When it comes to going on holiday, one of the things that really determines whether it will happen or not is how cheap you can find a flight for. Accommodation can be saved on in multiple ways (staying with friends or family), but there is often only really one way to travel to a lot of countries. Finding those cheap flights doesn’t have to be a bother, though, and there are plenty of ways to reduce the price before grabbing a ticket.
1. Choose the right time of the year
If you’re single or don’t have children, you are much more likely to be able to travel outside of the peak periods, rather than hitting them head on. Easter, the summer holidays and Christmas are all times that you’ll find it a lot more expensive than usual. Travelling during the off peak means that not only will flight work out a lot cheaper, you’ll also avoid the bulk of families who would be staying at your hotel in July.
2. Book as early as possible
Buying a ticket the night before you want to travel is an incredible amount more expensive than booking 6 months in advance. This is because airlines know that as the date of travel gets closer, customers will have much fewer options and will be forced to pay whatever price they charge for the flight. If you can avoid it, don’t let yourself become one of these, as I personally witnessed a £450 flight leap to £800 in the space of a month, leaving me in an unenviable situation.
3. Shop around – don’t take the first flight you find
Let’s imagine a scenario: you want to watch the All Blacks play on their home turf, so you go to your travel agent and they offer you a two week return for £1,800. It sounds like a great deal, and you bite their arm off to take it, but when you start telling people how much it cost, they politely let you know that you have paid well over the odds and could have found better prices elsewhere.
The solution to this would be to instead search for cheap flights to New Zealand from JetAbroad, let the website do the hunting for you, and speak to the cheapest few to find out their best deals for the times you’re free to travel. Very rarely is the first place you’ll look the cheapest – something especially true of high street travel agents.
4. Look for promotions
In my aforementioned story when I saw a flight jump £350 almost overnight, my saving grace was that I managed to pick out a special offer which let me buy the ticket at £498 instead of £792. In those brief minutes it took me to search elsewhere, I effectively gave myself £300 extra spending money for practically no work whatsoever.
Check newspapers, magazines and price comparison websites to make sure that you’re getting the very best deal for your money. It’s always time well spent and worth the effort you exert.