For most of us, our main concern when planning a trip is to reduce the most expensive part of our budget: the flight ticket. Finding a cheap flight ticket is not an easy thing, but it is possible. To put all the chances on your side, I explain everything in this article, the pitfalls to avoid and the many tips.
Paying less for your flight ticket: the tips
Buying online
Obviously you will not have the personalized advice of an agency but this saves the price of the services offered by the latter. Indeed, the price of the ticket is the same whether it is booked online or in an agency, but it is the price of the service that differs. You are already saving between 20 and 60 €!
Use flight comparators
These sites offer you the best price they have by searching the websites of travel agencies and online companies. There are many on the market and you will find about the same prices everywhere, however some are better made than others with more or less options. For example, a flight with or without stopovers, flexible dates, some offer a graph with the evolution of the price according to the period.
These comparators then refer you to online travel agencies and I advise you to test several of them, because some agencies charge extra fees on the slightest option and it is therefore sometimes more cost-effective to choose one that will appear slightly more expensive in the flight comparator you used. Once you have the dates and name of the company operating on the flight you are interested in, you can also go directly to their website and see if the flights are not cheaper by going directly through them.
Do your research in private browsing
Sites that offer to buy airline tickets online are often made to detect the searches you do and see which flights you are interested in to increase the price. In order to avoid seeing your prices increase, it is advisable to empty the cookies of your browser and do your research in private browsing. This way, the prices will remain the same during your search.
View offers from specialized sites
If you are flexible on your dates, I advise you to regularly take a look at the specialized travel sites that put on line discounted offers, last minute promotions etc... You can't choose your dates and the length of your stay, it's restrictive but the prices are generally really attractive.
Choosing the right time
When to book your ticket for less?
The best way to get a good price is to book as soon as possible, as a quota is reserved in each aircraft at the best prices. Once this quota is exhausted, there are no more interesting tickets except for last-minute destocking. The best period is January-February and September and more generally Tuesday to Thursday.
Prices are subject to greater variations on weekends, so it will be more expensive to book on Saturday than on Tuesday. Prices increase if you book during school holidays, weekends and public holidays. Summer is therefore the most expensive time to buy a flight ticket.
Which period to choose to leave?
For the big day, if you can, prefer a weekday departure. Forget Monday and Friday too. As with reservations, travel during off-peak periods, avoid going during school holidays, weekends and public holidays. Also think about the calendar of the country you are visiting, such as special events such as the Venice or Rio Carnival, the Chinese New Year...
Tips and tricks
Multi-destination research
Sites allow you to search for multi-destination flights, which are useful when you plan to visit several countries without having to return to the destination city, and it is often cheaper.
Choose nearby airports
When searching, remember to look at the price from a border country if you are close to several major international airports. For example, for Latin America, prices are often cheaper from Madrid than from anywhere else in France. Add the cost of a train or plane ticket to get there and see if it's still worth it... or hitchhike! You can save up to 300€. The same applies to the destination country.
For example, to go to Senegal, prefer the Gambia, there are much lower prices for Banjul than for Dakar, especially since the border is really not far away. This makes it possible to make real savings, especially for some African countries where we sometimes find incredible prices. You will find a flight at €1,200 for Mozambique against only €600 for Tanzania, two border countries.