How to get cheap flights

[Guest The Pom Queen]

TIME is flying. The holiday season is nearly upon us.

So, are you sick of having to pay a fortune for flights? Determined to change your luck this time around?

Here are five rules to follow if you want to score a cheaper airline ticket, according to advice website MakeUseOf.com.

 

 

 

1. Aim for the middle ground

Normally, avoid booking your flight too late - the airlines will be able to smell your desperation and prices will usually be significantly higher. You could also miss out entirely.

But, paradoxically, if you're not set on flying on a particular date, you could try your luck at scoring a last minute discounted flight. Sometimes, prices will drop for last minute tickets if airlines find they still have empty seats to fill. Just don't rely on this method, as you won't know when your luck could run out!

Here's another tip - don't buy too early, either. When it comes to air travel, the super-early bird rarely gets the worm. The best time to buy a ticket is usually between three and 12 weeks before the flight.

 

 

 

2. Timing is everything

Sometimes, you'll have a set date you need to travel on. Other times, when there's room for flexibility, try to fly during off-peak seasons - or "dead zones" - such as after January 7, during September, the first two weeks of November, or the first two weeks of December.

Also, where possible try to fly at the middle of the week instead of the weekend. Most people tend to take to the skies on Friday and fly back home on Sunday, pushing the price of air travel higher on these days. Tuesday and Wednesday are usually the least expensive days to fly.

You could also book a very early flight (such as 4am) - if you're really, really keen to save!

 

 

 

3. Play smart

Use flight comparison websites to help you in your bid to track down the best deal, such as Kayak.com, which launched a feature this year that predicts whether airfares will rise or fall across different routes. Other flight comparison sites include Hipmunk.com and Faregeek.com.

Look at all your options. If there are a few different airports in the area you want to visit, check them all in case one of the smaller airports is cheaper to fly into. Same goes for finding alternative routes - sometimes if you choose the longer route with the painful stopover, you could end up reaping the financial rewards.

If you're not set on using a particular airline, browse through all the different carriers you could choose. You may want to sacrifice seat comfort and service to save some extra cash.

Also, many frequent travellers swear by deleting the cookies on their internet browsers. Return visits to an airline's website can bump up the flight prices.

 

 

 

4. Seat selection

Not all seats are equal.

When you're flying with companions, you may not see all the seat options as the airlines typically show you the lowest ticket prices available to the whole group. That means, for example, that if you're flying in a group of five people you may never see the cheap $100 seats at the back because there may only be two left, which isn't enough for the whole group. Instead you may be shown five $200 seats for all.

To get around this, make sure there's enough seats on the plane for the whole group. Then, go back and search one ticket at a time, so you could get two $100 tickets and three $200 tickets, instead of all of the five ending up being $200 tickets.

 

 

 

5. Uncover the hidden fees

Make sure you're aware of extra fees such as those to choose your seat, check your bags and for snacks on board. Come prepared.

[Guest The Pom Queen]

Also, many frequent travellers swear by deleting the cookies on their internet browsers. Return visits to an airline's website can bump up the flight prices.

 

 

 

Is this actually true? Or one of those urban myths?

[BritChickx]

Ha! We booked 2 months in advance for mid november! on a tuesday. They were the cheapest possible flights we could find for Cairns too lol.

[nic1171]

Ironically I'm going back to UK soon and intended on flying back the 7th Jan which as you mentioned was still peak time. When I checked later flights realised I could save £800 for my 2 tickets if I flew back on the 12th so be it I get a few extra days in UK! I'm convinced the cookie thing is true but can't say for definite

[82rhoads]

thanks for that info, we were just looking into flights. Haven't heard about the cookies thing before, but i'm cynical enought to believe it!

[tingtongman]

Just to let people know I looked for a one way from LHR to Oz and average price was 650-700gbp.

 

So instead I got a one way from LHR to BKK(Bangkok), then I got another 1 way from Bangkok to Brisbane for a total of 450gbp.

 

Just to let people know of other ways of getting cheap flights

[Guest littlesarah]

Disagree with point 1 - I've found that the 'earlybird' offers advertised 8 or 9 months out usually offer the best deals. For example, last time we flew to the UK, by booking in September for the following June, I didn't see any deals (that were actually bookable) that offered a better price than we got. The time before that, I scored a return to Europe for $1250 by booking in May for the following January. The downside of booking that far ahead is that if anything comes up and you want/need to change, it can be difficult or impossible to do so. It looked like we'd have to pay a fortune to rebook our flights this year, though in the end we didn't have to do so.

 

Point 2 - yes, when you fly can make a massive difference to the price. That cheap flight I scored was the airline trying to fill up seats at a quiet time of year (and to get people onto their old planes as they were phasing in their nicer newer ones).

 

Point 3 - some routings/timings definitely come out more expensive/cheaper because of having more stops or longer layovers.

 

Point 4 - I've never booked for more than 3 people, so can't comment on that.

 

Point 5 - Well, yes, most long-haul airlines include 'full service', but the same can't be said of budget airlines, and it's always necessary to check what you're getting for your money.

 

I don't know about the 'cookies' thing - I've scored a better deal by going back later, but often that involved a 'friends and family' website, so I guess that bumping up prices wouldn't be something the airline in question would be too bothered about for the small number of potential customers who would use such a site.

[Guest Maian]

Knowing when to go can matter just as much as when to buy. Because the most important factor that influences the price of a particular flight is how full that flight is, it makes sense that travel during Spring Break, Thanksgiving, or Christmas time would be more expensive than normal.