Throughout our journey around the world, I learned a lot of tips to find the best flight deals to any destination in the world. Five years on the road will teach you a few things, and my hope is that these tips will help you get to Bali Baecation without breaking the bank or wasting your time.
We’ve tried our best to keep the cost of this trip as low as possible without sacrificing luxury, and because flights are not included in the price, I want to help you with finding the best flight deal out there.
Below are five in depth tips that will help you find the best flight for you and bae so that you can join us in paradise without any problems.
1. The Basics
Let’s start with the details you’ll need for your flight to Bali. Regardless of where you find your flight, what airline you choose, or what class you sit in, you’ll find this information useful.
- Arrival Airport: Ngurah Rai International Airport (DPS)
- Cheapest Departure Cities (within USA): New York and San Francisco
- Cheapest Flight: $500/pp (Departing from either of the two cities listed above)
- Average Price: $850/pp
- Travel Time: 23-hours
2. Time or Money
You’ll have to choose whether you want to spend more time or money getting to Bali. Cheaper flights will have much longer layovers, sometimes adding an extra day to your travel time. You’ll also need to consider the domestic flgihts necessary to capitalize on the cheaper flights.
Imagine traveling from Texas, a little bummed to see the cheapest flight option available to you is $925. You wanted one of the unbelievable deals you read about online, so you hold out and luckily find a flight deal out of New York for $478. Wow, that sounds incredible, right? You book the flight as fast as your fingers can type.
Then, you have to get to New York, and the domestic roundtrip flight is another $350. Plus, your international flight is very early in the morning, so you need to book a hotel in New York, which is another $100. Before adding in the cost of trips to the airport, or your time spent, I’d have to say this isn’t much of a win. Consider all these factors when searching for your flights. Trust me, you don’t want to get to Bali aggravated with bae about something as silly as a $50 savings.
3. You Don’t Have to Pay Upfront
There’s a common understanding in the travel community – when you see a good flight deal – book it! However, you may not always be financially ready to make such a drastic decision in the moment. For those times, there are services like Airfordable, which works as a layaway service for flights.
While I have never actually used this service, I have friends who have, and they swear by it. This isn’t an ad or even a recommendation, I just want you to have all the options available to you. On their homepage they boast a customer who purchased an $820 flight to Bali for $303 upfront. Check out the Airfordable website here.
4. Shop Around
I like to do my research before making any major purchases, but I also don’t enjoy spending hours scrolling through a million websites. So, I’ve developed a short list to save you time when searching for the best flight deals to Bali.
- Secret Flying – This website is best for flight deals, meaning those extreme discounts that only last a few days, sometimes only hours. Occasionally, you will find a good roundtrip flight deal to Bali, typically out of New York or California for $500. You can also find good domestic flight deals using Secret Flying, if your journey requires a transfer.
- Skyscanner – This website is best for seeing your options. I would recommend starting with ‘United States’ as your departure and then entering ‘DPS’ as the arrival city. Input your specific dates, and then you will see how cheaply and quickly you can fly from every major American city to Bali. If you need to leave from a specific city, skip the ‘United States’ step and just input your city to see your options.
5. Set a Deadline
I’m all about shopping around and taking your time, but if you wait too long, your options will narrow quickly. I recommend booking your flights no later than 60-days before departure. Does this mean you can’t get flights within a month? Of course not. But with specific dates you need to arrive and depart, it’s best to book in advance since you will not have the flexibility necessary for taking advantage of flight deals.