Tips for booking flights

[andyf]

Don't do it the night before you want to fly. Especially when the plane only has 10 seats.

/me considers the ferry

[no friends]

- The earlier you book, the cheaper the flight.

[andyf]

Originally posted by no friends
- The earlier you book, the cheaper the flight.


True of Easyjet, not true of BNWA. Fixed rate anytime of booking.

[phil]

Originally posted by no friends
- The earlier you book, the cheaper the flight.

Generally, but not always. Flight pricing is stupendously complicated and stupid, partly because of the large fixed costs in a flight, and partly because they know that you know that they know that you don't have complete knowledge of the system :)

[Nivek]

i fly with BMI most of the time for uk travel, i can get london - manchester for £8 (often i pay £11 if i am slow booking)

Thats from Heathrow as well so its a bus ride away

[Optimus]

i thought flying on the spur of the moment (i.e. taking up unclaimed seats seconds before the plane takes off) was the cheapest way to fly :)

[Nivek]

depends on thw airline.

some want people to book earlyer (so they have your money for longer)

[Afty]

Kevin : how do you get that? If I could fly from Manc-London for those prices I'd visit friends down there more often!

[Mamacita]

Pah, it's a myth. Even if you book well in advance you still get slapped with stupid airport taxes. So a 99p flight to Holland becomes 99p + around 70 quid of airport taxes! Leave it another week after that and your looking at 100 quid plus.

[Aardvark]

I can fly to Germany for 38 quid...

[Afty]

I did Switzerland for £31...

[andyf]

yeah but I sometimes get entire aircraft to myself for my £52 ;)

all 9 seats of it and a pilot, but still :)

[Aerodynamic]

i got a stanstead - sweden return for £31 including tax

[bvark]

I stopped using cheapy airlines about 2 years ago apart from when i absolutely have to - for most 'real world' flights (booked 1-2 months in advance), BA are as cheap if not cheaper than Easyjet on London - Germany routes that I fly, and infinitely less scummy/hassle.

Prices start cheap, fluctuate slightly depending on demand and promotions up to about a month before, then get exponentially more expensive a few hours before, whereupon they're very cheap if you're willing to accept standby flights.

Airport charges, 'booking fees', 'fuel surcharges' and taxes vary wildly across routes and carriers - do your homework on a few sites, but bear in mind that the big ones (expedia, opodo etc) all use the same back-end database (amadeus or sabre) so there won't be a lot of variation.
Airlines websites seem to be consistently the worst place to buy, failing to offer the most discounted tickets almost every time.