DALLAS — Full disclosure: In my most recent episode of Right on the Money, I made a big mistake. The story was about time off, and how a lot of workers don’t use all the vacation days they are allotted.
But I made an error when I recalled some of my previous time off. It was a mistake because, since I took that trip down Memory Lane, my productivity has been wrecked. It is now clear that another vacation is the only thing that is going to fix it.
Planning trips 'in reverse'
If I planned for it the way I did for some of those past trips, I would decide on a place or a couple of places I would like to go to and then try to find the best airfares to get there. But now I often travel backwards, letting the flight deal-map dictate where I am going, and even when I’m going in some cases. Then, I ask for the time off.
In its State of Travel 2024 report, Going.com calls it “planning your trips in reverse." 62% of travelers surveyed for the report said they plan trips this way now. I just booked this way again (so thankfully, I can now be productive once more).
I used Google Flights, which has an ‘explore’ tool. It allows you to punch in where you’re leaving from and the dates. Instead of choosing a destination, you click ‘explore.' You can then scroll across the globe to see which destinations have the best deals according to Google.
You can also further refine the search by toying with the dates and seeing updated fares for different time periods. Going.com has an explainer on using the Google Flights tool here. The site also has tutorials on how to make the best use of flight search sites Skyscanner, Momondo and Kayak.
Kayak and Momondo have a similar explore feature. Those two sites tied for first place in a recent Frommer’s ranking of the best airfare search sites of 2024. Frommer’s reported that top-ranked Momondo consistently found the best airfares of all the platforms tested. By comparison, Google Flights came in for a tenth-place finish in their rankings.
Other features to help you find flight deals
I like to shop using a couple of these sites and then compare the best deal I find there to the offerings on an individual airline’s website. Keep in mind, different sites offer different perks as well. Several of the major booking sites also allow you to set alerts for a particular trip so you can get notifications when the price for that route dips.
Also, as I reported last year, Google Flights started guaranteeing some airfares by monitoring prices on the route until you depart and refunding you the difference if it goes more than $5 below what you paid. Google expanded the guarantee to some flights that you find through Google Flights, but that you book on another site.
And if you search with Google Flights on your phone, you’ll see that right beneath your search, Google will now tell you based on its analysis of pricing trends when the best time to book that route may be.
Travelers have big plans (and pet peeves) this year
These are timely considerations, because spring break is right around the corner and summer isn’t far behind. And apparently, we are itching to go places. Even after a blockbuster travel year in 2023, Going.com finds that more than half (54%) of aspirational travelers are planning to take more international trips this year and more than a third of them (35%) are planning more domestic trips this year.
If you are considering a trip, Going’s State of Travel report also looked at airfares in recent years and plotted trends for different geographical areas. They found that in 2023, it was significantly more expensive to travel to places like Asia and the Middle East and that it was much less costly to fly to points in North America and the Caribbean.
If you are going somewhere, take your headphones or earbuds. The report also surveyed travelers about their pet peeves. They responded that fellow travelers not using headphones when listening to music was one of their top annoyances, tied with “kicking or pulling on the back of your seat.” The most common irritation reported was “Having a cough or cold and not wearing a mask.”
I am proud to say I only do one of the things listed. It’s not important which one. I'll work on it.
Happy travels!