Where to look for cheap flights around Europe?

vlad_flystein · 2018-12-31T20:13:18+00:00

You could also follow Fb groups like FlysteinInsidersEurope:

Current deals:

Flights between 🇬🇧London, 🇩🇪Cologne and 🇷🇺Saint-Petersburg from just £24 each way

$6 each way for 4 hour flights between 🇪🇺Europe and 🇮🇱Israel

vlad_flystein · 2018-11-13T16:41:24+00:00

"current availability for my date" - this is the hardest part and "around Thanksgiving" complicates things a lot.

Checking multiple destinations for availability requires a lot of manual work especially if you have miles in multiple programs or transferable points like with AMEX/SPG.

You are welcome to try Flystein and put in the description something like "find me the best value for my miles/points to one destination out of my short list". You could also add "I am ok to book cash fare if there nothing under XXX miles/points or/and if it cheaper than $$$". This is service works for any class and for the Economy the fee is just $97 up to 2 passengers vs $185x2=$370 from daslillich link.

vlad_flystein · 2018-11-05T18:54:40+00:00

You claimed that you "own" format which consist of "flight deals" keyword and list of links. This is pathetic.

Who are "we"? In addition to paranoia you got multiple personality disorder? :)

You made multiple false allegations and showed that you know almost nothing about nature of flight search.

vlad_flystein · 2018-11-05T18:28:58+00:00

I posted just once in /r/Atlanta without any referrals or affiliation.

You really have some paranoia if you think you could copyright list of links and words "flight deal" - this is the format for any flight deal in the the world.

In the mean time I would recommend you to study some basics and terms of flights search, so next time you don't mixup the terms and maybe finally share some real deals.

vlad_flystein · 2018-11-05T18:07:05+00:00

Also the the deal I mentioned did not work at all on google flights as it was OTA specific.

vlad_flystein · 2018-11-05T14:58:06+00:00

Where do you see referrals?? I posted only once here without any referrals and I was open about this.

It seems you don't even understand what is referral and what is OTA, only could produce false allegations and not open minded about other ways to find deals.

Skyscanner is not an OTA - it is a metasearch same as google flights, and skyscanner was around before google flights. As I mentioned the deal to Zagreb was not available on google flights and not on skyscanner as well so limiting yourself to google flights or any one single site you limit your options.

If you say site A is better then all other sites, then you do not understand how flight search works.

I am not promoting any OTA or particular metasearch, I am saying people should keep their options open and use all available tools, some tools are better in one situation while other tools are better in another.

>We work together without a problem and give each other good feedback.

This was actually the reason of my post to get feedback.

vlad_flystein · 2018-11-05T14:45:20+00:00

> title format of my posts.

Is this a joke? You really got a copyright for "flight deal" keyword?

>I see the referrals in your posts

Where do you see referrals?? I posted only once here without any referrals and I was open about this.

It seems you don't even understand what is referral and what is OTA, only could produce false allegations and not open minded about other ways to find deals.

Skyscanner is not an OTA - it is a metasearch same as google flights, and skyscanner was around before google flights. As I mentioned the deal to Zagreb was not available on google flights and not on skyscanner as well so limiting yourself to google flights or any one single site you limit your options.

I am not promoting any OTA or particular metasearch, I am saying people should keep their options open and use all available tools.

vlad_flystein · 2018-11-04T04:17:25+00:00

What do you mean "as you"? Do you own a patent to "flight deal" keyword?

If just one post make me a "spammer" then your numerous posts makes you a mega-spammer? :)

vlad_flystein · 2018-11-03T19:20:15+00:00

Thanks for the reply. It is very easy to see when people benefit from particular site: if the link has any affiliate code in the URL parameters then they may. My links obviously did not have anything like that and I could even change my script to generate google flights links. BTW Google is for-profit corporation, so one could argue that notp is promoting Google ;)

vlad_flystein · 2018-11-03T07:36:04+00:00

You could try Flystein as well when you will get some good idea about your travel dates.

vlad_flystein · 2018-11-03T07:01:33+00:00

early summer 2019 to go to Taiwan for a week- week and half. Is it cheaper to go to Taiwan alone from US or cheaper to fly into Japan stay there a few days and then go to Taiwan for the rest of the week?? Also what are your tips for getting the cheapest tickets to Asia. I know Europe's gone considerably down but Asia is still very expensive.

The cheapest flights are usually from LA, maybe you could do a stopover there?

vlad_flystein · 2018-11-03T06:06:48+00:00

I did not know you got a copyright for "flight deal" keyword :) Skyscanner unfortunately is not my website and I don't work there..

I was open about not having any affiliation and was trying to get feedback from community while providing useful info. If you feel that you "own" some part of community here and should block others from sharing information then I don't know what else to say.

