Update or Create

If you need to check if the record exists, and then update it, or create a new record otherwise, you can do it in one sentence - use Eloquent method updateOrCreate():

// Instead of this
$flight = Flight::where('departure', 'Oakland')
    ->where('destination', 'San Diego')
    ->first();
if ($flight) {
    $flight->update(['price' => 99, 'discounted' => 1]);
} else {
    $flight = Flight::create([
        'departure' => 'Oakland',
        'destination' => 'San Diego',
        'price' => 99,
        'discounted' => 1
    ]);
}
// Do it in ONE sentence
$flight = Flight::updateOrCreate(
    ['departure' => 'Oakland', 'destination' => 'San Diego'],
    ['price' => 99, 'discounted' => 1]
);