When it comes to travelling further and more often, it’s important to save money wherever possible. One particular avenue to keep cash in your pocket is without a doubt finding a cheaper flight.

We all know that we can find cheap accommodation quite easily on the whole, but it’s the logistical side of things which often costs a little more. If you can save money on your flights, you’re onto a winner with saving money in general.

So, how can you find those cheap flights time and time again?

It takes a little clever thinking, and sometimes going around the houses maybe, but in the end it’s worth it.

Shop around

It makes sense to check for deals before you commit to anything. You wouldn’t buy a car without looking around first, and you need to apply the same thinking to booking a flight. Head online to price comparison sites, look on Skyscanner, and find the cheapest combination. You could even hold off booking for a few days and see if the price drops, having identified the flight you’re going to book. If you’re doing this however, don’t check constantly, as interest in the form of web traffic will help drive the price up

Go indirect

Yes, it’s a pain in the backside, but flying indirect can sometimes save you a considerable amount of money. It all depends on how long the stop-over is at the connection point, but if it’s not too much, then there’s no reason why you can’t stretch your legs, have a coffee, and then get on the second leg of your journey. It’s a case of weighing it up, but if it saves you a considerable amount of money, then really there’s no reason why not.

Book your flights as separate entities

Sometimes when you search for a direct flight, you will find the outgoing flight to be cheap, but the inbound leg to be very expensive. Don’t ask me why this is, it’s just a strange occurrence in the world of air travel, but there is a way around it sometimes. Book your flights separately, i.e. book your outgoing flight and pay for it, then search for your inbound flight and pay for it. You could even mix it up and book your flights from different airports, provided the travelling distance doesn’t make it false economy.

Don’t travel at the weekend if at all possible

Weekend travel is generally more expensive than mid-week, so look carefully at when you fly, in order to keep cash in your pocket. Friday to Monday is on the whole more expensive, so anything outside of this could come in cheaper for you.

Fly with hand luggage only

You’ve probably noticed that booking a suitcase onto your journey rockets the price up somewhat, so if you’re only heading away for a short time, and you find an airline who offer more in the way of hand luggage allowance, try and be strict with what you take, buying your toiletries at the airport to save weight.

These are five tips which will help you find cheaper flights, allowing you travel further