reservations and other extras.
And travelling with kids makes those extras particularly relevant. A €40 flight can suddenly become a very different price when you need four seats and checked luggage.
So don’t just compare the headline price. Compare the total price for your family.
5. Don’t panic when you find a great fare
Flight prices can change quickly. We’ve all experienced it: you check a flight in the morning, think you’ll book it later, and suddenly the price has gone up.
If you find a fare you’re happy with, don’t spend days assuming it will still be there.
That said, be careful with the idea of a universal “24-hour rule”. The well-known 24-hour cancellation rule is a US Department of Transportation rule for certain flights to, from or within the United States, and it doesn’t automatically apply to flights booked in Europe.
Always check the cancellation and fare conditions that apply to your specific booking.
Our own rule is simple: before pressing that final booking button, we check the dates, names, luggage allowance and cancellation conditions one more time. Because saving €100 on a flight isn’t much of a saving if you accidentally book the wrong date!
And once you’ve booked…
Finding the flight is only the beginning of the holiday planning.
We always start thinking about the practical stuff afterwards: what do we actually need to take, how can we keep our luggage manageable with two kids, and how do we stay connected when we arrive?
Our Sunny Packing List is a handy starting point for a warm-weather family trip, and we swear by our Travelicious packing cubes to keep everyone’s clothes organised. We even use different colours for each family member, which makes finding things in a suitcase so much easier.
For international trips, we also look at getting an eSIM before we leave. Having mobile data from the moment you land is one less thing to worry about, especially when you’re trying to find your hotel with two tired children in tow.
And finally, don’t forget the less exciting but very important part of travel planning: travel insurance. Because sometimes things don’t go according to plan. We’ve experienced that ourselves when one of our suitcases didn’t arrive with us in Puerto Rico. Thankfully, we had travel insurance and could get on with our holiday while waiting for the suitcase to catch up.
Finding a cheap flight is great. Finding one that fits your family, your luggage, your itinerary and your peace of mind is even better.