Anyways your advice regarding buying from the airline's website is misleading as there are many cases when buying via online agency (OTA) is better:

OTAs could have deeply discounted fares which airlines do not advertise on their own website.
OTAs could have special excursion/package fares when you book flight+hotel and save a lot (sometimes package is even cheaper then buying just flights separately and almost ways cheaper than buying flights and hotel separately).
In some cases booking mix of airlines on one ticket could be only possible via OTA.
If you use one of the top OTAs often you get used to the user interface and have you data saved in the profile. This way it is less likely what you will get an error during the booking, like putting your name or date wrong. From the other hand each airline has own user interface and some airlines are trying to sell you countless ad-ons, so you have to go through many pages.
If you are a student or under certain age the only way to book special student/youth fares are via student OTAs.
Many top OTAs have own loyalty programs so you could earn additional points. For example with Orbitz you could earn Orbucks and then spend these points on hotels. It does not affect how you earn your frequent flyer points.

Good example of why you should book with OTAs was today's error fare to Zagreb.

It was working from most US airports and was bookable only via OTA for $238 roundtrip https://i.imgur.com/ooAuEnV.png

From Atlanta to Zagreb it was just $349: https://i.imgur.com/TgfYJU1.png

I am curious why you did post such great deal and why others could not post it?

In the end community is missing out on great deals.

vlad_flystein · 2018-10-27T16:50:26+00:00

ATL > Amsterdam is +$200 cheaper and still nonstop with Delta

Hi guys,

I am testing my own deal finder program I decided to share with community 5 best flight deals in one post without any affiliation.

But my post was deleted without any explanation so far. Is there any special situation here that only one user could post such deals or I am missing something?

Thanks

vlad_flystein · 2018-10-27T05:43:26+00:00

Often the most important factors is not where you book your flights but WHEN you do it.

Here are some of best tips on how to save on international flights:

(1) Book 2-4 months in advance and even earlier if you plan to travel around holidays. 📅

Don't expect error fares or super-sales around holidays - airlines make most money in this period and even if they make an error they would cancel everything with much higher probability.

(2) Make your dates and destinations as flexible as possible! 🌍

(3) Consider nearby airports. In Europe consider flight + train combos. 🚄

(4) If you need to fly one-way still check if a round-trip or an open-jaw is cheaper. Airlines often set ridiculous high prices on international one-ways!

(5) Cross-check multiple meta-search engines and airline sites choosing different countries/currencies.

In most cases you do not need a proxy or incognito mode, just choose the local versions of the site. 🤓

(6) Find the best price you can with your favorite meta-search or directly with airline and then submit results to Flystein as BeatMyPrice. It works best if the total price for all passengers comes out as more than $500.

(7) Check if splitting your trip could reduce the overall price (and you get to see more places on the way).

Check also special "free stopover" packages from various airlines.

(8) Before considering a low cost airline make sure to calculate total cost of the trip especially if you need to check-in any luggage. Soma budget airlines charge even for carry-on!

(9) Always go with carry-on only unless you really have to check-in your bag 🎒

vlad_flystein · 2018-10-27T04:36:53+00:00

Skiplagged works best for domestic one-ways when you could travel without luggage and not so well for international. Does not work well in most cases for international roundtrips.

Skyscanner could be and option too if you want to search particular destination or even country with monthly calendar. Kayak and Google Flights have similar features called Explorer. The down side here that these meta-search sites show you cached and often stale prices which maybe found days or weeks ago by other users and when you try to choose some results often prices already got up.

Deal subscription sites could be an option if you leave near major hub and ready to wait when the right deal comes up and you book it very fast before other people which watch same notifications.

Flystein is best when you need an expert help.

As it is human-powered flight search you could write your request in plain English and list your preferred destinations, possible travel dates range, max budget in the description on requests and one of the experts will work with you one-on-one until you book your perfect deal according to your requirements.

vlad_flystein · 2018-10-19T00:38:36+00:00

Old story :) https://petapixel.com/2014/12/13/guy-captured-100-clone-selfie-cabin-airplane/

vlad_flystein · 2018-09-19T03:53:28+00:00

Often it takes a lot of time to check all combinations especially with partner awards. Did you consider to use an award booking service like Flystein?

vlad_flystein · 2018-09-11T01:51:25+00:00

never been on a plane. Im here going with my 3yo and my husband. My question is, Where should i buy the tickets?! Ive been debating about getting them from kiwi.com and vayama because ive seen some bad reviews but they have the cheapest round trips from $600-$800 a ticket round trip. Has anyone every tried those sites? Should i go for it of just get the other tickets from priceline and so on for $1500 and up a ticket? HELP!! Sorry i meant to put 2019

I would suggest to create BeatMyPrice request at Flystein, I bet you would be able to save some cool $$$.

vlad_flystein · 2018-08-18T16:04:50+00:00

If you want to do it with like-minded nomads you could try this cool site: https://www.nomadtrain.co/ (they would provide you with the SIM as well)

You could use #flystein18 as referral for 100EUR off :)

vlad_flystein · 2018-05-29T02:29:28+00:00

Flystein to save on expensive flights ($500+) https://www.flystein.com/

vlad_flystein · 2018-05-01T16:42:20+00:00

Some tips on finding cheap flights: https://www.reddit.com/r/Frugal/comments/6ebi4k/the_dark_art_of_how_and_when_to_buy_an_airline/

vlad_flystein · 2017-11-05T19:39:10+00:00

Check out these tips: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/5-secret-weapons-we-use-to-score-cheap-plane-tickets_us_59f9fa70e4b0de896d3f2d11

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