How to Buy Cheap Flights to Another City
Niche: Travel & Tourism Content Type: Problem Solving Why It Matters: The eternal problem of saving money, with many life hacks that can be structured into one useful guide.
Airfare is usually the biggest expense in any trip. While you can choose a cheaper hotel or find options with breakfast, the flight price seems fixed: you pay whatever the search engine shows.
In reality, the price difference for the same flight between passengers can reach 50-70%. Someone buys a ticket for $300, while their seat neighbor pays $150. This happens because airlines use dynamic pricing, and the price changes every hour based on demand, time to departure, and even the user's online behavior.
In this article, I've broken down all the truly effective ways to save on flights. No fluff—just specific tools, numbers, and examples.
The Core: What You Need to Know First
The golden rule of cheap flights: a low price is not luck, but the result of the right strategy. The system is designed so airlines always try to sell tickets as expensively as possible to those willing to pay, and cheaply to those who are flexible and know the loopholes.
Basic facts everyone should know:
- In Russia, it's best to buy 2-7 days before departure for flights between major cities (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan, Yekaterinburg). This window most often has the lowest prices.
- For international routes, buy a month or more in advance. For example, tickets to Bali, Dubai, or Baku are cheapest when purchased 29+ days before departure. Savings compared to late booking can be up to 50%.
- Exception: Turkey. Tickets to Antalya are paradoxically cheaper when bought a week before departure.
- Round-trip tickets are almost always cheaper than two one-ways. The difference can be 10% or more.
And the most important thing about "last-minute deals": they do exist, but they are almost impossible to predict. Cases where a ticket costs pennies a day before departure are rare and not widespread. Relying on them as a strategy means risking staying home or buying a ticket at an inflated price at the last moment.
Step-by-Step Solution: How to Find and Buy a Cheap Ticket
Step 1. Choose the Right Search Tool
Don't search for tickets on specific airline websites until you've checked aggregators. The best Russian aggregator is Aviasales. The service analyzes offers from over 2,000 airlines and agencies without adding its own markup. What you see is the real price from the seller.
Alternatives:
- Yandex Travel — convenient if you have a Yandex Plus subscription (up to 5% cashback in points).
- Ozon Travel — beneficial for active Ozon shoppers: you can write off up to 50% of the ticket price with bonuses accumulated on the marketplace.
- T-Bank Travel — for bank cardholders: cashback and bonuses for every purchase.
Important warning: Do not buy tickets on Avito or from unverified sellers on social media. Offers like "I'll help you book tickets with a 10% discount" are 90% scams or carding (payment with a stolen card). Your money will be gone, and you won't get a ticket.
Step 2. Use the "Anywhere" Feature
If you don't have a fixed destination, the "Anywhere" feature on Aviasales shows the cheapest destinations for your selected dates. This is ideal for spontaneous trips: sometimes a ticket to, say, Istanbul costs $80, while one to Sochi costs $150. For the same money, you can fly abroad.
You can also use the low-price map: in the Aviasales app, select "Map" and see prices to different cities directly on the world map.
Step 3. Compare Prices on Adjacent Dates
The price for the same flight can differ by 20-30% depending on the day of the week. The cheapest days to fly are Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. The most expensive are Friday and Sunday.
Here's what it looks like in numbers: a Moscow to St. Petersburg flight on Friday evening might cost $120, while on Tuesday morning it's $70. That's a $50 difference for shifting the date by 30 minutes.
Use the low-price calendar on Aviasales or Yandex Travel: it shows prices for each day of the month. Sometimes a ticket 3 days earlier or later turns out to be half the price.
Step 4. Compare Night and Early Morning Flights
The cheapest times to fly are when others don't want to: at night (after 11:00 PM) and early morning (before 7:00 AM). Tickets for such flights can be 30-50% cheaper than daytime ones.
Inconvenient? Yes. But sometimes saving $100 is worth a nap at the airport or bringing a travel pillow.
Step 5. Search in Incognito Mode
Airlines and aggregators track your actions. If you search for the same route several times, the system realizes: "this person really wants to fly. We can raise the price."
How to bypass: Search for tickets in incognito/private browsing mode. Or clear your cache and cookies before each new search. Even better, use a VPN: searching from another country may yield lower prices.
