Cheap flights to
Philippines

The Goldilocks Window is the period we’ve found is the best time to find flight deals. It’s about 1-3 months before domestic flights and 2-8 months before international flights. In other words, not too last minute but not too far away. If you plan to travel during a busy period or over a holiday (Christmas and Easter are popular times to visit the Philippines, for example), start looking on the earlier end of those windows.

If you want to visit the Philippines during the high season in January, start looking for flights in July. And if at all possible, don’t wait until the last minute. We see fares rise all the time at the 21-, 14-, and 7-day marks before departure dates.

For some itineraries, fares never seem to get any cheaper. This is where our Greek Island Trick comes in handy. Essentially, you get as close as you can to your final destination, then look for a budget flight or other transit option for the last leg. So, if you hope to visit the Philippines in February but flights are super expensive, try looking for flights to Dubai, Istanbul, or Singapore, for example, all of which have more direct flight options to Manila than the US and could have cheaper fares.

Play around with looking for cheap flights to destinations around Asia, then see if you can find a budget flight from there to the Philippines. If you get closer, you might also have a chance of flying somewhere other than Manila without having to transit in the Philippines.

Getting to the Philippines from the US can be kind of tricky and expensive because only four airports offer direct flights. If you live in Atlanta, you’re probably not used to searching for flights out of alternate airports. Why would you when you have one of the biggest airports in your backyard? But airline pricing doesn’t always make sense, and it could be considerably cheaper for you to book a flight from Atlanta to San Francisco and then a separate one from San Francisco to Manila (for example) than booking it all on one ticket.

One of the best ways to find cheap flights is to fly during the off-season. For the Philippines, that’s in the summer. You can find great hotel and airfare deals around the country from June–September. It will be hot and could be rainy, but if you don’t mind some humidity, the savings could be worth it.

Shoulder seasons, the periods on the edge of high and low seasons, are also great times to travel. That’s October and May in the Philippines. The weather should still be nice, and you should be able to find better deals than during the high season. If you plan to travel during the high season in the winter, you can still find ways to save money. If possible, fly on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Saturday. Those days are typically the least expensive days to fly. Fridays and Saturdays are the most expensive.

Tracking flights can be frustrating, especially if you’re traveling during a busy time. But fare alerts can do the work for you. Set up a fare alert from your city to Manila, and you’ll get emails when fares drop by a noteworthy amount. If you’re open to traveling from other airports, set alerts for those, too. Or, sign up for Going, and we’ll monitor all flights from your home airport(s) and let you know when we find the best deals. It’s best to sign up and set alerts before the Goldilocks Window to make sure you get deals that pop up during that time.

The Philippines is not well-serviced from the US. If you live in New York, LA, San Francisco, or Honolulu, you’ll have an easy time reaching Manila. If you plan to visit other parts of the Philippines, you’ll have to take another flight. And if you don’t live in one of those cities, you’ll make a connection in the US or somewhere in Asia.