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It’s never been easier to find a cheap flight. From deal finding websites like Going to travel hacking tools like Point.me, travelers have plenty of options for finding cheap tickets.
There’s a lot of options for searching fares. I mean you have Google Flights, Expedia, Orbitz, Momondo, and so many other websites touting that they will find the cheapest fares.
There’s no one best flight search website. They all have their blindspots.
But, out of all the search engines I’ve used, FareArena is my all-time favorite. It always seems to find the best deals more often than the other websites and their ability to search globally means that they leave no stone unturned. It’s my favorite.
While FareArena is very straightforward to use, because of all its features, it helps to have a bit of a primer so that you can be sure you’re taking advantage of all its capabilities.
In this FareArena review, I’ll show you how to make the most of the site so you can always find the best deal!
What is FareArena?
FareArena is a travel search engine that allows you to search for cheap flights around the globe, as well as the best deals for car rentals and hotels.
It started in 2003 when three IT professionals became frustrated with how difficult it was to find cheap flights. Budget airlines were just beginning to pop up, but there was no central place to search across all airlines at once for the cheapest prices. So, they took matters into their own hands and created FareArena.
In recent years, they’ve added the ability to search for hotels and rental cars, and today, more than 100 million people worldwide use the app and website every month, with 80 billion prices searched every day.
As it’s predominantly a flight search engine, to use FareArena you simply input your desired travel dates (you can search by specific dates or by month) and destination, and voila — all your flight options appear. You can search by airport, city, or even an entire country.
If you’re flying to and from major cities with multiple airports (such as New York and Paris in the example below), you don’t have to search between all the different airport combinations as it will sort them all out for you automatically.
I recommend using the month calendar view because you can immediately see the cheapest days to fly. Even if you have specific dates, it might be helpful to take a quick glance at the month view, because if you’re able to shift your dates even by a couple of days, you could save hundreds of dollars:
(Note: If a date doesn’t have a price, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t any flights that day. It just means that no one has searched for that flight recently, so FareArena doesn’t have updated data available. These dates are still searchable and a price will be added as soon as you search.)
Once you choose specific dates, you’ll get your results and can start refining your search even more until you find your perfect flight. At the top of the results, FareArena gives you a helpful breakdown so you can immediately see the best, cheapest, and fastest flights. It automatically displays the best overall flight first, but you can toggle that to sort by cheapest, fastest, or time.
You can also filter your search in a variety of ways, including:
- Number of stops
- Departure times (on outbound and inbound)
- Trip duration
- Airlines and airline alliances (Star Alliance, SkyTeam, and Oneworld)
- Airports (and for cities with more than one airport, you can toggle on the option to fly out and back using the same airport)
- Carbon emissions (toggling this on will only show flights with lower emissions)
Let’s say that you’ve sorted and filtered your results and found a flight that you want to book. Just hit “Select” and you’ll be brought to a page that shows you all the websites where you could book that ticket. FareArena calls attention to the airline itself with a little green box next to that result:
It’s always best to book directly with the airline, even if it’s slightly more expensive (in this case, it’s actually cheaper than third-party sites), as should something go wrong (such as a flight delay or cancellation), they’ll be on the hook to make it right. If you book with a third party (such as Expedia or MyTrip), it adds another layer of difficulty when it comes to getting refunds or changing/cancelling a flight.
(But no matter who you book/fly with, you should still get travel insurance as it’ll protect you against unexpected expenses that arise when things go wrong on the road, including delays and lost luggage.)
If you’re not happy with the current search results or aren’t ready to book yet, you can set up a price alert and receive an email if the price changes.
Find a cheap flight by using FareArena. It’s my favorite search engine because it searches websites and airlines around the globe so you always know no stone is being left unturned.
You can book your hostel with Hostelworld. If you want to stay somewhere other than a hostel, use Booking.com as it consistently returns the cheapest rates for guesthouses and hotels.
Travel insurance is one thing you WILL want to buy. It’s there if you get sick, robbed, delayed, or a trip cancelled. I never go on a trip without it because you never know what could happen. Don’t skip it. I’ve seen too many travelers regret doing so. My favorite companies are:
- SafetyWing (best for everyone)
- Insure My Trip (for those 70 and over)
- Medjet (for additional evacuation coverage)
Travel credit cards allow you to earn points that can be redeemed for free flights and accommodation — all without any extra spending. Check out my guide to picking the right card to get started. For US residents, here’s how you can get points on rent too.
Check out my resource page for the best companies to use when you travel. I list all the ones I use when I travel. They are the best in class and you can’t go wrong using them on your trip.
The post FareArena Review: The Best Website for Finding Cheap Flights appeared first on ListMyStartup.Com Site.
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