When it comes to booking flights for a holiday, most people seek out the cheapest flight available. Below is my step-by-step guide to booking not only the cheapest flight available, but the one that will provide you with the greatest bang for your buck…
1. Consider whether you are special. Like really special. Are you young? Are you a student? If so, high five! You are eligible for cheaper flights than the rest of the population!! Student Universe through Flight Centre offers cheap flights for students and youth. If you don’t fit into any of these categories…start from here:
2. Use Skyscanner first to see what cheap flights are available. Be flexible with what dates you are willing to fly if you can and remember to allow the search to include nearby airports to your departure and arrival points – sometimes you can get huge savings by flying in and out of different airports that may actually be a similar distance to your final destination.
3. Then visit a travel agent. Sometimes travel agents have access to prices and deals the public do not – you can compare what you have found to what they offer – do it openly to get the best results. They are also able to arrange extended stopovers for you and other benefits. This is why, contrary to what everyone else will tell you online, I believe it is still worth booking through a travel agent.
Make sure you ask them about whether it will be cheaper if you are flexible with your dates and which airports you use or how many stopovers you will have and where.
Also, it is a travel agent’s job to know about destinations. Ask them questions. Ask them annoying ones. They are getting paid to give you the answers. Do it. (Travel agents please do not hate me, I work in tourism myself so feel entitled to give this advice – people pay us to find out information for them).
Once they have quoted you a price, check what you can find online again. If you can find it cheaper, go back to them. Most will always price match and may even price beat.
4. Use your stopovers to get the most out of your flight – I’m not sure if it still happens today, but a couple of years ago Korean Air used to have this great deal where every second day, flights to Europe that passed through Seoul included a free stay at a swish hotel as there was no same day connection. Now, having to stay at a hotel for the night sounds bothersome to some, but after I did it once, I was converted.
From then on, I deliberately booked flights on the non-connecting day with Korean Air (who were also one of the cheapest providers on the route at the time) so I could break up the flight from Australia to London with a sleep in a good bed, nice hot shower, full buffet dinner and breakfast and included bagged lunch, all at no extra cost. Airport transfers to and from the hotel were also included. A great bonus for no extra cost, and the meals provided are WAY better than airplane food!
Nowadays when I book flights, I don’t only look for free overnight stopovers, but take advantage of the stopovers on a whole other level. Earlier this year I flew from Tasmania, Australia to Vancouver, Canada. I wanted to see my brother, who lives in San Francisco, on the way, so asked the travel agent about flights that would connect via SF. I then asked where these flights stopped along the way. She quoted me one that stopped in Hawaii and I asked if I could use the stopover and stay there for ten days at no extra cost and she said it was possible, but would I be willing to have an ‘awkward’ flight and also fly via Fiji to save another $200…I asked if I could stay in Fiji for a week and she said yes.
For the same price as a one way flight from Tasmania to Vancouver I got to have a night in Sydney seeing a friend, a week in Fiji with two friends from Queensland that came to join me, a ten-day holiday in Hawaii with a couple of friends and my brother as well as time with my brother and his girlfriend in San Francisco. It took me almost a month to get to Vancouver, but the experiences I got for the same flight price were fantastic! Having done it all in three days would have been horrible, but instead it was an opportunity for an island hopping adventure.
Especially making use of your stop-overs is something I absolutely adore. There is nothing better than exploring even one more city while on holidays!