On any given airline, there can be up to ten different price points for a single economy seat. Someone who bought a seat for £60 could be sat next to someone who paid £300. On average, however, a flight of less than 90 minutes should not cost more than £100, and a flight of two to four hours shouldn't be more than £300. "If you're paying more, you're not doing a good job shopping," says Rick Seaney, cofounder and CEO of FareCompare.com. Here are a few tips for ensuring you're never the passenger who has paid £300 for that £60 seat.
- Timing is everythingBegin shopping for tickets three months before your departure date, at which point sales begin. Around 65 per cent of sales last just three days, so check frequently. Most sales occur earlier in both the week and the day. Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday are the cheapest days to fly. Departures early in the morning, during mealtimes or on red-eyes are cheapest, and flights with connections often cost less than non-stop ones. Shopping on budget airlines isn't always cheaper: those tickets often start very low, end high and fluctuate quite a bit in between. Begin searching early, and remember, "the flight may not necessarily be more expensive tomorrow," according to Rob Burgess, editor of headforpoints.com.
- Compare faresUse sites such as WhichBudget, Opodo, FareCompare, SkyScanner and Expedia to look across the board at airlines (some do not include budget airlines, however). These sites are also good for mixing and matching airlines to find cheap combinations. Airlines themselves sometimes run special deals for booking directly on their site, so take a look there, too. Web alerts from FlyerTalk and FareCompare let you know about special sales and deals, and Kayak offers daily updates about the price of any given ticket. Finally, when booking more than one ticket, compare individual versus group fares. "If you're asking for four tickets, everyone has to be on the same price, even if there are three tickets available for cheaper seats," says Seaney.
- Seek hidden costs and savingsThe cost of your trip does not stop with the airfare.
Factor in charges for checked bags - up to £60 per bag on Ryanair, for example. Transport to the airport counts, too. A return Tube ride to Heathrow can be up to £11; the Stansted Express is £33. But there are ways to save. Websites such as Quidco and TopCashBack often give one to two per cent cashback when you access an airline's site through their links. Some booking sites also present cheaper air fares if you chose a "flight plus hotel" or "flight plus car" package, even if that just entails one night in a hostel.
Finally, remember that award miles are valuable. Points earned on a slightly more expensive British Airways flight to California can pay for a free flight within Europe later on.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
