Purchasing your airline ticket is typically the first thing travelers do when they decide to go on a trip. It’s also often the biggest single expense for most travelers.
Having a good idea of how the industry works, the different options for buying tickets and how to get the best deal and cheapest price on a ticket can make the whole experience a fun first step into planning your trip. I’ll describe here my thoughts on buying an airline ticket and how I go about planning a route, picking an airline and searching for the best ticket deals online.
Different types of Airlines: Legacy and Low Cost Carriers
Picking the best airline and flights for your trip starts with your decision to fly with a legacy carrier (sometimes called a major) or with a low cost carrier (sometimes budget or charter airline).
The legacy carriers are typically the big names you first think of when you consider airlines: United, Delta, British Airways and Lufthansa. The low cost carriers (or LCC from here on) are the upstarts with the hip new names: Jet Blue, Ryan Air, Virgin Airlines and Air Asia, for example.
The two types of carriers often act like two parallel travel worlds that rarely cross paths with each other. The carriers often fly from different airports, sell their tickets in a different manner, offer different inflight options and can have very different prices. And that’s just a start.
Here are the key points that define legacy and low cost carriers:
Legacy Airlines
- Generally have better and more complete service than LCCs — e.g. transfer bags between connecting flights, serve meals, offer in-flight entertainment.
- Typically offer passengers different classes of seating (e.g. first class, business class), airport lounges and frequent flyer programs.
- Most legacy airlines are a member of an alliance whereby partner airlines share routes, offer connecting flights and issue boarding passes for other airlines.
- Work on the hub and spoke model between major cities.
- Tickets for missed flights (because of a missed connection) are usually honored.
Low Cost Airlines
- Known for cheap — often ridiculously cheap — ticket prices. Some of the European LCCs have offered flight promotions with tickets across the continent for as little as €1. But even non-promotion ticket prices are regularly in the €10-30 range. (These ticket prices however, often don’t include the high taxes and fees that LCCs usually charge. Be sure to compare the total ticket cost not just the initial quoted price when booking.)
- Usually fly shorter trips and routes (e.g. Amsterdam to Rome) — though this is changing and it’s now possible to complete an Around The World trip solely on Low Cost Carriers.
- Large fluctuations between ticket prices by the hour, by the days of the week, by high and low season.
- Must book through each individual airline’s web site and usually no ticket issued (i.e. only paperless ticket).
- Flights are point to point, so you don’t get a discount for flying from point A to B, and then B to C like you would on a Major airline
- Return tickets (i.e. a typical roundtrip ticket) are usually the cost of 2 one way tickets.
- Luggage is rarely conveyed from one flight to another connecting flight even when both flights are with the same airline. Passengers will need to collect their bags and re-check them at the baggage counter.
- Often use smaller airports that can be quite a distance from the city and the city’s main airport. Check transfer times and distances carefully if you’re connecting to a flight on a different airline.
- Baggage restrictions are often stricter on low cost carriers and checked baggage will usually entail a charge of €5-20 euros and then an excess baggage charge for heavier bags.
- Some Low cost Carriers have credit card charges (Ryanair has a €5 charge for credit cards) on top of the fees, taxes, and baggage costs.
- Usually no in-flight entertainment
- Not always the cheapest. The majors have become more competitive with pricing so don’t automatically assume that the budget airline has the cheapest ticket.
- LCCs can and often do change times, dates and routes with little or no notice. You’ll have the choice of rebooking or getting a refund but if your entire vacation is dependent on getting from, say, London to Mykonos, this could be a major interruption to your plans.
How do Low Cost Carriers Keep their prices so low?
It’s often asked — how can budget airlines offer such cheap tickets and why, if these airlines are so popular, don’t the majors just offer the same inexpensive services? There are a number of reasons and not all apply to all airlines or situations but the most important differences between Low Cost and Legacy airlines are the following:
- LCCs service shorter routes and flights where quick turn-arounds are both possible and have a big effect on down time.
- LCCs often have newer more fuel-efficient aircrafts that keep fuel costs down.
- LCCs don’t have the legacy costs of the majors – pensions, health care, and generally don’t have to deal with unions.
- LCCs are no frills and this helps keep costs down.
- Some would argue that LCCs have just been better run. The major airlines were probably slower in realizing changes to the travel industry through deregulation, the advent of the internet, point to point route models and adopting the technology that allows budget airlines to keep their fleet airborne a large percentage of the day.
