Cheap Flights Lower scheduled and charter costs

The internet's great for flights or DIY city breaks. But if you're going away specifically for seven, 10 or 14 days to a traditional holiday destination, then package holidays, where everything's wrapped up in one, often come up trumps. See the Cheap Package Holiday guide.

Plus most package operators are ATOL protected (though always check before you book) so if the company goes bust or something goes wrong, your holiday is automatically protected.
This means you'd get a refund if you haven't left yet, or you could carry on the trip and still get home if you're already there.

However, unless you've booked your flights directly with a flight provider that's also ATOL-registered (eg, Thomas Cook), this doesn't apply to standalone flights. Importantly, ATOL protection was extended from 30 Apr 2012, see below for full info. Read the next two tips for how to protect against airline collapse.

Even if you think the airline's safe as houses, it's still important to protect yourself as fully as possible. The easiest way is to book on a credit card, as when the transaction's over £100, Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act means the card company's equally liable if something goes wrong (see the full Section 75 Refunds guide, or the Visa / Mastercard Chargeback guide for protection on debit card purchases).

This means if the airline goes bust, you can at least get your money back from the card company. Always pay your card off in full at the end of the month so you're not charged interest. It's also possible to get scheduled airline failure cover; see the Cheap Travel Insurance guide.

Most package holiday operators are members of the huge ATOL and ABTA travel protection schemes, so if the firm goes bust or there's another issue, your getaway's protected.

Yet book flights and hotels directly, and unless the provider's ATOL registered, there's no protection. So always book DIY flights on a credit card (repaid in full to avoid interest) to get Section 75 protection on £100+ transactions.

Importantly, from 30 Apr 2012, ATOL protection was extended to include flights and accommodation or car hire booked from the same company within a day of each other, even if they're not part of a formal package. See the MSE news story ATOL Travel Protection Extended for full info.

When it comes to travel insurance, most policies are designed to cover packages. The biggest issue's lack of cover for knock-on consequences. For example, if your policy covers scheduled airline failure and the airline collapses, you may be able to claim the flight's cost, but not cash paid upfront for a hotel.

To beat this, scout out policies that specifically cover 'indirect loss' - check the small print. For maximum cover, look for increasingly available, though pricier, 'independent traveller' policies. Read the Cheap Travel Insurance guide for more.

If you aren't too fussy about the exact details of your flight, it's possible to get it for far less than if you'd specified an exact seat class, time, or that you wanted to bring your cat as hand luggage.

Do be aware the cheapest flights tend to have strict terms and conditions though, with limited changeability, and it's tough to get refunds. So always check the exact terms before booking.

Outrageously, budget airline ‘extras' include taking bags, checking in or even just paying.

Be it Ryanair, Easyjet, Flybe or BMI Baby, the Budget Flight Fee Fighting guide has tricks to beat those nasty charges, from special prepay cards that beat the fees to multi-pocket jackets so you can take extra carry-on luggage.

Never, ever just automatically book costly travel insurance with your airline. Instead consider a year's policy for roughly the same cost, starting from just £16 or £31 for a family. For a full regularly updated best buys and catches galore to avoid, read the Cheap Travel Insurance guide.

If you're staying in Europe, the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) gives you free or discounted medical treatment in state-run hospitals in any European Union country (and a few others). Don't consider it a suitable substitute for travel insurance though, as it doesn't cover possessions, baggage and repatriation. Read the full Free EHIC guide.

Some cheap airline and web holiday sites may automatically add expensive travel cover when you book. Make sure you double-check the full cost, and remove any rogue policies before paying (usually by unchecking multiple boxes).

You may already have travel insurance, but even if not it's always cheaper to grab a Cheap Travel Insurance deal than buying from booking sites. You'll often get wider cover, too.

Almost everyone from the UK going to the USA by air or sea, even those just passing through, must fill out the Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (ESTA) in advance or they'll be turned back.

For full info on how it works and how to avoid paying more than the official $14 per person fee, read the ESTA guide.

Some big flight bargains are occasionally up for grabs with Lastminute.com's* ‘top secret flights' if you enjoy playing detective (also see its Secret Hotels).

It's worth noting that these secret flights can be quite tricky to find though, as they're only released at certain times so aren't available all the time.

When they are avaialble, it tells you the departure and arrival city, flight length and whether there's a stopover, but you'll only find out exact airports, airline and departure times after you've paid.

The hidden nature can occasionally mean dirt-cheap prices, as airlines needn't worry it'll cannibalise their direct trade.

Its top secret flights only include scheduled flights, so you won't find charters or low cost carriers. However, Lastminute.com's told us top secret flight prices are always cheaper than booking direct, or booking the same flights as branded.

There's a sneaky way to locate clues about these, and you don't need to have Miss Marple's powers of deduction. After all, there are only a limited number of flights going somewhere in a day!

How to uncover the secret flights

• Step 1. Search for your dates.

  Search on Lastminute.com* for your dates. If it comes up with a cheap secret flight, search for the same dates on screenscaper Kayak*.

• Step 2. Narrow down the flights

  Kayak will come up with 100s of results - you need to eliminate some. Check the ‘non-stop' or ‘one-stop' box on Kayak's results page, depending on whether or not the secret flight has a stopover. Then, go down to the ‘trip duration' section (bottom left) and drag the arrow so it matches the length of the longest of your two return flights.

