Now I know that there are a lot of articles giving you tips on how to get the cheapest flight tickets. And I am not saying they are wrong or that they are lying. I just think that these 3 simple rules will help you get the tickets even cheaper. I have been working in tourism management for years and I would like to share my experience. So here you go!
The three golden rules of getting the cheapest flight tickets
1. Study the map around your destination.
It’s not a big secret that most of the cheap airlines are operating in smaller cities or villages while avoiding the big airports in the main hubs. Planned to visit Amsterdam? Why not fly to Eindhoven? What about Bratislava instead of Vienna? Trust me – sometimes flights to smaller neighbor towns might be several times cheaper than to major cities and additional 100 km by bus might add some nice moments to your trip. Isn’t this what backpacking is all about?
2. Buy tickets direct from airlines.
Skyscanner.net, expedia.co.uk, lastminute.com and some similar websites – sometimes these are golden tools to find best connections and cheapest dates to a destination you are looking tickets to. But don’t get tricked into buying them there! All ticket searching engines are intermediaries (agents, working for a commission fee) between you and the airlines (or sometimes even between other intermediaries) and a generous commission fee is added to the ticket prices here. You could get amazed by how much you might save by double-checking your ticket price in the official flight operator website. Yes, sometimes it takes a bit of time to go through a few direct companies, but it’s worth the while if you are a budget traveller.
3. Check ticket prices in different currencies.
This tip is effective for people who seek to buy tickets from airlines that are operating in countries with different currencies. For example, if you want to buy a ticket from Asian airlines for domestic flights – check those prices in local currency. It’s not a secret that some smaller airlines use ridiculous exchange rates. For the same reason always chose to use your bank currency exchange rate when buying tickets online – you don’t want to leave 20% of your ticket price for their so-called “best exchange rate guaranteed by airlines”!
The last general reminder, that most of you probably already know – always take the time to read through all descriptions and terms. Some airlines tend to be less user-friendly than others. They add additional services to your tickets and hide the checkboxes from you under a few other buttons. Most of the times a backpacker does not need this stuff, so be sure to go thoroughly through the website and uncheck what you don’t want to pay for.
Just follow these three golden rules and you will always be able to get the cheapest flight tickets out there.
