If you have come to this post looking for some secret trick so that you can travel on half the price on the same trip, this is nearly impossible.
But, some effective ways that allow you to save money when you fly or that help you find the cheapest flight.
In this post, we have presented some useful tips to save money when flying by plane.
Book the flight at least a month before your visit
A long time ago booking a trip at the last minute was the cheapest way to fly. But this is not the case anymore.
The airlines realised that everyone was waiting for the last day to reserve their seat, and they stopped this practice.
Nowadays, reserving with enough time, you make sure that the price is lower.
Keep a tab of a plane ticket on your keyboard
As soon as the plane begins to fill, the prices of the tickets go up in price. It is logical to think that the sooner you buy your flight, the less filled the plane will be, and therefore, the cheaper it will be.
The studies say that the best prices are about six weeks before the flight, although I have managed to book up to 5 months in advance.
Use flight search engines to compare the flights
Always, always, and always start your search with a specialised search engine such as kayak or Skyscanner.
The search engine will compare all the options between destinations and will tell you which days are the cheapest.
Skyscanner search engine: From there you can always go to the websites of each airline and check if their prices are lower than those shown by the search engine because search engines do not always show the lowest price in the market.
Wait for airline discounts
Wait for the sales that companies usually do.
Many airlines offer large discounts on certain occasions. For example, January is usually one of the best months to obtain this type of discount.
- So keep your eyes open.
- Sign up for newsletters
- And one of the best ways to stay up to date is to subscribe to the airline mailing list.
- If they make an offer, you will receive it in your email. Also, they usually notify when new flight dates are available.
- For example, when traveling with United Airlines book flights as soon as they extend an offer on email. Getting this offer is only possible if you have subscribed their mailing list. get more deals and discounts from Faremart.com, a travel booking platform, well known for its services and happy customers.
- It can also be interesting to subscribe to the news of your nearest airport or search engines like Skyscanner.
- Also, the search engines allow you to select your favorite routes and flights and receive a notification when their prices come down.
Fly from small airports for short trips
For short trips, flying from large airports is usually more expensive. For example, Oslo has two airports, the main one in the north, 20 minutes by train and the other in the south, which will take you around one hour to reach.
Flying to secondary airport is cheaper. But you have to bear in mind that you must add the price of the trip to the city centre and that you will be travelling more time.
You have to consider all the extras in the final price to be able to compare.
But look for large airports for long trips
For a long trip, for example, to the United States, travelling from a large airport like Madrid may be cheaper.
But do not leave the idea of flying to large hubs such as Paris or Amsterdam with low-cost airlines. In these large Hubs, long flights are usually cheaper.
Travel alone with hand luggage
This may be the most obvious of the tips. The airlines will let you carry a hand luggage with you that (usually) be included in the price. Billing a suitcase is not expensive either, but if you can save it, the better.
Although to avoid surprises, it is always best to check the conditions with each company.
Be flexible with dates
If you have flexibility with the dates, it will certainly help you a lot so that you can choose the cheapest day.
In general, during the week it is cheaper than from Friday to Sunday.
It’s easy to understand. Flights are usually filled on weekends. But also those who fly for business usually do it on a Monday. Studies show that the best day to fly is on Wednesday.
Travel between the high season and the low season.
The best months to fly in Europe are May, June and October.
Flights and hotels are cheaper. There are not so many people travelling, and also the weather is not bad yet.
In theory, the cheapest thing to do is fly in the off-season, although the disadvantage is that there is more chance of it raining.
Fly with different companies
We return to point 2. Skyscanner is perfect for showing you different flights with different companies.
Sometimes it will be cheaper for you to go with one company and come back with another. You can even have the option to use different airports.
In the case of Oslo, imagine arriving at one airport and using the other for the return trip.
In Skyscanner, you have the option to select any airport.
Consider sleeping at the airport
And I do not mean in a seat. There are usually hotels near the airports, and some are very cheap, and they usually offer a shuttle service that takes you from the hotel to the airport.
If you consider sleeping nearby, you can consider flying on the first or last flight of the day. It is cheaper to fly on these types of flights, and the discount is usually very big for long flights.