How to Find Airline Promo Codes (plus other ways to save flight costs)

Unless you have a hundred bucks you want to keep throwing away, it’s important to hunt for the best deals every time you’re dipping into your wallet.

As with streaming services, mobile data plans, groceries, company software packages, and fashion accessories, one can land cheap airline promo codes. You just have to look for them.

In this post, we’re going to show you how and also teach you other ways to save on your flight costs.

What are airline promo codes?

An airline promo code is a flight incentive that shaves a few bucks off a regular ticket amount. Of course, how much it shaves depends on the trip and airline in question. Sometimes, travelers can get as much as 20-50% off. And other times, it’s straight cash deduction – like $100 or $200 off. It really depends.

As you can imagine, not all airlines offer promo codes. Some do only on special occasions – like Christmas, New Year, Eid, or special holiday seasons. Others do at strategic intervals – like every first week of every month. And there are those that offer promo codes almost every time.

Usually, when an airline is offering a promo code, you will get the news in your email box. That’s if you’ve signed up for their email newsletter. If you haven’t, you may be lucky to get the update as an on-screen popup message the next time you visit the airline’s website to book a flight.

If none of that works for you, you will need to scour the airline’s website for info about promo codes. Don’t worry; if there are bonuses to enjoy, you’ll find the promo code boxes and action buttons staring you in the face on the homepage. Airlines don’t keep them a secret. It will be there for everyone to see on their website. After all, these offers are meant to keep visitors from leaving their site for a third-party site.

How to find airline promo codes

As we said, the easiest way to find cheap airline bonus deals is to sign up for your favorite airline’s newsletter. That way, you’ll be updated whenever there is a deal to enjoy.

Alternatively, to do that, there are a few tricks you can use.

1.  Follow the right handles on Twitter

Twitter is home to all news – sports, politics, fashion, health, you name it. The platform is a good place to find recent updates about available promo codes.

For starters, you can follow handles like @Secretflying or @TheFlightDeal. I could name a few hundred more. But I won’t bore you with such details. Once you follow any of the handles mentioned above, Twitter will suggest plenty of similar handles to follow. The suggestion will be based on the demographic details gathered about you. I believe that is better than listing a hundred handles that may not be entirely peculiar to you.

2. Use Google

Use Google to search for promo codes offered by airlines going from your home country to your target country. For example, say you’re traveling on an ESTA application visa from the UK to New York, you can search for ‘cheap airline promo code from the UK to New York.’ If you perform such a search, here’s what you’ll find:

A bunch of ads announcing flight promo codes:

Click through to read the terms of each deal and find the ones that best appeal to you.

3. Bookmark airlines you find

In the example I gave earlier, I made an illustration of a UK ESTA US traveler scouring Google for promo codes. Often, when you do this kind of search, not all the sites you find will offer amazing deals. Heck, some might be offering discount codes as low as 1%. But don’t give up on them.

Instead, bookmark the name of the site or sign up for their email newsletter. The fact they don’t have amazing deals for UK-to-New York travel doesn’t mean they won’t have great deals for Manchester-to-Paris. By bookmarking their page or joining their newsletter, you put yourself in a position to discover their best deals in the future.

List of some popular air flight promo code deals

• Emirates: The world-renowned airline has special companion promo code offers for people traveling in pairs.
• Southwest Airlines: As the largest low-cost carrier, Southwest offers up to 50% off promo codes.
• Air New Zealand: The flag carrier airline of New Zealand offers promo codes that shave off up to $200.
• Alaska Airlines: Offers amazing discount shavings that can run up to 10% in ticket fees.
• American Airlines: Not the biggest of promo code deals. But you’re sure to find at least one offer available anytime you check.
• Delta Air Lines: Great at offering occasional promo codes. Usually, you’ll find weekend sales or special holiday discount deals.

Other ways to save on air flight costs

If you’re not satisfied with how much you’re able to shave off with promo codes, the next thing is to look for other ways to hack your ticket costs.

Some of the common methods people use include:

1. Book ahead of time

Experts suggest that the best time to book a flight is between four months and three weeks from the departure date. Usually, you’ll get great deals when you book your flights in advance.

2. Consider your other fees

How much are you going to be charged for every 1kg that follows you into the plane? While some airlines may give you a free pass to bring a few loads on board, some will charge you. For example, Spirit Airlines has some of the best rates in the industry, but it charges $37+ for a carry-on bag. In contrast, Southwest also has cool rates, and it currently doesn’t charge for carry-on.

If you’re looking to save cost, you should look for those airlines that don’t charge you for your extras.

3. Drop at nearby cities

I’ve come to realize it’s a lot cheaper to fly into London from my current location than to fly into Manchester.

So, here’s what I do. Anytime I have business in the UK, I fly to London, then hop around by road to my next destination. It might be a bit strenuous on the body, but at least it saves me a few hundred bucks every time.

You, too, can consider this option, especially if you’re traveling in a country with many airports clustered together.