Travelling can be a thrilling and eye-opening experience, and it’s easy to get swept up in the excitement of adventure. Becoming adept at travelling is the result of fear, missed opportunities, wasted money, ignorance, and many other such mistakes, but a day will come when you know exactly what to do in any situation because you bungled it up last time. That is, after all, how one learns. The same goes for finding cheap flights, but hey, if we’ve got anything to say about it after reading this article, you will have some tricks up your sleeve before making some important decisions.
Pick your timing wisely.
All airlines are infamous for racking up their prices around or during holidays. Significant events such as New Year or end-of-school vacations all lead to more people booking flights and going on a trip. August is a popular month for European travel because everyone wants to go somewhere warm when the weather is cold. If you plan to take a trip when everyone else around you is also taking a trip, well, be sure to expect a costly ticket. The best solution? Go out of your way to be flexible with your travel dates. If you really want to visit Switzerland, go at a time when there are fewer tourists making the same trip, and the airfares are lower.
Airlines know when festivals and holidays are coming, and they’ll charge you according to how in-demand the flight is. Make flexible plans that allow for changes. The more rigid your timeline, the more likely you will be to delay your much-awaited trip to next year.
Another tip! Flying during the week is most often less expensive than flying on the weekend because most people travel on weekends, and we have already established that doing what most people do can cost you. Fridays and Mondays will cost you the most because businesses tend to schedule their flights on these days. You’ll also find cheaper options if you book flights on a major festival or holiday or immediately after. Flights in the early morning or late at night are also less expensive because fewer people want to travel at those times.
Consider budget airlines
Budget airlines offer significantly lower ticket prices than full-service airlines. Of course, this means making a lot of compromises. You might be particularly disappointed with the small amount of legroom and no “free” food or drink on board. These services are usually available in full-service airlines.
If you’re thinking about flying budget, which no doubt is a great way to save money, the important thing you should remember is to always make sure you get all the details and know what you paid for.
Follow the luggage instructions to the T. Make sure to stay within your limits when it comes to the number of bags allowed and weight restriction. If you’re over, some airlines will charge you a considerable fee (there has to be a catch, right?). Make sure you’ve booked and paid in full for your luggage allowance.
Read the small print. Some airlines will charge you extra, and sometimes quite heavily, if you don’t print the boarding pass or use some other service they’ve specified. These instructions are always mentioned in the confirmation you’ll receive after booking your flight.
Also, make sure to check where you’ll take off and land, some budget airlines have airports located far from the city, and it can be quite a ride to get into the city.
Remember to get the cheapest flight possible, you have to do some serious sleuthing; you must be adaptable, your research should be impeccable, and you must clearly understand the budget airline’s restrictions.
Paying in foreign currency
Many travellers use the option to pay for their flights in currency other than their own country’s to find lower-cost flights. Most airlines require payment in the currency of the country from which you are departing, but you might run into some luck. When booking your flight tickets, see if you can pay in a foreign currency that can provide a favourable exchange rate.
Indirect flights
Being flexible not only with dates and destinations but also with the route you take is yet another method to secure a cheap flight. For example, it may be less expensive to take a little pit stop along the way. These kinds of flights cost you more affordable than getting a direct flight to the city of your choosing. Plan your trip in advance so you can schedule flights that are not direct and may take a little more time.
Fair alerts
Remember to set fare alerts when you visit airline pages. This allows you to learn about special offers before they sell out, allowing you to book cheap flight tickets.
Airlines occasionally make errors when uploading their fares, resulting in significantly cheap flights. This can happen for a variety of reasons, including currency conversion errors or plain old human error. If you know where to look for airline error fares, you can save hundreds of dollars on a ticket. Sites like Airfarewatchdog and Secret Flying are great places to look for pricing errors and sales.
Use multiple airlines for a single route.
Some websites are extremely intelligent. They combine airlines in order to find the best deal. For example, suppose you want to travel from New York to Karachi. A typical flight search engine will only show routes from a single airline and its partners. These websites will mix and match airlines to find you the cheapest route. Isn’t that neat? The effects of this trick can be felt more strongly on longer air travel trips.
Search engines and local airlines
You must search multiple websites to find the best deal. Many major search engines do not include budget airlines or obscure foreign carriers because they do not want to pay a booking commission. Others do not include non-English booking sites. Others, meanwhile, only show prices obtained directly from airlines. In short, each website has advantages and disadvantages. Because there is no perfect airline search engine, you should use several to compare. Even the greatest have flaws.
While search engines are definitely the best tools to use, they do not always include small airlines, particularly in isolated areas. If you’re flying somewhere remote, ask around to see if there’s a local airline. You’ll definitely find them cheaper than international ones.
Now that you’ve become wiser and more learned about the ways of travelling cheap, you’re ready to book your flight. Happy travels!