Legacy or Low Cost Carrier — Which is Better?
If both low cost and legacy carriers offer the same price on the same route then go with the major airline. The service is usually better, you’ll probably get a free meal, and there’s a lot more certainty with the flight. (It’s important to remmber that LCCs are not always the cheapest.)
Because LCCs fly to smaller airports that can be a good distance from the main airport, be sure to have at least 3 or 4 hours to get from one airport to another if you’ve got a connecting flight to catch from a different airport.
Flying to smaller airports (and smaller towns) isn’t all bad: they’re usually less busy and security checkpoints are usually less hectic. As well, if that small city or island happens to be the exact place you’re going, then clearly LCCs can work well for you.
General Tips to Buying Airline Tickets
Advice for buying tickets and ideas for getting the cheapest price:
—> Tuesday and Wednesday are the cheapest days to fly. The weekends are the most expensive. Searching for tickets off the pick days of the week can save you 20% to 40% of the ticket price.
—> Finding discounted tickets: It’s impossible to keep track of ticket prices to every interesting destination for all possible dates. But these sites will keep you informed of the latest deals and last-minute discounts: Travelzoo for international travel (and hotels) and AirfareWatchDog for domestic (U.S.) routes.
—> Flights to Europe follow the most predictable price patterns that exist. They ramp up at the end of May and enter peak season at the end of June and beginning of July. The decrease starts suddenly in the last week of August with the final big drop coming the middle week of October.
—> If you have to travel, to a specific place on specific dates (e.g. a family wedding, you got an Oscar nomination) then booking early is the best way to go. But for everything else, the book early advice is nonsense — or at least potentially nonsense. Flight prices go up, flight prices go down. It’s all about supply and demand. If a flight from London to Rome for next month is half full then you’re going to get a great deal (much better than the price you would have gotten booking 6 months in advance). If there’s one ticket left it will cost a fortune.
—> The key to getting great ticket prices is flexibility: flexible on where to go, flexible on when to go, flexible on how to go (direct or stopover, business or economy). The more flexibility you have the better you’re going to do. Be sure to search for “flexible dates” when you’re able to do so.
—> For the Major airlines and for most long haul routes (e.g. across the Pacific or Atlantic Oceans or between any 2 continents) search first in Kayak, Orbitz or Expedia then take the best 3 or 4 prices from the cheapest airlines and search those individual sites for similar dates. Occasionally they will have better prices than the consolidators.
—> Kayak is my favorite airline search engine for its layout and search options but it doesn’t have a way for searching for kids’ tickets – all travelers are entered as adults – so that can make it a little difficult to compare travel costs for families.
—> Since Low Cost Carriers only sell their tickets through their web sites and not through large travel sites it’s difficult to compare costs and find routes for budget airlines. (Kayak, Travelocity, Expedia and the other big travel sites don’t have information on the low cost carriers.) That’s where web sites like Skyscanner and Which Budget come in handy. Find the best route and price from these web sites then make your way to that airline’s site to purchase the tickets.
—> I strongly recommend buying what’s referred to as an open-jaw ticket. This means you arrive-at and depart-from different cities. For example fly New York to London on your outbound trip, but return Paris to New York on your inbound trip. You save time and money by not having to return to your arrival city (where you’ve already been). The main downside to this is that the very cheapest deals in the airline industry are often tied to the same city (e.g. a return Los Angeles-Hong Kong ticket) but excluding the very cheapest deals – which most people don’t get anyways – the cost of an open jaw ticket can be fairly similar to a more standard ticket. Be sure to check this out.
—> And finally, the web site FareCompare recently ran through their data and came to these interesting conclusions:
- Shop Tuesday at 3pm for domestic (U.S.) airline tickets. (Sales start to hit the wires Monday, are matched by other airlines by Tuesday afternoon and disappear by Thursday night — so you have a 3 day window to get the best deals on tickets sales.)
- Airlines start discounting about 3 1/2 months before departure for U.S. domestic flights and 4-5 months before for international flights. If you buy before this you’ll probably be paying full fare.
- Airline ticket prices increase dramatically inside 14 days before departure - 10 or 7 days before for low cost airlines. (After that they assume you’re last-minute business traveler who’ll pay what ever it takes to get a flight.)
