If you love theme parks, you know one thing is true: Flights are usually the most expensive part of the whole trip. Especially when you’re heading to places like Orlando, Los Angeles, Tokyo, or even Paris during school holidays. But here’s the good news: There is a way to save a lot of money without being a full-time travel hacker. You just need to know how to use Skyscanner properly.

Skyscanner isn’t just a search engine. It’s basically a magic tool that helps you find the cheapest routes, dates, and airports so you can spend more money in the parks instead of getting to them.

Here’s how to use it the smart way.

1. Start With “Explore Everywhere” Your Secret Superpower

When you open Skyscanner, don’t type in your destination first. Instead, type your departure airport, and for “To” choose: → Everywhere Skyscanner will scan the entire world and show you which countries are the cheapest to fly to on your dates.

This trick is perfect if you know you want a theme park trip but you’re flexible about the location.

You might discover that:

• Barcelona is cheaper → PortAventura time

• Frankfurt is cheap → great base for Europa-Park

• Los Angeles is cheaper than Orlando → Universal Hollywood + Disneyland combo

• Paris drops in price → hello Disneyland Paris

This feature alone has saved us more money than anything else.

2. Use the “Whole Month” and “Cheapest Month” Search

If your dates are flexible, Skyscanner becomes even more powerful. Instead of searching specific days, choose:

• Whole Month or Cheapest Month

This lets you see a calendar with the cheapest prices on every day of the month. This is how you find the golden opportunities like:

• Flying to Orlando in early September for half the normal fare

• Visiting Disneyland Paris outside school holidays

• Planning a Tokyo Disney trip during low season

• Visiting Efteling’s international fans’ favourite times (January, March, November)

Flexibility = savings. Even shifting your dates by one or two days can save a lot.

3. Search from Multiple Nearby Airports

Another big Skyscanner trick:

Always search from multiple airports.

For example, if you live in the Netherlands, try all of these:

• Amsterdam (AMS)

• Rotterdam (RTM)

• Eindhoven (EIN)

• Düsseldorf (DUS)

• Brussels (BRU)

• Charleroi (CRL)

Airlines price tickets differently depending on demand. Sometimes Düsseldorf is €300 cheaper than Amsterdam for the exact same route. This works extremely well for long-haul theme park destinations like Orlando, Los Angeles, and Tokyo.

4. Use “Add Nearby Airports”

One click. Huge difference. Skyscanner can automatically include airports around your main departure point.

If you’re flying to:

• Orlando, it’ll include Tampa, Miami, Fort Lauderdale

• Tokyo, it’ll include Narita and Haneda

• Los Angeles, it’ll include San Diego and Las Vegas

Sometimes the flight to a nearby airport + a cheap bus/train is still far cheaper.

5. Try Multi-City Searches

This trick is amazing if you’re doing a longer theme park trip.

Example:

Fly into Orlando → fly out of Los Angeles
Or
Fly into Paris → fly out of Basel for Europa-Park

Skyscanner’s multi-city tool often uncovers combinations that are cheaper than round-trip tickets.

6. Set Up Price Alerts (The True Money Saver)

This is where Skyscanner becomes your travel assistant. Choose your route → tap Price Alert → done.

Skyscanner will:

• Track the price

• Alert you when it drops

• Warn you when it starts rising

This is the easiest way to “set it and forget it.”

We recommend setting alerts for:

• Orlando (prices fluctuate a lot)

• Tokyo (can drop unexpectedly)

• LA (huge competition → frequent sales)

• Singapore (great gateway to Asian parks)

• Paris (good for last-minute Disneyland deals)

7. Book at the Right Time, Not Too Early, Not Too Late

For most flights:

• Long-haul: 2–5 months in advance

• Europe: 1–3 months in advance

• School holidays: as early as possible

Skyscanner’s calendar view and alerts help you see when prices change — so you don’t have to guess.

8. Fly on These Days for the Best Prices

Not a myth, the data backs it up. Usually, the cheapest days to fly are:

• Tuesday

• Wednesday

• Saturday

Meanwhile:

• Fridays and Sundays are expensive for theme-park cities

• Mondays can spike because of business travel

Checking multiple days always pays off.

9. Look for Budget Airline Combos

Skyscanner shows mixes you would NEVER find yourself.

For example:

• KLM → London

• Wizz Air → Orlando

• JetBlue → Miami

Or for Europe:

• Ryanair out

• Vueling back

This is perfect for theme park travelers who don’t mind piecing together a trip if it saves hundreds.

10. Clear Your Filters and Try Again

Many people accidentally filter their search too much and miss cheap results.

Try:

• removing time filters

• removing airline preferences

• checking “1 stop” instead of “direct only”

• expanding date flexibility

Often the cheap gems hide in those unchecked options.

11. Don’t Just Look at the Price, Check the Details

Sometimes €50 cheaper means:

• 12-hour layover

• arriving at 22:45 (can you still get to your hotel?)

• departing at 06:00 (wake-up call at 02:30)

• switching airports mid-trip

Make sure the savings are actually worth it.
Especially when you want to rope drop the next morning.

The more flexible you are, the more Skyscanner will reward you. We use this tool ourselves a lot, so this is a real recommendations like all our other tips. But yes you help us too to keep this site free of charge  if you use this link.