How to find cheap flights from India: set up price tracking that works

Airfares out of India move fast. A Delhi-Bangkok seat can cost one amount in the morning and something very different by dinner. The travelers who consistently pay less are not lucky - they are tracking prices instead of checking them.

Checking means you search once, see a number, and hope. Tracking means the price comes to you when it drops. Here is how to set that up properly, for free, with Google Flights.

1. Search your route, not your dates

Go to Google Flights and enter your departure airport and destination - say, Mumbai to Singapore. Before you look at any price, set the basics at the top: number of stops, cabin class, and tickets. These choices change what "cheap" means, and Google Flights will track exactly what you select.

2. Turn on "Track prices"

On the results page there is a Track prices toggle. Switch it on and Google Flights emails you when the price for that route changes significantly. No app to install, no account setup beyond a Google sign-in.

Two ways to use it:

• Specific dates. You know when you want to travel - a wedding in Kochi, a fixed leave window. Track those exact dates and you get an email when that trip's price moves.
• Any dates. Your dates are flexible and you want the cheapest possible trip. Track "Any dates" and Google Flights emails you when the route's minimum price drops significantly over a month. This is the setting most people miss, and the one that finds the genuinely low fares.

3. Track more than one route

If you are open about where to go, track three or four routes at once - Delhi-Bangkok, Delhi-Phuket, Bengaluru-Kuala Lumpur. Fares drop on different routes at different times, and the first good email wins. You manage everything from the Tracked Flights page, where you can switch emails off or remove a route.

4. Read the price-insight emails

Google Flights also sends a notification when prices for a route you track are likely to rise, or when a current fare is about to expire and the replacement fare is likely to cost more - with an estimate of the increase and its confidence. When that email lands, the decision is simple: book now or accept the risk of paying more.

What tracking cannot do

Tracking tells you when a price moves on routes you already chose. It does not tell you which routes are unusually cheap right now, it does not compare the fare against what that route normally costs, and it does not check baggage rules or whether a "deal" is actually a good trip. That judgment - is this fare genuinely low for this route, and is it worth your leave days - is the part that still takes work.

That is the part Fareletter does. We watch round-trip fares from Indian airports, verify each one against what the route usually costs, and email only the deals worth booking. Set up your own tracking with the steps above - it is free and it works. And if you want the shortlist without the watching, that is exactly what the weekly email is for.

Cover photo: airplane wing at sunset, free to use under the Unsplash License. Feature descriptions verified against Google's Travel Help documentation.