Step 6. Carefully Check the Final Price Before Payment
This seems obvious, but thousands of people overpay every day because they didn't look at the final amount.
What is often added automatically:
- Trip insurance ($30-50) — you can uncheck it
- SMS notifications ($1-3) — useless if you have the airline's app
- Seat selection ($5-30) — if not important, uncheck it
- Priority boarding ($10-20)
Always look at the final amount before clicking "Pay". If it's noticeably higher than what was shown in the search, find the fine print and remove the extras. And yes, you have the right to return forced insurance within 14 days after purchase if you notice the overpayment after payment.
Practical Tips and Advanced Hacks
Complex Route (Open Jaw / Multi-city)
You fly into one city and fly home from another. This is beneficial if you plan to visit several cities on one trip.
Example: Moscow → Paris, return from Milan. Instead of going back to Paris just to fly out (spending an extra $100 on a train ticket), you buy a single "complex route" ticket. This is often cheaper than two separate tickets.
How to search: On Aviasales, under the search form, click "Create a complex route" and add the segments you need.
Skiplagging — "Ditching" a Ticket at a Layover
This is an advanced hack that works like this: you buy a ticket with a layover, but you get off not at the final destination, but at the layover city. Why is it profitable? Because a ticket to, say, Istanbul with a "final" in Oman might cost $50, while just to Istanbul costs $120.
Real example: In summer 2025, Pegasus had tickets Moscow → Istanbul → Muscat (Oman) for $50. A regular ticket to Istanbul for the same dates cost $115. Passengers got off in Istanbul and saved $65.
Important risks that bloggers don't mention:
- You cannot fly with checked luggage (your suitcase will go to the final destination)
- You cannot skip the first segment — all subsequent ones will be canceled
- The airline may put you on a "blacklist" (theoretically, though there are almost no practical cases. Lufthansa tried to sue a passenger for €2,300, but the court dismissed it)
- Do you need a visa for the final country? The check-in agent in Moscow might check and deny boarding.
My advice: Use this method only if you fully understand the risks. For beginners, I don't recommend it.
Flights with Layovers Instead of Direct
A direct flight is always more expensive than a flight with one or two layovers. Sometimes the difference is $100-200. If time isn't critical, go ahead and take connecting flights.
Example: Moscow → Bangkok: direct ticket — $700, with a layover in Doha — $450. Savings of $250 for 4 extra hours of travel.
Chinese Airlines for Flights to Asia
In 2025, flying to Asia via China has become significantly cheaper. For example: Moscow → Beijing → Bangkok: Chinese carriers sell such tickets 30-50% cheaper than direct flights. Plus, no visa is needed for transit through China.
Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
| Mistake | Consequences | How to Avoid |
|---------|--------------|--------------|
| Buying 1-2 days before departure on a popular route | Price 2-3 times higher than the minimum | Buy tickets within Russia 2-7 days in advance, for international flights a month in advance |
| Searching without incognito mode | The algorithm sees your interest and may raise the price | Search in private mode or via VPN |
| Ignoring alternative airports | Overpaying when a cheaper airport is nearby | Check all airports in the region. For example, you can fly into Moscow via Domodedovo, Vnukovo, Sheremetyevo, or Zhukovsky — prices vary |
| Buying two one-way tickets instead of round-trip | Overpay at least 10-15% | Always compare the round-trip price with two one-ways |
| Automatically agreeing to insurance and extra services | +$30-100 to the ticket price | Carefully read the final amount and remove unnecessary items |
| Buying from sellers on Avito | 90% risk of losing money and tickets | Only buy from trusted aggregators |
Summary: Brief Conclusion and Next Step
You can always save on airfare — the question is whether you're willing to spend time on it and accept certain inconveniences. The more flexible you are with dates, departure times, and willingness to take layovers, the cheaper your flight will be.
Your next step right now:
- Open Aviasales or Yandex Travel (in incognito mode)
- Enter your route and select dates
- Look at the low-price calendar — maybe a ticket a couple of days later is 30% cheaper
- Compare prices with nearby airports
- Before payment, remove all automatically added insurance
And most importantly: if you find a good price, don't wait. Cheap tickets sell out in hours, sometimes minutes. The dynamic pricing system works around the clock. Have a great flight!
— Editorial Team
