The Best Ways To Find Cheap Last-Minute Flights This Summer

Summer is a rabid time for every type of travel. Hotels and camping sites are booked up, massive crowds descend upon popular attractions, and prices for rental cars and vacation homes are inflated. When it comes to flights, you might find issues with both inventory and high fares. In a world where flights just seem to be getting more and more expensive, finding the best deals means looking out for price variations — and they can swing widely from one week to the next. By taking an expansive view of your options, you'll be able to target dates with lower rates, even during the busy summer vacation travel season.

If you had begun your hunt for a summer flight deal back in May, you might have seen that Skyscanner's "Savings Generator" tool identified the week of August 19 as the cheapest to fly. But now that mid-August is right around the corner, results are mixed. The good news is, there seems to still be plenty of deals if you know where to look and you have some flexibility. The cheapest rates are, of course, going to depend on your point of origin and your destination, but in general terms, the lowest-cost flights will be mid-week and during the middle of the month. By the way, you might find better deals if you book travel at the beginning of the week, too.

Skyscanner has several functions that can help you with your search for low-fare summer flights. Start by inputting your search criteria. There are a myriad of filters you can use to exclude certain airlines, choose times, and select your preferred number of connections. When you start to add dates, watch for the color-coded calendar that quickly provides the lowest "green day" fares. Once you hit search, look in the upper lefthand corner for "Show Whole Month." This will show a calendar with rates, giving you a quick snapshot of the best deals for the remaining days of summer and beyond.

Google Flights is another stellar option when it comes to hunting down the best days to fly. Again, input your flight criteria and begin a search. Then, look for the "Date Grid" and "Price Graph" links. These are two different ways to see price trends based on your search. This allows you to easily toggle around different dates to locate the cheapest flights. Google Flights also provides an "Explore" option. To use this tool, enter a departure city and put "Anywhere" as your destination. Then, choose "August" as the month and select a weekend, week, or two-week duration. Google will then provide the cheapest flights anywhere in the world.

There's no denying summer weekends and dates around Labor Day are some of the busiest travel days of the year, and prices generally align with that demand. However, if you're flexible, you can find great deals before the kids and teachers have to return to school. One way to get those deals is to allow contact from the airlines themselves. Be sure to sign up for airline loyalty programs and allow notifications. You can always unsubscribe later, but it's a great way to find out about summer flight deals in the short term. Nearly every domestic airline runs frequent "act quick" campaigns for upcoming travel, where you can fill the empty seats while leaving more cash in your pocket.

It will also help to investigate the hubs of your favorite airlines. For example, knowing United has hubs in cities like Houston, Chicago, and Denver means there will likely be more direct flights and better deals than from other airports. Another effective technique is to allow pricing alerts for specific flights. Skyscanner and Google Flights both offer this service. You can also choose "Track Prices" on the aggregate site Momondo or select "Price Watch' on the Hopper app. With unlimited flexibility, you might find more consistently low prices in those golden mid-September, mid-week dates before summer officially comes to a close. But if August is your best option, run searches for mid-week trips, and you'll likely find a deal.