Around the World Trips
Travelers are using around the world tickets (RTW) more often these days and often for good reason. You can see a lot places with a well planned itinerary that is usually good value and makes a good use of time.
I highly recommend these tickets for people who want to see the world and have between 3 weeks and 3 months for their trip. Any less time and you’d be on a plane most of your trip. Any more time and you might want to consider a more unplanned trip that utilises budget airlines and cheap off-season one way tickets. It’s not unreasonable to be able to do an around the world trip using this method for half the price of a true RTW ticket. (3 weeks is pushing the practicality of such a trip to begin with, but if you have 5 or 6 cities you just have to see, and a limited amount of time an RTW ticket can be the way to do it.)
Tips for Planning an Around the World Trip
- RTW tickets offer great value for business and first class travel. If you always travel in the better service classes or are considering a splurge, RTW tickets for these classes are often as little as 50% more than a regular ticket.
- Compare prices from different starting points — prices can often be cheaper starting from Europe (especially London) or Asia (Bangkok has great deals) than from North America. If the difference in price is great enough, look for a cheap one way flight to get you to your starter-city.
- It’s not always true but to keep it simple: route changes involve a large fee, time and date changes have no fee or a small one.
- If you need to make changes contact the airline of the flight directly (not the consolidator that sold you the ticket) — often they won’t charge the flight change fees stipulated in your ticket agreement (To them it’s just a regular ticket.)
- Consider going overland for some of your trip — it saves you from backtracking and can make the ticket considerably cheaper. (e.g. Arrive in Singapore, travel overland on your own to Bangkok, depart from Bangkok — or — Arrive in London, travel overland to Istanbul, depart from Istanbul.)
- Good sites for planning your trip: Star Alliance Fare Planner for planning a trip on the largest airline alliance of them all. OneWorld Explorer isn’t quite as big as Star but has better coverage of South and Central America.AirTreks is a popular trip planner based in San Francisco. Trailfinders is good at tailoring budget trips to specific needs and destinations.
Booking Flights with Budget Airlines
As I mention above the web sites Skyscanner and Which Budget can be helpful in finding routes and schedules for budget airlines. For the most accurate information and flight schedules — and when it’s time to actually purchase a ticket — you will have to visit the low cost airline’s web site. I’ve included a long list here of the most popular budget airlines around the world.
Most Popular Low Cost Carriers in Asia
Air Asia (route map) — Asia’s biggest budget airline based in Kuala Lumpur has flights to and from many destinations including cities in: Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines, Taiwan, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Indonesia, Australia, China, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, and London, England.
JetLite (route map)— Fly to many destinations within India and internationally to Kathmandu, Nepal and Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Nok Air (route map) — Flights to many destinations within Thailand including Phuket, Surat Thani, Pai, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Udon Thani, Sakhon Nakhon, Buri Ram, Khon Kaen and Mae Hong Son.
Jeju Air — Flights between Seoul and Nagoya, Osaka and Kitakyushu, Japan.
IndiGo (route map) — Flights to many cities within India including Mumbai, Lucknow, Hyderabad, Delhi, Jaipur, Srinigar, Jammu, Bangalore, Kochi, Pune, Goa, Patna, Kolkata, Bhubaneshwar, and Chennai.
Cebu Pacific (route map)— Based in Manilla with flights within the Philippines and to Bangkok, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taipei, Ho Chi Minh City, Macau, Seoul, Busan, Jakarta, Osaka, Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, and Brunei.
Tiger Airways (route map)— Based in Singapore with flights to India, China, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Australia.
Lion Air (route map) — Based in Jakarta with flights throughout Indonesia as well as Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Penang, and Ho Chi Minh City.
Air-India Express (route map) — Fly within India with most flights originating in Mumbai, Delhi or Chennai and to the international destinations of Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Muscat, Salalah, Singapore, KualaLumpur, Bangkok, Bahrain, Doha, Kuwait, Columbo and Dhaka.
SpiceJet (route map) — Flights to many destinations within India including Agartala, Ahmedabad, Bagdogra, Bangalore, Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi, Goa, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Jammu, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Pune, Srinagar, Varanasi, Vizag.
GoAir (route map)— Flights to many destinations within India including Mumbai Ahmedabad, Indore, Nanded, Nagpur, Bangalore, Cochin, Delhi, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Jammu, Srinagar, Bagdogra, and Guwahati.
