First up, people are lying to you when they suggest that you book flights in incognito mode, or search after 6pm, or log in to an airline site on a Tuesday. Those people just want to see the world burn. Alas, your favourite travel blogger is back with a comprehensive and accurate guide to saving money on flights – coming from someone who genuinely often flies cross-continent for less than £13.
BOOK AT THE RIGHT TIME
According to a study by the Airlines Reporting Corporation, the best time to book your airfare is around six weeks before departure. For international flights, consider 6 – 8 weeks, with peak flights best two months in advance.
FLY AT THE RIGHT TIME
Avoid peak times such as Christmas, Easter, and high-season in June, July, and August. Also, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays are typically the cheapest days to fly out, and overnight flights offer the most affordable time of day. It’s always best to use a comparison site such as Skyscanner to have access to a monthly view of the cheapest dates for your destination.
GO CONNECT
Whilst non-stop flights may be more comfortable, you could save up to 50% by purchasing a flight that stops en-route. I booked a flight to Cyprus that would stop for an hour in Antalya, which whilst inconvenient also meant that I was offered a whole week-long holiday for less than £140.
BOOK A LAYOVER
Related to the above point, some budget airlines may be unique to a destination, meaning that if you book with a layover sliced in between you could save a considerable amount. I use AirWander to compare the best prices for this.
BOOK FOR ONE PERSON
If you are purchasing multiple flights, it is usually best to book them individually. This is because if you book for three people and the seats are each priced at £100, £200 and £300, the transaction would charge each flight at the premium price. Buying separately means that only one sucker pays the £300.
USE COMPARISON SITES
Everyone knows about Skyscanner by now, but other good sites to use are Momondo and Kiwi. You’ve got to feel sorry for the guys that only use one mass search engine.
AVOID HIDDEN COSTS
Airlines such as Ryanair often make up their money by charging you for things you didn’t think you could get charged for. For example, by not printing your boarding tickets prior to departure, Ryanair charges nearly £18 per ticket – and don’t forget those extra baggage fees.
GOOGLE AIRLINES THAT ARE SO SMALL THEY WOULDN’T BE LISTED
TAKE ADVANTAGE OF MISTAKE FARES
BOOK IN DIFFERENT CURRENCIES
For example, GPB is a strong currency at the moment (despite the betrayal that is Brexit), whereas the New Zealand currency is weak, meaning that prices will generally be available for cheaper. However, make sure you use a no-foreign-transaction-fee card to avoid extra charges.
CHANGE THE URL
Similar to booking with a different currency, changing the URL of an airline site (such as from .co.uk to .fr) may also help bring down the price, although don’t expect it to be by much.
BUY TWO SINGLES
Related to the idea of booking several tickets via different transactions, buying two singles instead of one return can also work out cheaper.
CHECK THE PRICE AFTER 24 HOURS
Airlines typically offer a 24-hour period where they will exchange your ticket if you have made a mistake or got the date wrong. However, it is also worth checking after booking if the price of the airfare has fallen, because if so then you can easily cancel and re-book without penalty, saving money.
BE FLEXIBLE
It goes without saying, but being flexible with the date, time and airport can save you a massive amount on airfares. For example, if I were to book a flight from Cardiff to Salt Lake City today for the 1st June, a return would cost nearly £1.6k. However, if I were to fly from Bristol, a similar flight would cost less than £450. Flexibility really pays.
EMAIL LISTS
USE REWARD SCHEMES AND FREQUENT FLYER PROGRAMS
Everyone knows that credit cards can offer some great Avios and travel benefits, but a lot of people aren’t willing to take that risk, and spending money to make money could actually cost you more in the long-run. However, signing up to reward schemes such as Nectar and Clubcards can convert Avios into free flights without messing with your credit score. Also, using shopping portals such as the British Airways eStore can earn you back Avois for every penny you spend on participating stores online. Similarly, signing up to frequent flyer programs, or reward schemes where airlines sponsor hotels and restaurant, can earn you back points to book flights.
BUT BEFORE YOU DO – WHY NOT SHARE THE LOVE AND PIN THE POST?
This is really intelligent! It’s nice to travel smart, i personally think that we need not to buy expensive flights but must invest in food in travelling, haha!
These tips are great darling, will be using these for booking my next flights.
xoxo
Lovely
These are some really great tips, very on point Amy. I just discovered “Student Universe” and i’m hooked at the deals. I’m with you on wandering everywhere and wondering everything 🙂
That incognito mode myth is so popular, and so useless! There are some pretty smart tips listed here. I am definitely trying them for my next booking!
I didn’t think that booking individually would make such a difference, I always book for the whole family at once to be done with it. Next time I´ll see if I can save some money this way. Although we don’t fly that much these days, family life changed the way we travel.
I just knew that book individually can actually press the cost though! Such a great tips!
Thank you 🙂
I think comparison sites is one of the best way to find cheap flights.
Great list babe, i should put this in mind
Much Love,
Jane x
Hello Amy
I see you are an expert in this matter. They are very good tips i must confess you i didn t know nothing about it.
I wish you great travels around the world.
Kisses
Actually, all of these tips were really helpful. Credit cards programs such as frequent flier is something I’m always hearing of, but I was never sure how it works. I had no idea that changing the URL of the site can make a difference. Signing up for newsletters of different airlines sounds good too, and maybe it is best to limit the number and stick with those we will really use, that way our emails won’t be overwhelming.
Book for one person is an amazing tip, I don’t know why I’ve never connected the dots on that one. Booking a layover also sounds great.
Non stops flights are definitely more comfortable but I don’t think that one stop makes that much of a difference and it can reduce the price significantly. Definitely something to consider! I’m not sure I’d like to book a flight that makes ton of stops, though. Finally, book at the right time is probably the most important thing!
Hi dear, thanks a lot for sharing this. need to go on holiday again soon.
Great travel tips! Thanks for sharing. Alot of these were new to me.
Hello Amy! Loved your article and can’ t wait to practice these tips (no trip on the horizon so far but we keep wishing!) 🙂
I wish I found your post a couple of months ago! Seriously, I was looking for an airplane ticket from Warsaw to Lisbon and all the flights were way too expensive. I remember flying both ways for like 150$ two years ago, and now they want to charge me 300! I changed my holidays plans and travel by car somewhere else, but next time I will use all of your great tips!
Dorota
Thanks for these practical tips that don’t involve searching for flights at specific times or using incognito mode. I’ve never considered booking individually or using different currencies but these both make a lot of sense!
Such good tips! Ben and I are ALWAYS searching for killer flight deals. If you can score a good flight, you have way more money for other fun stuff! I’ve honestly never tried to book in another currency, I should try that!
Thanks for the tips, we’ll blame our next spontaneous vacation on you :).
Thank you for the amazing tips. I will definitely be using them the next time I am booking a flight!
Such great tips! Can’t wait until you finally book that trip to salt lake to come visit 😉
Great tips dear!
Have a great day!
xx
Oh my gosh, wow! This is such an extensive list and packed full with ideas I’d have never thought of looking into before now. I just love how your passion for travel has evolved over these past few years since finding your blog Amy, it was always obvious you were destined for a life of travel!
ps. I’ll definitely be taking more interest in how/where I’m paying for flights from now on 🙂
Such great tips! I’ve been noticing how cheap airfare is overall these days too which is amazing!
These are such great travel tips, will definitely come in handy next time I book my flight!
– Marina