Finding the perfect flight to your holiday destination can sometimes be a task undertaken with dread rather than excitement. The choice is pretty overwhelming and confusing at times, and travellers have never had so many options for fares, flights and airlines as they do today. If you’re starting to plan for your next getaway, there are some useful pointers that could save you a whole load of time and money:
Plan ahead
Booking your flights well before your departure dates will save you a huge amount of money. If you can commit to a certain dates months in advance this will significantly help in getting the best costs available. If you regularly monitor flight costs you will see that they change daily. Keeping tabs on this information will mean that you can swoop in at the right time and grab yourself a bargain.
Luggage
Be strict with yourself about how much luggage you’re taking; do you really need ten pairs of shoes, or a hat for every day? Cutting down on your baggage will avoid hefty excess luggage fines. If you’re really not able to travel light then choose an airline such as BA that won’t charge you extra for items carried in the hold. You can purchase luggage weighing scales fairly cheaply online to check exactly how much your bags weigh and avoid nasty surprises.
Hidden charges
When booking your flights, try not to be tempted by any offers of insurance or other extras as this can add a lot to your end price and you might not actually need it. Carefully check booking forms to make sure that no extras have been slipped in as a default setting. If you pay by credit card you will usually incur a processing fee, but you will be protected against airline failure on purchases over £100. If you’d rather save money and don’t mind taking the risk, paying with a debit card is usually cheaper.
Off Peak
If you’re flexible on when you can travel then this will help to reduce costs. Flying outside of the school holidays, during the week, or in the middle of the night will give you more chance of grabbing a cheap flight. You can usually put filters in place on flight comparison websites to find this information, and it’s also worth seeing if travel in cheaper a day either side of your prefered date.
Compare prices
Shopping around and comparing quotes is really worth the time and effort as it can make a huge difference in flight costs. Price comparison sites are helpful for saving you time going to individual sites for quotes as you only need to enter the information once. Make sure that you check what is and isn’t included in the price so that you’re sure you’re comparing like for like on deals. Opting for a package deal can save you money too, so be sure to check this option too. Once you have found cheap flights to Copenhagen or other destinations, it’s wise to go direct to an agency site to check all of the details are correct and up to date before going ahead with your booking.
