If you’re looking to plan a trip this spring or summer, a viral TikTok video may help save you money on your flight.
The video by @sam_jarman suggests never searching for a flight directly from an airline, as it will be more expensive. Instead, he says to type “Google Flights” into your browser.
In Google Flights, choose “round trip” (if it didn’t automatically select that) and put in where you’re flying from, but do not put in a destination. Then, click the map.
In the video, the example he uses is a $217 flight from Los Angeles to New York roundtrip that he is able to find for $177, a savings of $40. The trick is that you have to be very flexible about flying, as the $177 price applied to one specific time.
You can watch the TikTok video below for his full instructions on how to use Google Flights to find cheap airfare:
@sam_jarman Google flight hack has saved me BIG $$$
This trick works best if you don’t have a destination in mind and no specific time during which you must travel. For travelers who love a steal and sometimes just want to pick up and go somewhere, this hack is probably a good one to add to your usual searches for cheap flights to a variety of destinations. Or, you could try using it to compare prices if you found a flight elsewhere and want to see if you can find a cheaper one.
And if you know where you want to go and are traveling during a specific period, like spring break, you may get lucky and still find a cheap flight this way.
TikTok commenters have also pointed out that it only works for certain airlines — mostly low-budget ones such as Spirit and Frontier — and the feature only shows basic economy fares. So, if you’re not up for that, it’s another way the trick won’t help.
Don’t Waste Your Money tested the Google Flights hack and found that it does work exactly as the video shows — especially if you’re not concerned about a specific destination or travel time.
We also discovered there are a few filters you can apply. For example, you can choose the number of stops (nonstop, one stop or fewer, or two stops or fewer), but selecting those may limit your options even further — much like any other method you’d use to search for a flight.
If you’re a budget traveler who likes to keep your options open, this is a good airfare hack to add to your go-to ways of finding cheap flights.
Happy traveling!
This story originally appeared on Don't Waste Your Money. Checkout Don't Waste Your Money for product reviews and other great ideas to save and make money.