• Step 3. Match up the flights

  This will often enable you to match up the results on Kayak with the Lastminute secret flights, or at least work out which airline it is and airports it uses, if there are a few similar results in a day.

  There can be substantial savings here, though of course, it varies by flight. For example, one £190 London to Dubai secret flight turned out to be a Royal Brunei Air trip from London Heathrow. The cheapest price comparison listing for the same trip was £240.

  Add your tips/feedback: Lastminute Secret Flights discussion

Spot a dirt-cheap flight seat, and its limited nature means you don't know how long you've got to decide. Yet there's a sneaky trick to manipulate the booking system, and work out how many bargain seats are left.

Many airlines let you book seats for up to nine passengers. Pretend to make the booking for more seats than you need, and if the cheap fare's still available for nine seats, then you've got breathing space. If the fare shoots up for three, four, or five seats, you need to grab it as soon as possible.

Specialist youth travel agent STA Travel guarantees to beat any scheduled flight price offered by competitors. While it specialises in finding deals for students and under-26s, its price guarantee's open to all.

Sadly, the guarantee doesn't extend to flights booked directly on airlines' sites, but if you fit the age bracket and happen to find a cheap agency deal it's worth calling 0871 230 0040 and seeing how much they'll beat it by.

Do let us know how you get on in the Cheap Flights discussion.

The UK's a melting pot of different immigrant and ethnic communities, and this can be used to great advantage for a cheap flight booking. Niche travel agents often specialise in finding deals to those communities' linked countries.

For example, Shepherd's Bush in London (home to MSE Towers) has some Caribbean specialist tour agents. Or buy the Jewish Chronicle, which has companies advertising cheap flights to Israel. If you know of a cheap specialist travel agent, please add your finds/read others.

There's only one way to guarantee a flight upgrade, and that's to pay. But free upgrades aren't unheard of. From pulling in favours from airline-based contacts, to simply choosing your flight carefully and playing the odds, you can boost your chances even before you book.

If you don't fancy your chances of getting a freebie, there are also various ways to buy upgrade passes on the cheap. Read them all in the full How To Get A Flight Upgrade guide.

For belt and braces, it's worth going direct to charter airlines and travel agents, and just asking them for top last-minute charter deals. On the web, there's MyTravel*, Monarch*, FlyThomasCook* (though ensure you read the How safe is Thomas Cook? MSE news story before booking), ThomsonFly* and First Choice*, but local travel agents can often beat them. Again, all these are ABTA and ATOL registered.

If there are no charter flights, consider booking a package holiday and just not using the hotel - this can be much cheaper than booking a scheduled flight. For destinations like Ghana, Orlando or Sri Lanka, package holidays can be dirt cheap. Also see the Cheap Package Holiday article.

The CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) website has a useful airline charges comparison table which shows extra fees for a host of big airlines, as well as luggage allowances, credit card charges and even whether a meal's included with your ticket. While you should always double-check these with the airline before you book, it's handy to see the real cost of your ticket.

We hope that this guide will help you fly more cheaply, though not necessarily more often. If you've saved serious cash (or even just a little), you may want to spend a little on carbon offsetting your flight.

If you're flying a good number of months away, it's worth signing up to the email lists of all the relevant airlines. Often they email details of short-term sales, so if you've definite plans you can be ready to pounce at the right moment (and of course this site's weekly e-mail includes the best of them).

Before you do that, always use a screenscraper to benchmark what a realistic price should be. Especially good for sales are the newsletters of British Airways*, Opodo*, American Airlines, Air France* and KLM*.

Once you know what the flight is, there are a few sites which should help you improve it. Use Seatguru to check out the plane's seating plan so you can see whether 18E beats 19C. Also try similar site Airlinequality, which includes airline reviews and rankings.

Flightstats details punctuality on current flights and other data, while if you'd prefer to know what you'll be eating on the flight before you board, Airlinemeals has photos and reviews to whet your appetite.

Website Resorthoppa* lets you book transfers between airports and popular resorts across the globe. It offers basic shared shuttle buses as well as private transfers, and forumers report it can turn up some very competitive prices (though always check these for yourself before you book). It charges £1.50 for paying by debit card and £3 for credit cards though, so watch out for these.

Our own MSE Jenny says: "From my experience, don't expect anything too posh if you opt for a shuttle bus, and allow plenty of time to get to the airport. After all, if there are hordes of other passengers to pick up, you don't want to miss your flight."

Feedback's generally positive, though there are reports of occasional problems with missed pickups, so factor this in if you're considering it. If you've used it, please let us know how you've got on in the Resorthoppa forum discussion.

Launched in July 2011, TransferWithMe helps you find people to share your airport transfer with. It's free to register and search on, and the site's simple and easy to use - though there's no guarantee you'll find a match. Still, it's worth a try to see if any others are going in the same direction. If you've used it, please share your feedback in the forum discussion.

If you're looking to buy duty-free goods but don't want to have to carry them on the plane, website Duty Free On Arrival has a handy airport search that gives info on whether you can buy duty free when you arrive.