A guide on how to book your trip to the most favorable price
We are probably many who have heard about ridiculously cheap flight tickets, but never managed to come across one. Do the super cheap tickets really exist, or is it just a myth? To some extent, it is just a question of luck and good timing, but there are a few things you can do to take control of the prices. As long as you know how.
– Book at the right time
There are several factors that can be decisive for how far in advance you need to book your trip to get the cheapest possible flight tickets. The most crucial factor is demand - how many others want to book the same trip as you? Around 60 days before departure, a price cut usually occurs. When airlines need to sell the largest share of tickets, they often lower their prices to attract more customers. Before then, the prices often tend to be higher, because the airlines simply want to try to cover all of their costs as quickly as possible. Close to the date of departure the prices are usually raised again. Those who book at that time often do it because they have no other choice, or because of similar reasons, which naturally gives the airlines the power to raise the prices.
Everything comes down to supply and demand. A general rule to keep in mind is the following; if it’s a popular destination and time to travel, the price of the ticket will probably increase as the number of tickets decrease, which means you need to book longer time in advance. But, if you want to travel to a more unusual destination, you can book quite close to the departure date, or whenever you feel like it. The ticket will not be influenced by price adjustments to the same extent.
– Combine air travel with bus or train
Longer flights often have stopovers in the same country - or in neighboring countries - as the final destination. And instead of going by plane all of the way, it may be an idea to look into domestic rail and bus travel options. In Thailand, India and Central America for example, there are plenty of good travel options that often make the trip cheaper overall. And not to mention more environmentally friendly!
Many times, ticket prices are higher when flying to the slightly larger airports, because it means higher costs for airlines to land there. So it may also be worth looking for smaller, nearby airports and try to travel by other means from there.
– Do your research - when is the cheapest time to travel?
As long as you have decided when or where you want to travel - you can find the cheapest option based on those parameters in our search engine. We make it very clear when the cheapest time is, for every single destination. You can also see which airports the different destinations have to offer and which month of the year is the cheapest one. You can even see which weekday that is the most beneficial to travel on.
– Travel with your points
If you are travelling often, and preferably with the same airline, it may be worth becoming a member of their customer club and book after registering. The registered trips often provide you with points that you can use as a currency when you are travelling in the future.
– Keep track of offers, discounts and your insurances
From time to time, discounts and offers appear at the various airlines, ranging from hotel nights to actual airline tickets. This can be worth checking out, and it is important to be quick on the ball when they appear if there is a limited edition. Sometimes you can also get it cheaper if you are a student, senior citizen or member of other customer clubs.
When you book your ticket it is often possible to make additional choices regarding insurances and guarantees for instance. And, it can often be worth investing in. But it is also very common that travelers buy insurance that they already have – without knowing they have it. So keep an eye on what kind of insurances and guarantees you have before you book – you can save a lot of money.
– Book one ticket at a time
Sometimes a trip can become cheaper if you are searching for one route at a time, so try to find out which option will give you the best price. Another advantage of searching for one-way tickets is that you can combine different airlines, instead of getting the entire trip from the same one. Just because one airline is the cheapest one to travel with to the destination, it doesn’t automatically mean it is the cheapest one on the way back. Searching one route at a time will help you find the route that is actually the cheapest one.
– Alternative routes – take a detour
If you have time to take a detour you can save a lot of money. There are often more ways to reach your final destination than the suggested one. So if you divide the journey into different sections, and instead look for the cheapest alternative to each destination, you can ultimately get a very affordable price. For example, if you are going to the United States, it can be cheaper if you stop in Gdansk and Reykjavik, even if it doesn’t appear as a suggestion. Just make sure you have a good time margin at the stopovers, so you don’t suffer any delays.
– Travel without hold luggage
We understand that it is sometimes necessary to check in your luggage, but in many other cases you can make it with a little imagination. It is smart to think about what you wear while travelling, and perhaps choose clothes that would otherwise take a lot of space in your luggage. It often works to hand wash your clothes, so you can use them more than once as well. Perhaps you are several people traveling together and can borrow clothes from each other? Only your imagination sets the boundaries.
– Set a limit, and don’t wait too long
It is a jungle when it comes to booking flight tickets, and completing the process can feel like an impossible mission. So it might be a good idea to set a limit for what you think is reasonable to pay for the trip - and then book when the price feels acceptable. If you are constantly waiting for the price to drop slightly, it could end up being a lot more expensive instead.
There are almost as many ticket prices as seats on board the flight, and it might feel hopeless when you are trying to find the best one. But if you know how the airlines think when they set their prices, and what can be crucial to the price of the ticket you want to book, you have come a long way to get a cheaper ticket. Good luck!
