How to book the cheapest flights?
Low cost airlines have changed the way and frequency of travel forever. Since they started sky-high expansion, they have forced their carriers to lower prices, consistently taking over more air cake. They also caused the development of regional airports, expanding their offer from year to year. And although their rules have now become more stringent, and ticket booking options have changed to the disadvantage of passengers, traveling has never been so easy-available and widespread as now. Is not that great news for a born nomad? Yes, but when it comes down to it, many people get the impression that finding a cheap ticket is associated with happiness, spending hours on the pages of search engines, or traveling in the worst possible times. Some of them are right, but we can develop a few habits that will help us improve the booking process and save money at the same time!
I remember flying to the UK on average for one and a half months, being a student and not spending a fortune on flights. In fact, the trip to the house cost less then, for example, by train to a nearby city. These were beautiful times ... Until about 2010, the basic price of the ticket included small hand luggage, a suitcase of up to 10 kg and a laptop bag! Now you can only dream about such facilities. Last year I managed to fly with a trekking backpack as part of hand luggage, but now it is impossible. So are cheap air tickets a thing of the past? Of course not!
CHEAP FLIGHTS AND TRAVEL SEARCH ENGINES
Search engines are the fastest and easiest way to find cheap flights. Here are a few of the most popular, because of the wealth of the offer, i.e. the number of checked carriers and the best promotions:
1. SKY SCANNER - https://www.skyscanner.net
+ the advantage of this search engine is the ability to search within a specific month,
+ also has the ability to check the cheapest month relative to the whole year (counted from the current month),
+ you can select the option of direct flights only
- the downside is that not always given prices after passing on the carrier's side they are 100% compatible (sometimes they are higher).
2. ESKY - https://www.esky.com/
+ I recommend checking the "Deals" and "Airlines" tabs because they show the cheapest months and dates of the flight.
- unfortunately, you have to select specific dates in the search engine, which makes it difficult to find the cheapest options.
3. KAYAK - https://www.kayak.co.uk/
+ allows you to specify the length of stay and on this basis searches for flights,
+ has the ability to search by interests, e.g. "beaches", "white madness", "for couples", etc.
- allows you to select up to 4 airports once, if you mark in place departure country eg "Poland".
4. FLY4FREE - https://www.fly4free.com/flight-deals/uk/
+ most often searches for combined promotions, i.e. a flight with accommodation, or a flight with a car rental.
- the best promotions are quickly bought or outdated.
5. HOLIDAY PIRATES - https://www.holidaypirates.com/
+ current promotions, not only for cheap flights, but also combined packages
- the best promotions are quickly bought or outdated.
6. AZAIR - http://www.azair.cz/index.php?lang=en
+ a simple, very good search engine that has the ability to search for flights "anywhere",
+ includes only low-cost airlines,
+ its minimalistic design streamlines the search.
- it covers only Europe and Asia.
HOW TO BOOK THE CHEAPEST FLIGHTS?
OK, let's get to the details. Tracking search engines is one thing, but there are still a few tricks that help you find the best deals. Here are a few of them:
always search for flights from the incognito window, thanks to which the cookie will not be saved and the algorithm will not increase the price,
save flights that interest you and set alerts in search engines, thanks to which you will book your dream flight next year, if you miss it,
do not set yourself on a specific direction or date - being flexible makes it much easier to find tickets,
sign up for a club, for example at WizzAir Club: the annual fee for two people is 29.99 EUR, while for six people 59.99; the discount on flights is approx. EUR 10 + EUR 5 cheaper on checked-in baggage online; You can sign up HERE.
try to take as little luggage as possible, or share a large suitcase with a fellow passenger. How to pack a small backpack? You can find advice HERE or HERE,
the best time to buy tickets is usually 2-3 months before departure for Europe and 5-6 months for long journeys,
if you have the option, look for tickets at unusual times, e.g. on Monday at 8:00 or on Saturday at 5:00,
if you are interested in a specific direction, check what lines the airport serves in this place, and then follow the pages of given carriers,
in order to know the final price, go through the booking process as far as possible (usually until the data are provided), because the apparently low price at first glance, after adding luggage and other charges, may be much higher,
don’t worry about accommodation, renting a car and other aspects of the trip, focus only on flights, and maybe you will also get an opportunity for other things when buying tickets.
CHEAP AIRLINES
It is also worth checking the ticket prices on the websites of the carriers themselves. Here's a list of the most popular ones:
RYANAIR - https://www.ryanair.com/gb/en/
WIZZAIR - https://wizzair.com/
EASYJET - https://www.easyjet.com/en
TAP (mainly Portugal) - https://www.flytap.com/en-gb/
NORWEGIAN (mainly Scandinavia) - https://www.norwegian.com/uk/
AEGEAN (mainly Greece) - https://en.aegeanair.com/
ENTER (Polish cheap airlines) - https://www.enterair.pl/en
BLUEAIR (Romanian cheap airlines) - https://www.blueairweb.com/en/gb/
CHARTER FLIGHTS
I have already mentioned many charter flights that can be booked, eg by a travel agency. The limitation here is certainly the length of your stay, because they are usually weekly flights, but usually take place on weekends and contain a large luggage in the price of the ticket!
The best deals hit the last moment, that is, a few days before departure, which is why it is quite a risky tactic, but it is profitable. If your holiday is inevitably coming and you still do not have tickets, try to hunt a charter flight. Most travel agencies are happy to sell unsold seats on the plane. Make sure to check your local travel agency to get some info.
Here are some of them you can check online:
CHARTER FLIGHTS - https://www.charterflights.co.uk/
That's all I use and what I'm suggesting when looking for cheap flights. I hope that the above tips will be helpful and you will save thanks to them for the next holidays! I realize that there are many more tricks of this type, so if you would like to share one of them, I encourage you to add a comment! :)