Carriers like Spirit, Frontier, or Ryanair have low base fares but charge for everything else (bags, seats, even water). Only use them if you can travel light. 4. Beat the Algorithms
Set a "Track Prices" alert on Google Flights for your specific route. They’ll email you the second the price drops.
Tools like Skiplagged find flights where your actual destination is a layover (just don't check a bag!).
While Yahoo Answers users often recommended individual airlines, the pros use "aggregators" that compare hundreds of sites at once: