There are so many articles out there about how to book a cheap flight and the first step, always, is to do your research. Find out when peak season is for your destination and determine when you want to go based around that. Figure out if there's an airport close enough to you that will have cheaper fares and make sure that you price compare for a while prior to booking your flights.

Flight prices, much like the stock market will change every day. I'm here to tell you that once you find that ideal window, stick with it and book your flights fast! They will go fast and the price WILL change again. By the same token, don't beat yourself up too bad if the cost of your flight goes down shortly after you purchase it. We all win some, we all lose some. The important thing is to make sure that you get what you want and you get it at a decent price.

That being said, let's swing into the websites that you can use.

First: Google Flights. This one is fun and easy because you can search multiple airports easily and you can do a visual search if you'd like to compare pricing.

If you click on the "Explore destinations" hyperlink, you can look at the map and choose from there.

This tool allows you to compare destinations and see if there is a less expensive city nearby that you may not have thought about.

Next is: STA Travel. Whether you're a student, a teacher, or just a young person in general, it is really easy to use STA Travel. They are an easy travel service that will also allow you to compare nearby cities, but more importantly, if your travel dates are flexible, then you can see how much you can save by traveling on alternate days.

By checking the flexible dates check box, you can see competitive pricing for nearby dates to see where you can get the most out of your money.

As you can see, there are cheaper days to go than the dates that were originally selected, so my advice in this situation is: Go Nuts!

The next service that I recommend is: SkyScanner. This one is another easy-to-use and simple service that will allow you to get flexibility out of your travel plans. You can even search an entire continent and an entire month range to find the cheapest fares. Happy hunting with this awesome website!

You can choose the cheapest city and date range from here and find what works best for your schedule and your wallet.

There is one more website that I want to make sure that you know about when searching for your next vacation and that is: Groupon Getaways. This may sound hokey, but I'm here to tell you that Groupon Getaways are one of the coolest things that Groupon has to offer. They have all-inclusive trips to random places and you can choose your travel dates and options in your trip in a lot of cases. This one is more for the I-Dont-Care-Where-I-Go type, I grant you, but it's a neat option, nonetheless.

You can choose a specific region from your list and then Groupon will whisk you away to a land of enchantment when it comes to trips you can take. Keep an eye on these deals. They don't always last long and they cycle often. Also, be weary that some of these trips are so affordable because you are traveling in an off-season. Again, do your research, but you can have a trip like this one below if you want it:

Those are my top 4 websites for finding cheap airfare and transit. I hope that you find what you are looking for when it comes to your next trip and I wish you all the luck and happiness in you wandering the world.

I would like to point out that there are some horror stories with using Groupon for travel, but I have used them before and everything was great. I have personally used all of these sites when booking travel and no one is any better than any other. It depends on application and variables. So, optimize for your situation and remember to do your research!