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Buying Cheap Airline Tickets
ONLINE CONSOLIDATORS | ONLINE TRAVEL SITES | LOW COST AIRLINES | CHARTER FLIGHTS
There are no such thing as cheap tickets, there are tickets which meet your needs and are available at a price you are happy to pay. It follows that if you need to fly urgently the same or next day the price of a ticket is a lot more than one booked for example 14 days in advance, which in turn may be more expensive than one booked 6 months in advance.
The lower price tickets normally come with restrictions which do not apply to a full price ticket. A full price ticket can usually be cancelled with a full refund, or the dates of travel changed. A cut price ticket it often endorsed non-refundable and non-transferable. So cut price tickets can have the return date changed for a fee but only after the outward journey has been completed. Not all cut price tickets have the same, or all of the, restrictions so it is important to read the terms and conditions of the ticket and understand what you are buying.
FINDING A LOWER PRICE TICKET
The right ticket: There are two basic types of fares. Published fares which are set by the airlines, and unpublished fares which come from consolidators and are often lower priced. You can buy fares at published prices either direct from the airline or a travel agent. You cannot buy unpublished fares from an airline these have to be purchased either via a travel agent or direct from the consolidator if they deal with the public.
There is now a third option for travel to some destinations and that are the low cost, no frill airlines. As a general rule their tickets are only available from the airline in question.
As an example, while the cheapest BA economy ticket to Paris costs around GBP88, the most expensive economy fare on the same flight is GBP306. These are old fares and are used as an example only. Remember that with effect of 3rd Jan 1998, all advertised airfares have to be 'inclusive' of all airport taxes and other surcharges.
The right date: Timing your journey carefully can also help, especially on long flights. Fares may go up sharply on July 1st, cheap Christmas flights are a 'pipe dream' this is ultra peak season, travelling a little earlier or after Christmas will make considerable savings. Be as flexible as possible with your dates.
The right day: Flying on the wrong day of the week can put an extra £30 on the ticket price. Weekend travel is more expensive for long flights. The fare tariff applies to the date of the outbound flight and the tariffs change on the 1st day of the month or in the peak season even the middle of the month. Be flexible with your dates if you were planning to depart in the last few days of the month check to see if the fares drop the following month. In the peak season the reverse applies going a week earlier may save you money. At Christmas time you may well save a lot of money by being prudent of the dates of travel.
ONLINE CONSOLIDATORS
If you search on "air tickets" in google you will get many hits but here is a selection of online ticket agents, that have been suggested in answers to questions in the newsgroup, and who sell consolidator tickets. As in all things it pays to shop around as prices can vary between them, and each is not always the cheapest.
- a large ticket agency, owned by a consolidator, dealing by phone and internet,
based in Preston.
- this site is run by
9 major airlines and is fairly new. It does seem to offer competitive fares, and
has recently been recommended in the newsgroup. It claims in advertising to be
the cheapest 85% of the time.
-
if you are a student go to this company first. They specialise in fares for students
and people under 26 and their fares in this category are very hard, if not
impossible, to beat.
- formerly
known as Flight Bureau is
a consolidator based in Edinburgh. One of the regular posters to the newsgroup works for the company and
while they post in their private capacity, from home, it does mean we have knowledgeable
help in the newsgroup.
– another company which caters for the independent
traveller and has been in business for many years. They have shops in many parts
of the country, details are on the web site. However a major downfall of the
site is that it doesn’t have the facility to allow online price search or
booking.
CONSOLIDATORS
These companies are wholesale consolidators, who do not deal with the general public but through travel agents. Go to their site and find an agent in your area, who could be cheaper than the online agents.
ONLINE TRAVEL SITES
These sites are worth looking at but you should be aware that they do not always offer a consolidator ticket (non-published fare) but often only quote a published fare which you could obtain from any agent.
LOW COST NO FRILLS AIRLINES
Do not assume that these will always be cheaper than a normal "full" price airline. The cheapest tickets on these airlines often are on a first come first served basis, with so many tickets allocated to each price bracket. It is not unknown that close to the departure date on a full aircraft they are more expensive.
CHARTER FLIGHTS
Some charter companies are now starting to compete against the no frills carriers and are offering online bookings on their flights.
Monarch seats are still only available via a travel agent.
Other web sites:
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INDEPENDENT TRAVEL AGENTS
Do not forget to check you local independent (not one of the high street chains) travel agent. They have access to all sorts of consolidator fares and can quite often find a fare cheaper than it is online.
To find the best price ticket takes a little research and don't assume the old fashioned travel agent will be more expensive.
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