How To Find Cheap Fares With Kayak: 4 Steps That Work

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Have you ever used Kayak to find cheap flights online? If not, you’re missing out on cheap travel. Relatively few people know how to take advantage of the many tools Kayak has to offer to get affordable fares from more than 900 travel sites.

One of the good things we like about Kayak is that there are no hidden or extra fees tacked onto the fares displayed. Some sites will show you a fare, but the price will change at checkout. That’s not the case with Kayak.

How To Use Kayak To Find Cheap Fares

In this article, we’ll tell you how to use Kayak to find low airfare. No matter if you’re traveling alone or with friends and families, these tips can help you during the travel-booking process.

What Is Kayak And Is It Safe To Use?

Kayak is a travel website that is a subsidiary of Booking Holdings Inc., the global leader in online travel services. Like many travel booking sites, Kayak is safe to use.

The site works by showing you fares and when you click them, forwarding you to the respective travel provider, whether it be an airline or hotel, to book directly on their site.

How To Use Kayak’s Explorer Map

Kayak is perhaps most famously known for its Explorer Map, which is perfect for travelers looking to check out another part of the world for lower-than-normal fares.

To use the Explorer Map, just go to kayak.com/explore on your phone or laptop.
On the interactive map, you can choose where to go based on your budget.
Click on “When” to select departure and arrival dates.

Be Flexible

What you’ll often find is that the dates you input in the map have caused the prices to rise. Don’t worry, if you have flexible travel plans, simply change the starting location for your search or the dates.

What Is A Hacker Fare On Kayak?

A Hacker Fare is a fare that is a combination of two one-way tickets, rather than one round-trip ticket. Hacker Fares can include a single airline or multiple airlines, depending on how many stops your itinerary has.

The main thing to know about Hacker Fares is that they are capable of saving travelers a lot of money for the inconvenience of potentially changing carriers.

Some places are more popular than others when it comes to Hacker Fares. According to Kayak, here are the top destinations for Hacker Fares.

Top Hacker Fare Destinations

Kona, Hawaii – 22%
Martha’s Vineyard – 22%
St. Augustine, Florida – 19%
Palm Springs, California – 19%
Niagara Falls, NY – 10%

How To Track Your Route On Kayak

Another cool feature of Kayak is that it has a Route Tracking Tool that allows you to see how prices may change on your itinerary before you book.

The goal of the route tracker is to give you an idea of how prices change over time or compare two destinations’ price trends.

To use Kayak’s route tracker, put in the following parameters:

Origin City
Destination
Destination #2

Once you hit enter, you can compare prices year-over-year and see how they differ.

You can also research Kayak’s Price Trends by Destination. After that, it’s up to you to decide what you’re going to do based on the prices.

Final Word

Kayak is a great resource for finding cheap fares online. Kayak is one of the best sites to find cheap flights online. Just like many of the other travel websites, you’re going to have to do some research to find the best deals, but they’re out there.

What I like about the site is that you don’t have to worry about whether your personal and payment information is safe. With Kayak, it is.

If you like this content, check out our Travel Savings Guide to save on the places you want to go this year.

Keisha Smith

Keisha Smith is a Contributing Writer who attended college at Southern University A&M College in Baton Rouge. She is currently writing a book on south Louisiana culture.