Are you getting the best deal when you book your flights?

If you're one of those people that go through a travel agency, you're probably being told you're getting the best deal. But the reality is there are additional fees that are built in to that final price you see and you could be spending a lot less. Or maybe you have a favourite airline you travel with or you're a frequent flyer of one of the major airline programs and stick to them. So when you book a flight, you just go on their website, enter in your travel dates and look for the cheapest flight. These prices change almost daily and before you've even visited the website, the airline has an idea of who you are and will give you a price accordingly. More likely than not, it won't be their best price.

So how do you cheat the system and make it work for you?

Download one or all three of the apps below. After you’ve saved where you’re flying to and when, the apps will constantly be searching for the best deals, alerting you when it's the best time to buy a flight.

Skyscanner

The first one is Skyscanner. I recently bought tickets to Hobart for $140 return from Sydney because I had my notifications turned on for that flight. I did end up having to pay extra for luggage but that’s the downside of flying budget. Still a worthwhile price for a short domestic flight. My favourite feature is being able to favourite a flight and track it so that when it drops, you get a notification and can decide if you want to buy it or wait.

Bonus tip: this is the one app I've used consistently to buy tickets and have almost always found the lowest price through Skyscanner. Visit their website or download their Apple or Android apps

Hopper

The second, and the best designed in my opinion, is Hopper. I mainly use it to keep track of how the price of a flight changes and when the best time to buy a ticket is and not actually buy tickets through it. The colours give you an idea of when the cheapest days are and if you’re flexible with when you fly, this is the perfect app for you to track prices. Their algorithms do all the heavy lifting and send you notifications when a certain flight drops. Using is it really easy, you pick your to/from destinations and the dates you’re thinking and leave it to the app.

Bonus tip: track a flight to get instant updates when the price drops. You can buy tickets from the app itself but I find Skyscanner gives me better deals across all airlines.Visit their website or download Hopper for iPhones or Android

Kayak

The last app I use is Kayak. It works in the same way as the first two but sometimes has better deals and if you’re pretty adamant about getting the best deal and you’re not flying in the near future, I think there’s value in using this app to cover all your bases.I once found and booked return flights to Sri Lanka from Sydney that were cheaper than any travel agency, airline price or other travel app.

Bonus tip: plan your flights and accommodation using the app and you have all your info in one convenient location, no need to print out booking confirmations and carry around paper with you. You can download their Apple or Android app or check out the Kayak website.

Have you used any of these apps? Know any others? Leave a comment below and share your thoughts.