So it’s time to book your holiday and the first thing you need to find is flights as this is a key component of where you go depending on prices and convenience.
Since Covid there is more demand for flights than airlines have infrastructure for given some haven’t got back to full operations for a number of reasons, also the continual increase in fuel prices is adding to the cost of flights. Below are 10 tips on how to find the cheapest prices for your next flights:
1. Be flexible
Being flexible with your travel dates: Flights tend to be more expensive during peak travel seasons and on weekends. Consider travelling during weekdays (especially Wednesdays) or shoulder season (the period between peak and off-peak seasons).
2. Book in advance
Book in advance: Booking your flights well in advance can help you find cheaper flights as airlines tend to offer cheaper fares for flights booked months in advance, this is especially true over Christmas or key holiday periods.
3. Flight aggregators
Comparing prices all in one place is great with websites such as Skyscanner, Kayak facilitating this for free. A lot of the time Travel Agents actually sell the flights below the net rates they get to help drive volume and sales of ancillary products. Be careful though as depending if you need flexibility on your flight to change/ cancel or add luggage, seat selection there can be an additional cost to do this than via the airline directly. The airline in most cases will refer you back to the booking agent so please bear this in mind.
4. Join newsletter lists
Sign up for airline/ travel agent newsletters and alerts: Airlines and agents can offer exclusive deals and discounts to customers opted into their marketing, so signing up for their newsletters and alerts can help you find cheap flights and also keep an eye on prices and what’s out there at any given time.
5. Layovers and stopovers
This is one of my favourites as you can possibly add on additional stops and visit new places. Firstly when you connect with a flight if you want to stay over a few days at that destination it can literally be a few pounds in additional taxes so always check this if you are keen to break up your journey.
As most people will want a direct flight or connection of a few hours only, finding obscure routes is always a good one and can be done across different airlines to save as much money as possible.
You can again use Skyscanner or Kayak to research to find cheap flights and it’s quite fun to see what routes are the cheapest and where you can save money but also have additional stops.
6. Alternative airports
Be flexible with the airport you fly from and into, flying from smaller airports or ones that are a little out of the cities etc can save you money as you normally find lower cost airlines fly out of them and pass some of the savings they make in operation costs to you.
Look at a map to see what airports are near to where you want to fly in and out of or even make it part of your trip to drive from an airport to your destination if there is an opportunity to explore that country / place more.
7. Frequent flyer miles
Joining a frequent flyer program can be great if you do a lot of flying. These flyer miles can help you get money off a full priced ticket or even better an upgrade to a different cabin (ie business). There are different ones out there from Airlines that have their own only to Alliances which incorporate many airlines – research which airlines you currently use and see if you can make use of the program and start collecting points……
8. Credit Card
If you use a credit card then it might be worth looking at one that’s going to help with your travels. Amex is the one with the best options here and rewards but can be very expensive on your interest. Others like Barclays offer Avios but again be wary of interest rates as they do add this in their cost model so that they do make money from offering these rewards, just have to be clever and beat the system.
9. Book last minute
OK, I know this completely goes against number 2 in the list……. BUT if you are super flexible on where you want to go or willing to not go to where you want then maybe, just maybe you can find a bargain….. As airlines would rather sell the seat than let it ‘sit’ empty.
10. Avoid the main carriers
It’s a pretty easy pointer and most people will already know this. But going with low budget carriers or not the big names of the sky ie Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines. You can save money if you are willing to maybe forgo some of your comfort but the lesser airlines are always closing the gap with the big boys.
Now you know how to save on your flight ticket, best off thinking about packing for your trip.