Which airfare site is best if your dates are flexible?

Google Flights for a flexible month, Skyscanner for a flexible destination. Both let you search a range rather than a date, which is where flexibility turns into money.

Search a month, not a day

Google Flights' date grid shows a whole month of departure and return combinations with a price on each. Skyscanner and Momondo do the same thing. Two minutes in a calendar view will beat an hour of typing individual dates.

The pattern you are looking for is not the single cheapest cell. It is the block of cheap cells, because a single low price is often one seat that will be gone by the time you decide.

Flexible about where, not when

Skyscanner accepts Everywhere as a destination and returns a list of countries sorted by price, then cities inside them. Google Flights has an equivalent in its map view, which is better for seeing that the cheap option is three hours from where you actually wanted to be.

Set the alert and stop looking

Every one of these sites will email you when a fare on your route moves. Set one, then leave it alone. Checking a fare daily does not make it fall and does make you book the first thing out of exhaustion.

Common questions

How do I find the cheapest month to fly?

Use the date grid or price graph on Google Flights, Skyscanner or Momondo. All three show a range of dates at once with a price on each.

Which site tells you where to fly for the cheapest fare?

Skyscanner's Everywhere search. Enter your departure airport and a date range and leave the destination blank.