5 Tips to booking a cheap flight
By Darren Cronian on Monday, July 31st, 2006

Here are some tips that I have used when booking cheap flights - I actually enjoy planning and booking my own holidays, and searching on the Internet for the best priced flight for many would be tiresome, but believe me, being organised is the difference between a £50 and £110 return ticket.

Airport check in terminal

Book early

The majority of low cost airlines charge a fortune if you book your ticket a week or two before you want to travel – so book it as early as you possibly can. Last year I went to Spain in May – booked the flight in April, and it cost me £150 – had I booked it in February when I had planned to, it would of only cost me £49

Fly during the week

During peak periods, i.e. the weekend and school holidays, the cost of the price of a flight ticket increases considerably, so try to depart and return during the week, during the school term – you won’t believe how much money this can save you – and more than likely your accommodation will be cheaper too

Take some sandwiches

Low cost airlines offer a no frills experience, and whilst your ticket might have been cheap, they charge a fortune for food and drink on board – so pack up some sandwiches, and a drink, and forget about paying a fortune.

Late night flights

Flights that depart or return late evening or early hours will be the cheapest, and whilst it’s not a sociable time to fly, you’ll save a fortune – one word of warning from experience though, make sure that your accommodation will allow you to arrive in the early hours or late at night, because you don’t want to be stranded.

Choose the airport carefully

Just because EasyJet fly from your local airport, it doesn’t necessary mean that they are going to be the cheapest – I’ve had experiences where my local airport is Leeds & Bradford airport, but it’s actually been cheaper to fly from Manchester - make sure though that you include the additional cost of getting to the airport when working out which is cheaper


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2 responses to “5 Tips to booking a cheap flight”

Paul | 3 August, 2006 at 5:14 pm

Of course, also make sure where you’re flying to. Sometimes it’s well away form the city that they imply and, if you’re not careful, you might have expensive transfer costs to incur, not to mention the time and inconvenience.

Paul

Steve | 6 August, 2006 at 4:46 pm

All good advice and don’t be afraid to check online for details of new routes and new airlines. Often two discount flights are better value than one point to point. Spain-Sweden/Norway is often cheaper via the UK!! (Gothenburg - Haugesund is only even really practical via Stansted!!)

Looking around on http://www.attitudetravel.com this afternoon I have saved 600 euros on Spain-Sweden flights for later this week. It took me 75 mins but how many people earn 500+ euros per hour?

Paul is 100% true re some of the “new” destinations that (especially) the budget airlines fly to - ever tried taxis from Oslo (=Torp) or Stockholm (Skavsta or Västeraºs)? Ryanair excel themselves with linguistic licence on those cities!! That said I have saved THOUSANDS with these low cost airlines and sometimes it does pay to think laterally - Stansted to Malmó is often a fraction of London - Copenhagen adn does have excellent links to Southern Sweden and Zealand. Enjoy! Steve