How We Found Mistake Airfare & Got Tickets to Paris for $300

Travel is such an incredible privilege.

You get to go to a completely different part of the world and experience a new culture, new food, beautiful scenery, and kind people.

But sometimes, the ticket just to get to that amazing location costs more than your monthly rent. And while that can be a definite deal killer, I’m going to share my tips on how to find mistake fares.

Getting airfare at a good price doesn’t have to be that hard, it just requires a bit of flexibility and intentionality. So here’s how my husband and I find mistake airfares, and got tickets to Paris for $300 each.

But First, What is a Mistake Fare?

Mistake fares (or error fares) are airline price glitches that happen when the airline or a flight aggregator, like Skyscanner, accidentally shares and sells a ticket for a lot less than the seat is actually worth.

This can happen due to currency conversion errors, a human mistake, or even just miscalculated airfares.

It’s a great way to grab a ticket at a fraction of the cost and save hundreds of dollars just to travel domestically or abroad. But you do need to act quickly before the travel agency notices or the tickets get sold out.

How We Found an Error Fare

My husband Silas and I had been wanting to head over to Europe, and we were flexible on the country. But the ticket prices were pretty high, so we looked into some ways we could take advantage of error fares.

And one of the methods you can try is to check out Facebook pages that give you updates on mistake fares that have just come up. The tickets that Silas and I got for Paris were found from a page called Secret Flying.

Also, the crazy thing about this is that we had seen this mistake fare and were able to purchase tickets not even two hours after joining the group.

Other Ways You Can Find Mistake Fares

Now if you’d like more ideas on how to find mistake fares, then I’ll share what I’ve heard real people recommend (tips came from Reddit). This is legitimately good advice, and having multiple sources share error fares with you is a great way to make sure you have a higher likelihood of getting a deal.

Scott’s Cheap Flights (Now Going)

“I’ve been using SCF’s for a few years now and purchased numerous flights overseas for silly prices (Washington DC/New York to Spain for $275-$300 several times, as well as Peru for ~$400, I’ve seen countless flights to fun places ranging from $200-$400) which is cheaper than I can fly to the midwest for. If you plan to sign up for this it’s only $40/year [now $49] and I recommend you reach out to the original poster of mentioning this so he can get a referral.” – Internexus

“Scott’s cheap flights is worth the $40 a year for me. Booked round trip from a major east coast airport near me to Santorini for $590 round trip during August (one of the best times of year to go there). Usually it’s $1k+ for those tickets”

The Kayak Explore Map

“Most error fares I’ve found on my own just searching Kayak Explore map. Set the price to a mid-level and filter out more expensive places.” – valeyard89

Secret Flying

“I love the secret flying app.” – rullerofallmarmalade

This is the main site of the Facebook page we got our tickets from.

Secret Flying is a great website that’ll send you email deal alerts when airline price glitches pop up for certain locations. But you can also search up where you want to go and see if there are any airline mistake fares available.

How to Make Sure You Score That Airline Price Mistake

Now that you know how to find airfare drops and you’re feeling like a true travel hackers, I’ll share some helpful tips to make sure you can actually snag that mistake fare.

Check up on Mistake Fares Regularly

Once you start following those Facebook pages or newsletters, do whatever you can to make sure that you’re checking up on them frequently. Set up notifications to go off at certain points in the day to see if there are any new deals.

Be Flexible

If you can, then definitely try to be as flexible as possible when it comes to the time, date, and/or location. Yes, you might not have really thought about Prague before, but if you’re looking for a cheap plane ticket to a beautiful European city, then go for it!

Also, depending on the location, travel in between countries can get a lot cheaper. So you might be able to fly (or take a train) from Prague to the original city you had wanted to visit for not much money.

Make Sure You Don’t Hesitate

Once you see a ticket that’s just right for you, then don’t hesitate to take advantage of that price alert you were just given.

When Silas and I got our tickets to Paris, I checked up on it two minutes after purchasing the tickets just to find that the cost had been corrected to a higher price.

Have Patience and Don’t Give Up

If you’re not seeing a time, date, and/or location that’s desirable for you, continue to check up on those error fare alerts throughout the week.

Don’t give up, because soon enough you might just get tickets to a country or city you’ve always wanted to visit.

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