Whenever people hear that you work in travel, they will often launch into detail of their next trip to the other side of the world rounding off with the inevitable question – “How do I get the best deal on flights?”
At this point in time it is difficult not to get a good deal. In possibly the biggest bear market the travel industry has seen, there are any number of extraordinary deals available to the savvy traveller who is quick off the mark.
For those of you who don’t have the time to constantly check and compare fares through any number of sources, here are a few tips that will take you a long way down the path of securing the best possible deal.
The first step is to plan your travel itinerary around the times when fares are more likely to be cheaper.
Avoid travelling in the week leading into and during school holidays and avoid flights on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays on either end of your journey as airlines tend to restrict the availability of cheaper fares as they know they will fill the seats.
If you are going to limit your search to one airline, and I don’t recommend you do this, compare airfares on flights for travel on different routes or depart at different times as airlines will discount fares on less popular flights.
A good example of this is the Qantas flight (QF29) to London via Hong Kong. Since the onset of the global economic crisis, fares on this route have declined sharply as Qantas has moved to reduce the impact of the sharp decline in passenger numbers between Hong Kong and London.
If you can avoid flights on newer aircraft, for example the A380, as airlines will have you pay a premium to fly on their brand new aircraft.
Expect Singapore Airlines to increase fares after their inaugural A380 flight out of Melbourne in September to Singapore and London. On the other hand, if you can ignore the hype, other airlines will be trying to create their own headlines by slashing their fares in order to maintain market share.
Look out for great deals on airlines that have just entered the market or have increased services on particular routes. The number one strategy for airlines promoting new services is to release cheap fares in an attempt to grow market share.
Three relatively new airlines in this position at the moment are Etihad who are offering rock bottom fares to Europe via the UAE and VAustralia and Delta Airlines who are offering extraordinarily cheap fares to the US in an attempt to destabilise incumbents Qantas and United Airlines.
However the best deal is not always about securing the cheapest fares.
Take time to explore your options of travelling to your final destination. If you are travelling to Europe, don’t always fall into the trap of flying via London if your final destination is in Continental Europe.
There is any number of airlines with hubs in Asia and the Middle East who will have you at your destination well before alternative airlines who seem to think London Heathrow is a great place for people to spend time waiting for connecting flights into Europe.
Most top tier airlines offer very similar products in terms of seating, cabin service and in-flight entertainment, particularly in economy class but they do vary considerably between types of aircraft.
Travellers looking to travel on the newest aircraft need to be careful and ask plenty of questions of their travel agent, or click on the available aircraft type links when booking over the internet when finalising flights as it is not always obvious that they will be travelling in the comfort of the latest and greatest aircraft. For a number of people, including seasoned travellers, there is nothing worse than arriving at the airport to board a flight only to see and older type aircraft as this often gets the journey off to a bad start.
If an airline places a ticketing time limit on the purchase of an airfare months before the flight is due to depart, this generally means you have secured a good deal. Just one word of warning, cheap tickets generally means plenty of restrictions.
Make sure you are fully aware of the terms and conditions of the fare you are purchasing before you hand over your credit card for payment. If you book through a travel agent, insist they print out the fare rules on the itinerary they provide you including details of applicable cancellation and change fees and not just the generic rules generated by their reservation systems.
Finally, when you pay for your ticket, take out travel insurance at the same time so if you need to cancel for reasons out of your control, at least you know you are covered.