Jin Air (route map) — Flights from Seoul to Bangkok and Guam.
Orient Thai Airlines (route map) — Flights from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Phuket, Hat Yai, Trang, and Pai.
Bangkok Airways (route map) — Flights from Bangkok to Koh Samui, Krabi, Phuket Pattaya, Lampang, Chiang Mai, Siem Reap, Phnom Penh, Rangoon, Singapore, the Maldives and Hong Kong.
Firefly (route map) — Based in Kuala Lumpur with flights to many destinations in Malaysia as well as Koh Samui, Thailand and Banda Aceh, Medan and Pekanbaru, Indonesia.
Spring Airlines (route map) — Based in Shanghai with flights to dozens of cities across China.
SEAIR (route map) — Based in Manila with flights across the Philippines.
Most Popular Low Cost Airlines in Europe
Ryanair (route map) — Flights all over western and southern Europe including its major hubs London, Dublin, Frankfurt, Paris, Madrid and Rome.
EasyJet (route map) — Flights throughout Europe (more flights to eastern Europe and Greece than Ryanair) as well as Turkey, Israel, Egypt and Morocco.
Air Berlin (route map) — Flights throughout Europe and limited service to destinations in Asia, Africa, North America and the Caribbean.
Air Baltic (route map) — Flights from Riga, Latvia to cities in Europe, Asia and North America.
Wizzair (route map) — Flights throughout Europe with most route between western European hubs and eastern European destinations.
BMI Baby (route map) — Flights to western and southern Europe, primarily from it’s 4 bases in Birmingham, Cardiff, Manchester and East Midlands.
FlyBe (route map) — Flights throughout western Europe — primarily France, Germany and Spain — from their base in Britain.
jet2 (route map) — Flights to France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Greece, Turkey, Israel, Morocco and several more neighboring countries, from its bases at Manchester, Belfast, Blackpool, Edinburgh, East Midlands, Leeds Bradford and Newcastle.
Monarch (route map) — Flights from London Gatwick, London Luton, Birmingham, and Manchester to holiday resorts along the Mediterranean and the Canary Islands.
FlyThomasCook (route map) — Flights around the world from the British Ilses (primarily vacation get aways along the Mediterranean.)
Thomson Flights (route map) — Flights from Britain to southern Europe and north Africa, as well as the Caribbean, Male, Mombasa, Goa, and Florida.
Lauda Air (route map) — Based in Vienna, with flights from Austria to Greece, the Canary Islands and a handful of other european destinations.
NIKI (route map) — Based in Germany with a large number of routes all over Europe and the rest of the world.
SmartWings (route map) — Based in Prague with flights to holiday destinations primarily in Greece, Italy, Turkey and Spain.
Condor — Based in Germany with flights to the Mediterranean, Asia, Africa, North America and the Caribbean.
Germanwings (route map) — Flights throughout Europe, Turkey, Israel and the Canary Islands.
TUI Fly (route map) — Based in Germany with flights throughout Europe, North Africa, South Africa, Thailand, the U.S., Mexico and the Caribbean.
Danube Wings (route map) — Based in Bratislava with scheduled regular flights to Italy, Austria, and Croatia and summer charter flights to Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia as well.
Helvetic (flight timetable) — Flights between Zürich and Spain, Italy, Morocco and Portugal.
FlyBaboo (route map) — Flights from Geneva to London, Rome, Venice, Florence, Lugano, Figari, Marseille, Milan, Bordeaux, Biarritz, Toulouse, Athens, Larnaca, Ibiza, Valencia, St-Tropez, and Nice; and between Zürich and Bucharest.
Brussels Airlines — Routes to over 65 cities in 20 countries in Europe as well as flights to several destinations in Africa.
L’avion — Transatlantic flights between New York (Newark airport) and Washington, DC in the U.S. and Paris, Lyon and Nantes in France.
MartinAir (route map) — Flights between Amsterdam and Aruba, Havana, Orlando, Curacao, Cancun, Punta Cana, Varadero, and Mombasa.
Transavia (route map) — Based in Amsterdam with flights throughout Europe and North Africa.
Air Europa (route map) — Based in Madrid with flights to London, Paris, Venice, Rome, Milan, Tenerife and several more cities in North America, Central America, South America and north Africa.
