Tricks for finding the best price on long-haul flights – and how to use the opposite strategy for short-haul budget carriers

Book early for the best deals, say travel agents; January and February are the busiest months for tour operators as families book for the summer. But research has found that while you should book ahead for short journeys on such airlines as Ryanair or easyJet, it’s better to wait until much later for the best deals on long-haul flights.

The best time to book a short-haul flight is at least 70 days (2.5 months) in advance of flying, according to online booking agent Tripsta. But if it’s a long-haul destination that you’re after – such as New York, Bangkok or Sydney – then it is better to hold your nerve and wait until closer to your departure date.

The researchers found that for long-haul travel you should book no more than 47 days in advance, “and if you are brave enough, try leaving it even later”.

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For example, Guardian Money tested flights to New York departing next Saturday, 7 January, returning two weeks later on Saturday 21 January. The cheapest deal for a direct flight was £410 on Virgin Atlantic. Booking far in advance, for an equally quiet period of travel in late November 2017, the cheapest price for a direct flight was £482.

But if you follow the same strategy with Ryanair or easyJet, you are likely to get your fingers burned. Their business model is to offer the cheapest tickets on a first-come, first-served basis; as the clock ticks down towards the departure date the prices begin to rise. However, note that Ryanair holds sales on some routes around two to three months ahead of departure date, so keep an eye out for those.

There are many other tips for bagging a bargain on flights. Here are our top 10:

1. Always book on a Sunday

According to Expedia, more business travellers make bookings on Fridays, and the airlines and hotels price accordingly. By choosing to book on a Sunday (although not necessarily travelling on a Sunday) you can save up to 30%.

2. Buy long-haul on Tuesdays

According to website Skyscanner: “Quite a few airlines release their last-minute weekend deals on a Tuesday, as they tend to start their sales on a Monday evening – as competitors scrabble to compete, by Tuesday afternoon you could be bagging a sweet bargain on your air fare.”

3. Stay away over a Saturday

By including a Saturday night stay in your flight you can save up to 34% on average when travelling within Europe, says Expedia, but this rises to 74% for flights within central Europe. “Airlines often try to segment business versus leisure travellers by filing cheaper fares that require a Saturday night stay,” says Expedia.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Including a Saturday night stay can save you up to 34% on average on your flights when travelling within Europe. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

4. Try this easyJet trick



Martin Lewis of MoneySavingExpert says there’s a loophole in easyJet’s “Flexi” fare, which allows you to get round peak time prices in the summer school holidays. “Book a Flexi fare on the same route at a less busy time, when flights are cheaper; after 24 hours, provided there’s capacity, you can switch it to the dates you originally wanted at no extra charge. It’s not the easiest trick in the book, but if it works it could save you hundreds of pounds,” he says.

5. Remove cookies



It may be an urban myth, but regular flyers swear that flight prices increase when a particular route is repeatedly searched. You can delete cookies by heading to the internet options button in “tools” on Microsoft Internet Explorer, or by heading to “settings” in Google Chrome.

6. Avoid some specific dates



These are always the first five Fridays of the school summer holidays. Tripsta says flights to Alghero in Italy, departing this summer on Friday 4 August, were selling for £304, but if the traveller switched dates to Wednesday 17 August the price fell to £143.

7. Return on a Friday

A summer trip to Alicante was £325 booked last minute and returning the following Sunday. If the traveller could face returning on the Friday, and had booked earlier, the price dropped to £110.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest There are ways to avoid paying more for flights during school holidays.

Photograph: Luke Macgregor/Reuters

8. Use different search engines

Skyscanner is great for a quick overview of prices. But be wary of excessive card charges made by some operators which enable them to offer “cheap” flights but which come with a sting in the tail. Kayak allows you to filter options based on card fees. Momondo is good for inspiration. Expedia is good for flight/hotel combinations. In the US, try AirfareWatchDog for alerts on cheap deals. JacksFlightClub claims to hunt down pricing errors and email you when they occur.

9. Consider split ticketing



Take the concept of “split ticketing” on the railways and apply it to airlines. That’s what Skiplagged.com does after discovering that sometimes a flight that connects in the city you want to go to is cheaper than flying directly to it. They call it “hidden city flights”, although it only really works in the US. Its promoters are currently engaged in a legal battle with United Airlines, and it can only work if you have no luggage apart from carry-on.

10. Mix and match

It’s always cheaper midweek, on both short and long haul. And always check single as well as return ticket prices, and mix and match airlines. There is no rule that says because you choose to fly Ryanair to Madrid you can’t fly back with easyJet.

Expedia’s new loyalty scheme

Expedia is the first major holiday booking website to launch a loyalty programme, similar to air miles.

It will give holidaymakers two “Expedia+” points for every £1 spent on a flight-plus-hotel package, or one point for every £5 spent on flights.Points can then be used to obtain as much as 3% off the price of further bookings, with no ‘blackout’ periods common on other travel reward schemes. A couple heading to Ibiza this summer on a £2,450 package including flights, hotels and car hire would qualify for £67 off the price of their next trip, or equal to 2.75% cash back. Expedia also promises free room upgrades and other perks for travellers who book at least 15 nights and enter its “gold tier” membership, although members of Expedia’s similar scheme in the US have complained that upgrades have sometimes failed to materialise.

As with all loyalty schemes, travellers should check the price of flights or hotel combinations on a variety of websites before booking, but if Expedia is the cheapest there is no harm in joining the rewards programme, which is free. Using Expedia+ does not stop you collecting on other schemes such as Nectar or using their credit cards to pay for flights and pick up air miles.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Londoners could find that flying to Dublin is a lot cheaper from Birmingham airport. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

Flying from a different airport can save a lot of money



Flying home for Christmas and the New Year can be an expensive affair, Shane Hickey writes, even if you book well in advance. A few years ago, faced with return fares of £400 for two for a trip from London to Dublin, I found an unlikely, cheaper alternative: Birmingham airport.

Living in north-east London, flying from Stansted makes the most sense. At Christmas, however, prices skyrocket, particularly for the most convenient times of day. Travelling to Birmingham airport, meanwhile, takes just an hour and 10 minutes from Euston, and the station is located in the terminal building. Flights cost just over £190 for two return when they were booked at the start of October – some 50% cheaper than if we had flown from Stansted or Heathrow. The return train fares to the airport came in at £38.40, after savings from a Two Together railcard were applied.

Planning ahead is key for Christmas and New Year travel on budget airlines – return flights for two people to Dublin from London, booking just before Christmas, were £696.