If you've spent any time searching for cheap flight deals, you're probably familiar with Momondo.
One of the top flight search engines in the game, Momondo takes a unique approach to finding cheap flights by searching for deals from even the smallest providers out there instead of just the usual big players.
So how do we go about finding cheap flights with Momondo? Let's take a look.
How does Momondo work?
Momondo is an aggregator which means that it searches and compiles the results from hundreds of other OTAs (Online Travel Agencies) and puts them all into one place. Momondo's value lies in its massive reach. Instead of only searching well-known OTAs such as Priceline, Orbitz, and Expedia, Momondo also searches small, lesser-known (or not at all known) OTAs that other sites overlook.
The results are primarily focused on showing you the cheapest flights. However, Momondo also lets you sort flights by factors such as flight duration, total number of stops, and for the environmentally conscious traveler, by total CO2 emissions.
Momondo also has a “Best” tab for flights that they feel offer the ideal combination of duration, price, number of stops, and carrier.
Why we like Momondo
Casts a wide net
Momondo is able to search for flights across hundreds of sites at once and shows you the most relevant results
Built with budget travelers in mind
Though you're not limited to budget airlines or basic economy class, Momondo focuses on finding and showing you the cheapest deals available.
Set and forget price alerts
Instead of constantly checking to see if tickets for your dream vacation have fallen within your budget, Momondo's price alerts feature lets you automate your flight search.
Momondo's Limitations
Still not great at searching across multiple dates
Momondo isn't capable of showing the cheapest fares across multiple dates. They've made updates that allow you to search within a few days of your selected date, but when compared to Google Flight's calendar view, it still leaves a bit to be desired.
Searches take a while to load
Because Momondo is searching across hundreds of sites, searches can take as much as a minute to load.
Customization and filters after searching
You can't add custom filters from the beginning of your search in Momondo. You can only add them after you begin searching. This is obviously far from a deal-breaker. It can just add a few unnecessary steps.
How to use Momondo
As mentioned above, you really need to know the exact dates and destinations you are looking for to use Momondo most effectively. It's true that they’ve added a bit of flexibility with date searches – you can now select dates within 1-3 days of your initial choice – but it still lacks some of the broad search flexibility you might find with a site like Google Flights.
With this in mind, we actually recommend starting your search by using Google flights first to search multiple destinations and dates at once so that you can then find your ideal date and destination.
From there, you’ll take that date and destination and head back to Momondo. Read on and we’ll walk you through the step-by-step process of using Momondo to check if there are any cheaper flights available.
STEP 1: Searching with Momondo
Put your exact details including class, the number of passengers, dates, and destinations in the Momondo search bars.
Before you run your search, here’s another nice Momondo update worth noting. They’ve taken a page out of Google’s book and give you a color-coded calendar with estimated dates for higher and lower prices. This way, you can adjust your dates immediately if you see cheaper prices. However, you should know that might not always be the most reliable.
STEP 2: review and compare to google flights
This step is technically optional but if you’re committed to finding the cheapest flights, you can double-check Momondo’s results against Google Flights to see if it’s worth continuing your search on Momondo.
This step works because, while there’s obviously a ton of overlap in their searches, Google Flights pulls results from select airlines and OTAs, whereas Momondo searches include not only a wider range of airlines but also a ton of small, non-name-brand travel agencies that can offer deals not found anywhere else.
STEP 3: Buying flights through Momondo
Once you see a flight that you like, you have a few options for purchasing.
First, you can simply click “view deal” and Momondo will take you to the OTA where the deal can be found and you'll finalize your booking there. However, many flights will have a drop-down arrow next to the “view deal” button if there’s more than one way to make your purchase.
Once you click that button, it will show you several other sites where you can book that same flight with various prices listed beside them. If you go ahead and just click your desired deal, it will take you directly to that site’s checkout page where you can book your selected flight.
Momondo filters and customizations
Booking one leg at a time
If you immediately see one leg of your trip that you like, either the departing or return flight, you can click the box alongside it to select that leg. Momondo then automatically re-filter the results to show you all the options for the other leg of your trip.
Momondo filters
if you want to see results based on specific needs such as short layovers, basic economy, or flights without change fees, you can use the filters on the left-hand side of your screen. This is helpful not just for choosy travelers, but because the cheapest flights out there can often have absurdly long layovers or insane departure times. And, sometimes, it's just worth it to pay a little bit more.
Pricing Calendar
The Pricing Calendar shows estimated prices for different dates so that you can potentially save money by booking your same flight on a different day. However, the prices are only approximate prices meaning once you click on the exact date to search, the final search results may vary. This is because the pricing calendar prices are pulled from previous searches on Momondo meaning they might not always be fully up to date. This is still a great feature to utilize for the purposes of being thorough.
Flight Insights
The Flight Insights (found on the upper right-hand corner above the Pricing Calendar) shows general tips for your selected flight location (including both the departing and destination city) based on other factors that might affect finding the cheapest flight. These can include things such as the cheapest month, cheapest day, cheapest time of day, and other things that impact the final price. This is a solid “guide” to look at and then go back and alter the different variables of your flight search.
Price Alerts
You can also set up price alerts that will send you an email when new flights/prices become available for the route you searched for.
When you toggle on the “Price Alerts” button you will be prompted to enter the email address where you want to receive alerts. We love this feature because it takes the hard work off of your plate and is also great for those that frequently fly the same paths or have their eye on a specific destination.