Meridiana (route map) — Based in Cagliari, Milan and Rome with flights to London, Paris, Moscow, New York as well as mulitple cities in Italy, Greece, Spain, the rest of Europe and a handful of cities in Africa and Asia.
Wind-Jet (route map) — Based in Italy with flights to destinations in western and northern Europe.
Aegean Airlines (route map) — Based in Greece with flights to Italy, Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Germany and Cairo, Tel Aviv, Belgrade, Vienna, Brussels and Amsterdam.
Corendon (route map) — Based in Antalya and offering flights throughout Turkey and to several cities in Europe as well as Tel Aviv and Tehran.
Onur air (route map) — Flights from Istanbul to several cities in Turkey.
Blue1 (route map) — Based in Helsinki with flights to London, Paris, Nice, Rome, Milan, Brussels, Barcelona, Zürich, Berlin, Oslo, Stockholm and Athens as well as a several summer and winter seasonal destinations.
Icleand Express (route map) — Based in Reykjavik and offering flights to New York, Winnipeg and more than 20 destinations in Europe.
Norwegian (route map) — Based in 5 cities in Norway, as well as Copenhagen, Stockholm and Warsaw and offering flights through Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.
Cimber Sterling (route map) — Based in Denmark with routes to many destinations in south Europe and a few cities in Asia.
Atlas Jet (flight schedule) — Based in Turkey with flights to London, Manchester, Mykonos, and several other eastern European, Turkish and Middle Eastern destinations.
Most Popular Low Cost Airlines in North America
Southwest Airlines (route map) — America’s largest airline has routes to every corner and cornfield in the U.S.
JetBlue (route map) — Flights throughout the U.S. and the Caribbean as well as Cancun, San Jose, and Bogotá.
AirTran (route map) — Based in Atlanta with flights throughout the U.S. and a handful of destinations in the Caribbean and Mexico.
Frontier Airlines (route map) — Based in Denver and Milwaukee with flights across the U.S., and Mexico and to San Jose, Costa Rica.
Spirit Airlines (route map) — Based in Ft Lauderdale with flights to the U.S., Mexico, Central America, South America and the Caribbean.
Allegiant Air (route map) — Flights across the U.S. largely to holiday destinations in the south.
USA3000 (route map) — Based in Chicago with flights throughout the U.S., Bermuda, Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Jamaica.
Sun Country Airlines (route map) — Based in Minneapolis with flights around the U.S., and to Mexico, the Caribbean, and London, England.
Virgin America (route map) — Flights between Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York, Boston, Washington, DC, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando and Toronto.
West Jet Airlines — Based in Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto with flights throughout Canada, the U.S., Mexico and the Caribbean.
Air Transat (route map) — Flights from Canada to Europe; Florida; Mexico and Central America; the Caribbean; and Columbia and Venezuela.
Most Popular Low Cost Airlines in Central and South America
Volaris (route map) — Flights across Mexico and to several cities in California.
Interjet (route map) — Domestic flights throughout Mexico.
Viva Aerobus (route map) — Flights across Mexico and to Las Vegas and Houston.
Aires (route map) — Based in Bogotá, Columbia with flights across Central and South America; the Caribbean and New York and Fort Lauderdale.
EasyFly (route map) — Based in Columbia with domestic flights across the country.
Azul Brazilian (route map) — Based in Brazil with flights throughout the country.
Webjet Linhas (flight schedule) — Based in Rio de Janeiro with routes throughout Brazil.
Sol Lineas (route map) — Based in Buenos Aires with flights across Argentina.
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Any advice for heading to Greece in September 2010. Thanks. Steve
Hi Steve. Prices to Greece have been fantastically cheap the last 2 years. Air Transat has some good prices out of Toronto to Athens. I’m not sure exactly when their last flight of the year runs (they only serve Greece seasonally) so I’d check their site to see if the dates work for you.
It’s always a tough call with Greece — do you take a flight to western Europe, spend a few days in Paris or London or Amsterdam then get a cheap flight direct to one of the Greek Islands. Or do you fly all the way to Athens then take the ferry out to the islands. It depends how much time you have of course. I like doing the stopover but then arranging the flight on the budget airlines can be a little tricky if you’re on a tight schedule.
Be sure to check Air Aegean if you do the stopover method as they’ve got a lot of routes to the western Europe hubs.
