I know of one fairly general criterion. This is taken from Atiyah-MacDonald, Chapter 3, Exercise 16:
If $B$ is a flat $A$-algebra then the following conditions are equivalent:
i) $\mathfrak{a}^{ec}=\mathfrak{a}$ for all ideals $\mathfrak{a}$ of $A$;
ii) Spec($B)\rightarrow$Spec($A$) is surjective;
iii) For every maximal ideal $\mathfrak{m}$ of $A$ we have $\mathfrak{m}^e\neq 1$;
iv) if $M$ is an $A$-module, then $M_B\neq 0$
v) for every $A$-module $M$, the mapping $x\mapsto1\otimes x$ of $M$ into $M_B$ is injective.
If $A$ and $B$ satisfy any of these equivalent conditions then $B$ is said to be a faithfully flat $A$-algebra.
Solutions to this exercise can be found here:
http://www-users.math.umd.edu/~karpuk/chap3solns.pdf
As a useful condition for flatness, if $A$ is a Noetherian ring, and $B$ is finitely generated as an $A$-module then $B$ is a flat $A$-module $\Leftrightarrow$ $B_\mathfrak{m}$ is a free $A_\mathfrak{m}$-module of each maximal ideal $\mathfrak{m}$ of $A$. (This is also found in A-M, Chapter 7, exercise 16).
For example, let $A$ be a Dedekind domain, $K$ its field of fractions, $L$ a field of extension of $K$. Then if the integral closure of $A$ in $L$ is finitely generated as an $A$-module (e.g. if $L/K$ is finite, separable and algebraic) it is a Dedekind domain and a faithfully flat $A$-algebra.