As may know through our current Monarch Revival renovations, our family has moved cross-country from Mesa, Arizona (just outside of Phoenix) to Knoxville, Tennessee. While we love this chapter of our lives in a new state, there is no greater feeling than a trip back home!
A few times a year, we try to go back to Mesa to enjoy quality time with our friends and family. Now I wouldn’t trade these memories for the world, but traveling is expensive! With a family of seven, it is no small feat to book a trip. One ticket is pricey – but seven? My goodness!
By the way…I can’t NOT point out how absolutely adorable these boys are!!!
If you’re a fan of travel, you know the drill of stalking flight prices like a hawk. I was checking almost daily for flight prices to drop from Knoxville to Phoenix hoping to snag a deal as soon as it became available. There is a reason I have only been back a few times since moving.
After scouring the Internet, I have found the perfect traveling company I just can’t keep to myself. Today on the blog, I will discuss everything you need to know about Hopper to help plan your next dream vacation without breaking the bank!
If you’ve been keeping up on Instagram stories, I recently worked with Hopper on a paid campaign. However, this blog post is not sponsored or a part of that partnership. All opinions are my own. I genuinely love and use this service!
What Is Hopper?
Hopper is a free app that scours every hotel and flight rate on the Internet, then predicts how upcoming rates will fluctuate. It presents you with a calendar to help you decide when exactly to purchase your ticket to get the best rate there is.
Instead of constantly checking flight prices, I first check Hopper to tell me when tickets will be at their lowest.
Hopper App Features
This free app is designed with user-friendliness in mind- seriously it is so simple to navigate!
The first step is to decide where you want to fly or book a hotel. Then, Hopper allows you to scroll through a month-by-month calendar of dates to book, highlighted in a color scale based on price.
After you’ve found the perfect dates to travel, you can now compare airlines! Ordered by price from lowest to highest, booking can accommodate even the pickiest of flyers.
I want to briefly mention Hopper emphasizes a lot of savings through their “Carrot Cash”- a way to earn cash back by continually booking through them. While we never directly try to utilize Carrot Cash, a lot of money can be saved by doing so.
What If I’m Not Ready To Book?
I know it can be hard to commit to a trip, especially if the price is slightly over budget. With any destination you are interested in traveling to, Hopper allows you to “Watch It” and the app will notify you of a better deal.
If the price is perfect but you would rather book it later, you can “Price Freeze”. This allows you to put money down to hold the price, and come back to finish the booking when you’re ready.
Does Hopper Meet Our Travel Needs?
Before I knew it, that first flight turned into several! While Hopper has become our family’s go-to travel app, here’s what I’ve noticed along the way:
The Pros:
- Setting up notifications for the lowest booking prices has saved our family thousands of dollars!
- Navigating the app is simple and I am able to tailor every aspect of our travel (including if I want to fly nonstop or not).
- Visually seeing the price differences in travel dates allows us to find the cheapest option.
- Sharing flight information with Craig or our friends/family is super easy
The Cons:
- From what I’ver read online – moving and changing flights can be tricky and required help from customer service. We haven’t dealt with this personally, but it’s good to know.
- Refunds are often given using Carrot Cash instead of a direct refund to your bank account.
- Hopper doesn’t book flights through Delta or Southwest. Not a deal breaker, but we tend to fly Delta if we don’t book through Hopper.
My Final Thoughts
I wholeheartedly recommend Hopper to anyone looking for a flexible and affordable travel experience. With this app, our family has been able to plan trips back to Phoenix throughout the year, making Knoxville feel not as far away.
What’s even more exciting is hearing how you all love Hopper as much as I do! With just a few posts on my stories, many of you contacted me to share your positive travel experiences using the app- which is awesome! If you do end up using Hopper to book your next trip, let me know in the comments!
And to keep up with our Monarch Revival, check out my most recent posts!
Leave a Reply