Good luck.
Let me know if you have any more questions.
Thanks for all the time you put into this. Any tips or advice on traveling to Cairo Egypt? I’m starting to look into going mid October for two weeks which is an off season period but it seems like flights are still rather high. I’m hoping to book in the coming weeks. Any suggestions would help. Thanks.
Harold
Hi Harold. Search for flights at FlyBMI. They have some cheap tickets and do fly from Chicago to Cairo. You might also want to fly to London or Paris and then look for budget airlines that fly to Egypt. WhichBudget is a good site to look for flights from the low cost carriers.
Cheers.
Great post with comprehensive list of low cost airlines!!
Is there any tips for tickets to world sport event like the Summer Olympic?
Thanks Amy. Are you thinking about going to the 2012 Olympics in London? For that I would definitely book early – maybe combine it with a trip to the continent (Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels) so you wouldn’t have to fly direct. With most airlines you can only book 11 months in advance – that’s how far out their computer systems go – so their is a limit. Take a look at different airlines to see how far in advance you can book, then search the system on the first days your dates become available.
Cheers.
Flying to Delhi in the fall. I would appreciate some suggestions about getting around India. I have about 3 weeks and would like to see as much as possible.
Thanks.
I suppose it depends on what you want to see. Indian Airlines has the discover India Pass for 7, 15, and 21 days. They cost $400, $630, and $895 respectively. I recommend this if you’re going to try to visit 8 or 10 destinations on your trip. The nice thing with these tickets is that you don’t need to worry about your itinerary any more. It’s all done. You’ve got all your tickets (after you’ve booked them of course.) The bad thing is that you lose some flexibility and the trains are really a fun way to get around India and you probably won’t be able to do that as well.
If you’re going to visit fewer than a half dozen cities then booking with the budget airlines based in India that I’ve listed above will certainly save you some money. You could do a couple flights and still have time on your schedule to do a few train rides — maybe an overnight train from Mumbai down the coast to Goa or Kerala, for example, then fly back north.
Hope that helps.
I get 15 days for R&R and I am going to start and end my time in Phuket Thailand. I would like to get to 2 maybe 3 other countries (Bali, Philipenes, Vietnam, etc). Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions. Thanks
Hey Rob. You might be pushing it a little with your schedule. I know you probably want to see a fair bit, but maybe limit yourself to 1 or (max) 2 other stops on your trip. Take a look at Air Asia’s route map — they fly to several different locations from Phuket so see if any of those places look interesting and perhaps do a loop ending back in Phuket.
Good luck and let me know if I can help once you’ve got some ideas on where you want to visit.
One other note: Thailand, Indonesia (Bali) and the Philippines do not require visa’s for most nationalities. Vietnam does and that can be a big hassle arranging. You might want to keep that in mind as you plan your route.
David, thanks for the info. I will definatly keep that in mind.
hi, great info!! any tips to fly to Fortaleza Brasil from europe (madrid) sep-oct-nov and returning 3 months later….thanks in advance.
Hi Roy. Condor airlines flies the route from Madrid to Fortaleza for 1,215€. It goes via Frankfurt and Salvador de Bahia — which makes for a long day of travel, but not a bad price. Hope that helps.
thanks but i find it very expensive….its just 7-10 hours from europe, it seems TAP has fixe the price and is dificult to find it under 1000 eu (kind of monopoly)
Agreed. It’s hard to find cheap tickets between Europe and South America. Maybe try looking for separate flights through Miami or New York — then on to Brazil.
Good luck.
FYI: I find that Vayama is a great resource for finding international fares out of the US.
Inside EU, I always check Ryanair first, but you have to plan your whole trip with the (restrictive) Ryanair baggage allowance in mind – and it *is* cattle class all the way.
Thanks for the travel tips!
I have a one way ticket to Florence for September 1st. I know that in order to get into Italy I need a ticket out of there within 90 days. I am considering a cheap Ryanair flight from Rome to Madrid in October. What if I want to change the date of this flight? Does Ryanair allow one to change travel dates? Can they be changed by as much as a month?
I’m not sure if I understand you perfectly in that you need a flight out within 90 days. If you’re referring to the demand that some countries place on visitors that they need an airline (or bus or train) ticket out of the country in order to be allowed entry, then this situation does not apply to Italy. You’ll have no problem entering Italy without an ongoing ticket.
