I’ve been booking international flights for years, and to cut to the chase — there’s no single magic tool that’ll always get you the cheapest fare. Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying! Instead, the savvy move is knowing which tools are good at what, and which ones to chuck out entirely. Here are the best flight booking sites I actually use and a few tools I’ve tried and ditched.
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Flight booking sites I love
Here are some of the sites I’ve used that actually get results when booking affordable flights.
Skyscanner
An oldie but a goodie. I think I’ve been using Skyscanner since about 2012, and it’s still the best overall flight comparison tool out there.
It’s ideal because you can (and always should) still book with the airline directly. While Skyscanner will show you deals through Trip.com, Kiwi.com, eDreams, and other third parties, I implore you to always book through the airline. If anything goes wrong, it makes communication, refunds, and all the other stuff so much easier.
Another perk to Skyscanner is that you can also use it to search hotels now, which is cool because Booking.com is a nightmare.
Seats.aero
I used Seats.aero to book international business class from Bali to Auckland for 45,000 Aeroplan points and $100. And I’m not like some genius points hacker! I don’t have the patience. And people like me are basically who Seats.aero is built for.
If you’re sitting on loyalty points (Aeroplan, Skymiles, Qantas Frequent Flyer, and many more) Seats.aero is the best flight booking site to find worthwhile award seats across dozens of airlines.
The free version lets you do basic searches, but the $9.99/month paid tier is worth every cent if you’re actively trying to redeem points. You can even subscribe for a single month, find and book your flight, then cancel if you don’t need it anymore. The paid version let you set alerts so you get notified when a deal pops up that meets your pre-set criteria. It also gives you broader search functionality and filters that make it much easier to find exactly what you’re looking for.
Google Flights
I like that you can search from multiple airports with Google Flights — most other sites only let you search to multiple airports. I’m also a fan of a map for comparison. It’s neutral, it’s tried and tested, It’s Google. Same as Skyscanner, it’s a comparison tool and you can book directly with the airline. That’s kinda of the key that keeps it in my heart as one of the best flight booking sites.
But the prices shown on Google Flights aren’t always perfectly up-to-date. I’ve had it show a fare that had already ticked up by the time I reached the airline website. Not a dealbreaker, but check the final price before you get excited.
Read more: Is Airport Lounge Access Still Worth It?
Fly With Beaver (Canada only)
For my fellow Canadians, Fly With Beaver is a hidden gem — still totally under the radar. It’s free and finds good return deals departing from major Canadian airports.
You can filter out ultra-low-cost carriers like Flair — Canada’s worst airline — and exclude connections through the United States. Controversial, but hugely helpful if you’re trying to avoid the hullabaloo that comes with transiting through American airports.
Note: At the time of writing, Fly With Beaver only shows return flights departing from Canada. So it’s best for vacations rather than clever one-way flight hacking.
Flight booking sites I'd love to try
Here are some of the sites I haven’t used yet because I can’t. Going only works in the US, and Mirai flights is out of my general price range. But if you’re in either of these regions, they’re a couple of the best flight booking sites to check out.
Mirai Flights
Mirai Flights lets you live your wealthy socialite dreams on a budget. Their “Empty Leg” system lets you book a private jet at a huge discount.
If you don’t already know, lots of planes (commercial and private included) fly even when they’re empty so they don’t lose their airport slots. These are known as “ghost flights.” I don’t have the space to get into it in this article, but there’s a better description of how ghost flights work here.
Mirai has a semi-solution to this problem: discounts on private jets that would otherwise be empty. So if you’ve ever wanted to roll up to Ibiza in the ultimate luxury, you and three of your closest friends can hop on a jet leaving from Mallorca for just 1,200 EUR. It’s hard to pinpoint a realistic comparison, but chartering even a small private jet the normal way can run you at least 5,000 EUR.
Mirai Flight private jet costs
Here are some example Mirai Flight routes:
- Paris to Madrid: €12,000 for up to 9 people
- Vancouver to LA: €30,000 for up to 15 people
- Austin to Miami: €17,000 for up to 10 people
- Nice to Amsterdam: €16,000 for up to 30 people
It’s expensive no matter what type of girl math you’re doing. But if you can fill that jet full of friends, the Nice to Amsterdam route is actually just 530 EUR per person. Just sayin’.
And when you refer a friend, you BOTH get 1,000 EUR credit to use towards a flight. (If you use my link, I’ll book the departure and you can book the return, deal?)
Going (US only)
Going is a newsletter and app for flight deals departing from the US. No Canada, no Europe, no Mexico — just the States. But it does at least show you international destinations. Set your home airport(s) and it emails you when something good comes up. You get a 14-day free trial, but then you need to pay for the Premium or Elite plans.
It claims to show you deals that are 40–90% off normal prices, which sounds extreme, but they do catch the occasional “mistake fares” and pop up flash sales. You need to jump on them fast though! So while you won’t always get dream flights for 90% off, you might be able to catch some true gems if you’re flexible.
I haven’t actually used this one myself because I don’t live in or go to the US. But I stalk Going’s newsletter and they send out pretty epic deals, aaaand they have glowing reviews on Trustpilot! Hopefully they expand their service area some day.
Flight booking tools I don't recommend
Here are some booking tools that may seem useful on the surface, but are actually disappointing when it comes down to it.
Ratepunk
I paid for a year of access to Ratepunk and it was a waste of money. They advertise 90% off fares, and I guess when something seems to good to be true, it is. I never saw anything that cheap, and the offers were never really any cheaper than what I could find on Skyscanner.
Trustpilot scores are high overall (4.2/5 at the time of writing). But the 1-star reviews talk about how difficult it was to cancel the membership, which I also experienced. Redditors advise everyone to avoid it like the plague, too. Just not worth any potential savings IMO.
Trip.com
Trip.com gives me the ick, and not just because of the AI-generated images all over the site.
I had a sketchy experience where they sent me a receipt for what I paid them, but no actual flight ticket. I didn’t get the tickets until two days before a long-haul international flight from Auckland to Toronto. It worked out in the end, but that experience was the nail in the coffin on never using third-party booking sites ever again.
The deals are only ever marginally cheaper than what you can get directly with the airline, so it’s better to just fork out the extra money for the peace of mind.
Skiplagged
Skiplagged finds what they call “hidden city” fares — flights where your target destination is actually a cheeky layover on an itinerary to somewhere else. Sometimes connecting itineraries are dramatically cheaper than a direct flight. So in theory, if you book the longer route and get off for the layover, you can just… never board the second flight.
But I don’t recommend this for a few reasons. Firstly and most importantly, it’s against most airlines’ terms of service. It can get you banned and some airlines have even pursued legal action (though not always successful).
Secondly, this only works if you’re not checking bags because your luggage will go through to your ticketed final destination. Unless you’re transiting through the US, where you always have to pick up your bags and go through security on a layover. But I especially wouldn’t be messing with US border anything right now (or ever tbh). The high risk of “skiplagging” doesn’t outweigh the pros.
Naomi Lai
Naomi is a Canadian travel editor and writer with 13 years of international travel across Southeast Asia, Europe, South America, New Zealand, and beyond. She covers everything from budget backpacking to luxury travel — always from personal experience.
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