So another trip to explore out planet and cultures has been planned and booked. I will share step by step my booking process with you to help you getting the cheapest flight possible.

Decide what is the one goal of the trip

When I plan for a trip, I make a list of things I want to do during that trip. I always have few ideas and things already on my list. However, I use google maps, google search, reading other blogs, YouTube, and TripAdvisor to expand my list.

Then, I start to minimize my list to one or two things that I want to do or see the most. I structure my search and plan around them. This will help to find the best dates and facilitate the planning. For example, I search for the best month to visit to make sure that the weather is good for that specific activity or place. For this trip specifically, I have 2 weeks to travel and my goal was to visit Mount Yasur. I started to search the best dates to visit the active volcano.

Start with google flights

Google flights is a good tool to explore the best dates of the month to visit your destination. All you need to do is to enter your nearest airport and your destination. Don’t forget to choose the “flexible dates” option. It will give you the best prices for that month. For this trip, I did not have flexible dates, so I chose my dates, but eventually adjusted them.

The first result usually is not successful and shows high prices. Next step, I move the departure and/ or return dates by 1 or 2 days. Then, I pick the cheapest flight and check the connections and layovers.

Check the connections and add new destinations or stops

Checking the connections is vital for the process for 2 reasons:

If you want to add another destination to your trip, this can help you to decide
Sometimes it is cheaper to booking 2 separate return flights. One from your home airport to the connecting airport. And the second, from the connecting airport to your desired destination.

In my case, I found that many flights to Port Vila, Vnuatu has a layover in Nadi, Fiji. Also, they tend to be the cheapest one. There is a direct flight from Los Angeles to Nandi. Since I have 2 weeks which is more than enough to visit Mount Yasur, Fiji was added as a secondary destination of the trip.

Check non-stop flights from an airport

“Hmm, I still have time to visit another small island”, however, I have only 3 days to spare so I need to spend minimal time traveling to that destination. I usually use FlighConnections to find non-stop flights.

For my trip, I found that Tonga is one of the least visited countries. Usually, this is something I am looking for to experience the culture without the contamination of modern tourism.

The actual flight searching

Mainly I use 2 websites to book flights; Expedia and Kayak. Here are the pros of each one:

Expedia: better for hotels and packages. Adding hotels to flight will bring the prices to competitive fares. Expedia’s reward program is really good. I usually redeem my points for about 5 nights at luxury hotels.
Kayak: better for flight especially international flights. Also, it is better for multiple destination flights. I haven’t booked hotel from Kayak that much.

My prices if I book round trip to Port Vila, Vanuatu was $2800. So, I had to divide the trip to 2 legs. The first one from my hometown airport to Nadi, Fiji on Expedia which cost $1220 with 3 nights hotel in Nadi. This came up for . Then, I added a multi destination itinerary on Kayak as following (total of 8 flights), Nadi to Port Vila, Port Vila to Tanna (Mount Yasur), Tanna to Port Vila, Port Vila to Nadi, Nadi to Nuku'alofa (Tonga), Nuku'alofa to Nadi. All 8 flights cost $800. So total flights with 3 nights in Nadi was $2020. With just breaking down the trips, I saved about $1700 as following:

about $800 difference on flights
if we add the other round trips between Port Vila/ Tanna and Nadi/ Tonga, this is another $600
the total price includes 3 nights in Fiji which is minimum of $300 if booked separately.

I booked all other hotels through Expedia to earn more points and get some discount as I booked the first flight through them.

It might sound a long redundant process, but it takes on average 45 minutes per destination. For this particular trip, I spent 4 hours to save $1700. Isn’t it a good deal?

Feel free to contact me if you have any question.