Cheap Flights

It’s possible to fly free in Europe and slice flight costs everywhere else. Don’t be fooled into thinking all cheap flight sites are the same: there are four very different types. Use the right one for the job and it can save you time and money. This is a step-by-step guide to finding cheap or even free scheduled & charter flights.

When looking for cheap flight deals, timing is crucial.

"Unlike package holidays, book flights early: business folk will pay top dollar at the last-minute, so airlines hike prices"

Whenever you need to travel, the internet is a powerhouse for super-speedily finding the cheapest flights, yet which site to use depends on your plans:

• Know when & where you want? Use a Screenscraper
• Looking for a flight & hotel break combined? Use a Flight Broker
  
• Is it a traditional package holiday destination? Also try Charter Comparisons
• Want ultra-cheap £1 budget flights anywhere? Use the FlightChecker and check out Free Flights
  

After that read the additional tips to finess the cost down even further, including using location specialist travel agents with access to hidden deals.

Don't discount package holidays.

While the internet's great for flights or DIY city breaks (also see the Cheap Hotel Prices guide), if you're going away specifically for 7, 10 or 14 days to a traditional holiday destination, then package holidays, where everything's wrapped up in one, often come up trumps.

Better still, most package operators are ATOL protected, so if the company goes bust or something goes wrong, your holiday is automatically protected meaning you get a refund if you haven't left yet, or you can carry on the trip and get home if you're already there. This protection doesn't apply to standalone flights. See the Cheap Package Holidays guide.

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Free flights may sound like a pipe dream, but they are regularly possible, and not just for budget airlines, loopholes allow it for BA, BMI and more. They come in two flavours.

Promotional Flight Sales.

Budget airlines, especially Ryanair, commonly have free 'flights sales' (or technically 1p or £1) to build up a customer base. Do always check the sale price says, "includes taxes or charges" though, or it can still add up to £30 each way. All free flight sales are included in the weekly MoneySaving email.

Even when these fees are included, you may still have to pay more on top for check-in, baggage and more. Even so, done right this shouldn't usually add up to much more than £10 or £15 per person, see the Ryanair £1 Flight Sales deals note for more info.

Credit Card Freebie Flights Loopholes.

There's a way to manipulate credit cards to get free flights at no cost (or you just pay taxes). Many airline linked credit cards offer you a free return trips as an incentive if you successfully apply for a card, to get it you need to spend above 'a trigger threshold', yet often this is set very low, so simply buy an apple or anything else you'd usually buy. In short,

Spend the trigger amount on the card, whether 1p or £10, then ALWAYS repay it in full so there's no interest, get the free flight and then cancel the card.

Of course, if the card has any other useful features, such as a high performing rewards scheme you may want to keep it, not cancel it.

The only reason not to do this is if you can better use your credit score for something else, such as cutting the cost of your debts, though it's also a good idea not to apply for too many cards in quick succession - full details in the Credit Card Freebies guide. With all these deals, the redemption flight is subject to availability, but usually there's a decent range.

• Free BA returns to Ibiza, Malta & more, inc. taxes. Lloyds TSB Airmiles
  
  Open a Lloyds TSB Airmiles Duo* card via Airmiles website before January 31 2010 and spend £10 on it by 31 March 2010, and you'll receive 1,500 Airmiles; enough to exchange for a return 'Zone 2' destination flight including all taxes and charges. This includes Budapest, Faro, Stockholm, Ibiza, Cagliari and loads more via British AIrways and others or two returns to Zone 1 destinations like Paris or Amsterdam.
  
  The only downside is you MUST book at least one night in a hotel through Airmiles. Prices aren’t dirt cheap as it mainly included higher end hotels, but bargains are possible, hotels in Prague start at £30 a night and range up to £150. However you could fly for a week, stay a night in one of those hotels, and the rest of the time elsewhere (see cheap hotels guide). Yet those looking for super budget hostel stays may be better off using the Flightchecker and Cheap Flights articles to find their hotel.
  
  While the normal rule with these cards is cancel them once you’ve got the freebie, if you’re an Airmiles collector this one is a possible exception, as the Airmiles Amex (you also get an Airmiles mastercard) is the best way to earn Airmiles on a credit card. Simply spend on the card, but ensure there’s a direct debit set up to pay it off in full each month or the interest cost will dwarf the value of Airmiles earned. Read Loyalty Schemes Tips and Tricks.
  
  Quick Stats: Freebie: 1500 Airmiles, Standard Rate: 15.9% APR (See full T&C's), Min. Spend Trigger: £10, Taxes Included: YES, Other: Must book 1 night's hotel with Airmiles.
  
  
• Free European Flight with Flybe. Flybe Mastercard
  
  Grab Flybe's credit card and once you've spent anything on it you'll be sent a voucher for a return flight on any of its European routes. You WILL have to pay taxes and charges, but the beauty here is that there's no minimum spend. Buying a bag of crisps (or an apple for the health conscious!) still qualifies for the freebie. Just make sure you pay the card off in full to ensure no interest.
  
  Freebie: Free European flight Voucher, Standard Rate: 16.9% APR, Min. Spend Trigger: No Minimum, Taxes Included: NO
  
  
• Free BMI Business flight to Russia or Turkey. BMI Amex card
  
  Get a BMI Amex* card, do £250 of your normal spending on it within 90 days, and you'll get 20,000 of BMI's 'Destination Miles'. These can be redeemed for a return business-class flight to Russia, Turkey, Majorca and others (see what you can get). A normal flight to one of these 'Zone 2' countries costs 12,000 miles, but for 18,000 you can upgrade to business. Alternatively, you can get two flights to a closer destination such as France, Germany or within the UK.
  