That said, Ryan air does allow you to change ticket dates, routes and destination right up to 4 hours before the flight, as long as you haven’t checked in and received a boarding pass. Ryan air does require a 35€ and 55€ depending on if you booked the ticket through the Ryan Air web site or at a call centre or airport.
As well, you’ll pay for the more expensive of the two tickets — the one you’re changing and the one you’re attempting to book. Also internet fares are not available for a new booking.
If I understand your situation correctly I’d delay booking your ticket until you’re sure of the date, time, and destination.
I hope that helps. Good luck.
David,
What’s your low cost suggestion for Ireland to USA?
My current planned itinerary is Ireland to Houston and then return Boston to Ireland. Dates are flexible.
Also, any advice on shipping a dog from Houston to Dublin? I’m thinking Continental/United since they’ll fly direct but maybe you have a better idea?
FlyBMI, BMIBaby, and Aer Lingus appear to have the best prices between Ireland and the U.S. I’d take a look at all 3 of these with the dates that interest you. Traveling with a dog obviously adds another variable and makes it more difficult to plan and compare. As you say, direct flights would be best but that will probably change your best-price route and airline quite dramatically.
Cheers.
hi David, i want to go to seoul from singapore or jakarta for new years eve. i can depart from singapore or jakarta and will be travel at dec 23 till jan 3rd. do you have any recomend cheapest ticket? fyi i will go with my friend 2 of us. tks
HI Jimbo. I’d recommend AirAsia. They fly to Jakarta, Johor Bharu (just across the border from Singapore in Malaysia) and Seoul. You’ll have to connect through Kuala Lumpur (AirAsia’s hub) but you should be able to get very good prices if you book well in advance.
Good luck.
Have you ever flown with Eva Airlines? Considering a last minute flight home but have never heard of them. Any help appreciated.
Thanks.
Yes, I have flown with Eva Air on 8 different flights on routes through Taipei to Bangkok and Bali. I really enjoyed flying with them. I know they don’t get great reviews on sites like Tripadvisor but I thought they were quite good with pretty good food. Their airplanes have the baby bassinet at the front of the bulkhead which is great if you can get them. Call ahead to see if you can reserve those seats as I think the airlines set them aside for travelers with young toddlers and babies.
On one trip they did lose our baby stroller but they were very helpful and attentive in trying to recover it and later gave us a full refund upon our return to Seattle.
I’d book with Eva Airways without hesitation.
I hope that helps.
Hi David,
I was just wondering if you can help me on this.
Are there any web-sites that scan thru airlines and find the cheapest fares even if the route includes multiple stops in remote destinations with different airlines, i.e i’d like to fly to Bangkok at the lowest fare and I don’t mind combining 2 or 3 low cost airlines even if it is via australia or japan or south africa.
Hi Kira. FlyLowCostAirlines.org does something like that kind of an airline search. It will show you all the connections on budget airlines between 2 different cities. Sometimes you will have to narrow the search to 2 different airports if the 2 cities have too many connections. (For example a search between London and Bangkok will find too many airlines and routes so you’ll have to pick a particular London airport – say Heathrow or Gatwick – and then search again.)
Also, it will only search for 2 different legs of a route (i.e. one stop between 2 different airports). So if you search for flights from New York to Bangkok it will produce a list of choices that involve 2 different airlines, but if you search Seattle to Bangkok it won’t show any, though of course there must be a flight from Seattle to New York and then the same route onto Bangkok. But that would involve 3 legs of travel and thus won’t be shown. (Confused?)
Though it doesn’t search budget airlines – sticking pretty much to the long haul carriers – take a look at Fly.com. It grabs flights from the airline consolidators like Vayama and Airfare.com. It gets some pretty good flight deals — though I still think Kayak is the best for consistently finding the cheapest price.
Good luck.
Hi David
I’m travelling from jakarta to Palmenbang and onto Medan. I cant find any airline which does this route. the only option would be to go back to jakarta and then go onto to medan. do you have info about airlines which do the jakarta to palmbenag to medan route?
thanks
tariq
Hi. Silk Air and Sriwijaya Air both fly to Jakarta, Palembang and Medan. Just not sure if they do a direct Palembang to Medan flight. You might need to go Palembang to Singapore to Medan with Silk Air but still better than returning to Jakarta.
Good luck.