Nordman travels often, and he rarely takes a flight more expensive than a dinner out for two. The executive editor of Northeastern Global News says it comes down to flexibility and an open mind.
Dave Nordman flies a lot. That doesn’t mean he spends a lot.
Northeastern Global News’ executive editor first became interested in the intricacies of discount airfare when his children began applying to college. Like many parents in the same boat, he was faced with coordinating several trips around the country in a relatively short amount of time to tour campuses.
“Nobody wants to break the bank on a college visit,” Nordman says. “But there are tours every day, so you can be kind of flexible on when you go.”
He began timing visits to when he could book the cheapest airfare, and a hobby was born.
In the years since, Nordman has become a crackerjack expert at flying on the cheap. On a given weekend, you might find him popping down to Raleigh, North Carolina, for a day of golf, or catching 48 hours of sun in Sarasota, Florida, during the long New England winter. Most of the time, he flies for less than $100; some flights cost less than $30.
In addition to saving money, his habit of scrolling airfare deals on his iPhone has led to places he never may have visited otherwise. That included an impromptu trip to Anchorage, Alaska, where he caught part of the Iditarod dogsled race.
The underlying principle of Nordman’s bargain hunting is flexibility — the more you have, the cheaper things get. It will surprise exactly no one that it’s cheaper to fly mid-week, or that you’ll save a few bucks by giving up seat selection. But these tips can help even those who have constraints on their travel, like having to fly at certain times or with a large group.
Here is Nordman’s best advice:
In the same way you might habitually scroll TikTok, Nordman likes to spin through the apps of his favorite discount air carriers — Breeze, Avelo, Spirit, Frontier and Allegiant.
“These are the five that I always recommend, especially if it’s on the East Coast or flights under two hours,” he says. By using those carriers’ apps, he gets the jump on flash sales and discount codes, often before they get picked up by aggregators like Google.
Some of the smaller carriers fly in and out of smaller, less busy regional airports. Allegiant flies nonstop from Boston to Asheville, North Carolina; in New England, Breeze operates out of Providence. Which leads to…
Most air travel in New England flows through Boston Logan International Airport, and it’s a natural impulse to start looking for flights that originate there. But it’s not the only option.
“If you’re willing to travel a little bit to an airport, that will certainly help,” Nordman says. “If you live in the metro Boston area, you’re within an hour or two of seven airports.”
He finds some of his best fares going out of Providence, Rhode Island; Manchester, New Hampshire; or New Haven and Hartford in Connecticut. The added drive time can come with other fiscal advantages, too. Daily parking in Boston Logan’s central lots costs about $60; in New Haven and Providence, the most expensive spots are closer to $20.
That locational flexibility can help on the destination side as well: if you’re traveling to the North Carolina mountains and there isn’t much in Asheville, you might consider landing in Charlotte.
Nordman browses third-party aggregators like Google Flights and Expedia — they’re great for seeing everything available at once. But he never buys tickets through them. This is especially important when dealing with smaller airports and carriers, which are operating far fewer flights than the major hubs and have fewer alternatives on offer if something goes wrong.
“Always book through the airlines,” he says. If you book through Expedia, “when flights get delayed and canceled, the airlines will not deal with you. So shop there, but don’t buy.” He adds that search and social media algorithms can be helpful tools — airlines will offer discounts based on your browsing habits, if you have cookies enabled.
In general, it’s a tall order to find bargains on big-ticket, dream vacations — spring break in Miami, or a summer vacation to Milan. But according to Nordman, there is plenty of fun to be had just off the beaten path.
“Maybe you’re looking for a girls weekend or a guys weekend, and you don’t want to break the bank,” he says. “Well, have you thought about Savannah? Have you ever tried Knoxville? Fort Walton Beach?”
One of his favorite trips materialized this way. A few summers ago, he was looking to take a group vacation to Yellowstone National Park, which proved a costly proposition. Instead, he ended up in Banff — a gorgeous, if lesser-known national park in the Rocky Mountains of Alberta, Canada. The round-trip flights from Boston to Calgary cost $190 each.
“I just said, ‘I want to go on vacation. I want to do it affordably. Where can we go?’ And it was a wonderful place.”