  You WILL have to pay any taxes and charges for the flight, but this is still a great deal. This also has a decent balance transfer offer of 0% for 12 months with a 3% fee (see the Balance Transfer article for how this compares), but always ensure the balance is entirely cleared before you switch any debts to it.
  
  Quick Stats. Freebie: 20,000 BMI miles, Standard Rate: 15.9% APR, Min. Spend Trigger: £250, Taxes Included: NO
  
  
• Free European flights with Ryanair. Ryanair credit card.
  
  Take out a Ryanair credit card and you'll get a European flight once you've spent £100, a European return if you spend £1,500 over a set 6-month period, and a European return for two if you spend £3,000. The non-transferable free flight vouchers last 8 months from issue, but you have to pay taxes and charges on top when you use them.
  
  Freebie: Ryanair Flight, Standard Rate: 19.9% APR, Min. Spend Trigger: £100, Taxes Included: NO
  
  

While the internet is a powerhouse for cheap flights, there are other tricks that can help cut the cost and leave you better protected too...

• Find secret flights by turning detective

  Some big flight bargains are available with Lastminute.com’s* ‘top secret flights’, if you enjoy playing detective (also see its Secret Hotels).

  It tells you the departure and arrival city, flight length and whether there’s a stopover. It only tells you the 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.

  Yet there’s a sneaky way to locate clues about these. After all, there are only a limited number of flights going somewhere in a day. Read how to uncover the secret flights

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Step 1. Search for your dates.

Search on lastminute.com for you 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. First 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 what airline and airports it is, if there are a few similar results in a day.

There can be substantial savings here. 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

• Use location specialists

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

  For example, Shepherds Bush in London has some Caribbean specialist tour agents, or buy the Jewish Chronicle which has companies advertising cheap Israel flights. If you know of a cheap specialist travel agent, please add your finds/read others.

  If the web hasn't delivered for you, or you're willing to spend time to further cut the cost, there are a raft of other tricks to drive the cost down further. Add your own and read others in the Cheap Flights discussion.
  

• Protect yourself from airline collapse.
  
  The huge rise in the cost of fuel has seen even some big name airlines like Alitalia and Zoom struggle or collapse. Yet don't automatically think cheap flight means struggling company; often it's those airlines with stronger finances that can afford to remain competitive.
  
  Nonetheless, it's important to protect yourself. The easiest way is to book on a credit card, as when the cost's over £100, due to Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act the card company's equally liable if something goes wrong (see a full Section 75 refunds guide). This means if the airline goes bust, you can get your money back from the card company at least. Though do pay it 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.
  

• Dodge auto-added Travel Insurance.
  
  Some cheap airline and web holiday sites automatically add expensive travel cover when you book, so be sure to double-check the full cost, and remove any rogue policies before paying (usually by unchecking multiple boxes). Chances are you've already got Travel Insurance cover, but even if not it's always cheaper to grab a Cheap Travel Insurance deal than buy it from booking sites, and you'll probably get wider cover too.
  
  
• Make sure you print out the documents!
  
  Often, if you choose to check in at the airport you need only hand over your passport and your luggage and you'll walk away with a boarding pass. Yet all airlines stipulate you should take a printout of your confirmation email, and if they do ask for it and you don't have it handy, you can be sure they'll find a way to charge you. Just writing down the booking code isn't usually enough.
  
  
• Sacrifice some flexibility.
  
  Do be aware the cheapest flights tend to have strict terms and conditions, with limited changeability, and it's tough to get refunds, so always check the exact terms before booking. And remember every time you fly there's an environmental impact too, so if you save money with this guide you may want to spend a little on carbon offsetting your flight.
  
  
• Flying a long time in the future?

  If you're flying a good number of months away it's worth signing up to the e-mail lists of all the relevant airlines. Often they e-mail out 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*.
  

• Sneaky trick to find out how many cheap tickets are left.

  Spot a dirt-cheap flight seat, and their 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. Yet if the fare shoots up for a booking for three, four, or five seats, you need to grab it ASAP.
  

• Full time student or under 26? Get a specialist agent to beat scheduled flight prices.

  Specialist youth travel agent STA Travel guarantees to beat any scheduled flight price offered by competitors. Sadly, the guarantee doesn't extend to flights booked directly on airlines' sites - that'd be a real boon - but nonetheless, if you fit the age bracket & happen to find a cheap agency deal it's worth calling 0871 230 0040 and seeing how much they'll beat it by. And do let us know how you get on in the Cheap Flights discussion.
  

• Get an upgrade, possibly for free.
  
  There's only one way to guarantee a flight upgrade, and that's to pay, yet free upgrades aren't unheard of. From pulling in favours from airline-based contacts, to simply choosing your flight carefully and playing the odds, there are a host of ways to 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.

• Check out your airline.

  Once you know what the flight is there are a few sites which should help you improve it. Use Seatguru to check out which airlines have the most room and best in-flight details, Airlinequality is similar but also includes airports, reviews and rankings, Flightstats details punctuality on current flights and other data, while Delaycast predicts delays for flights within and to the US. Plus, if you'd prefer to know what you'll be eating on the flight before you board Airlinemeals has photos and reviews.