How to get cheap flight deals

Please note that as the information regarding COVID-19 and travel restrictions change daily, the information in this guide may be out of date. You must check the Government website for up-to-date advice (link below). Whilst we try our best to ensure everything is accurate, you must consult professional advice before taking any action. The following article is for information only.

2 Must-Knows BEFORE You Book a Flight 

Before travelling, it's essential to access the Government official website to check its latest advice on travelling, as this is updated regularly. You must also follow a step-by-step checklist before travelling. You can check this here.

1. Get a flight deal with free cancellation and a full refund. 

One of the most important things to do before getting a cheap flight deal is to get a deal with free cancellation and a full refund if anything happens, and you aren't able to travel. The rules for travelling in the UK are always changing, so it's better to be prepared for any changes that 

may interfere with your trip. 

2. Get travel insurance 

Another thing to do is to get travel insurance. Make sure your insurance covers any cancellations due to coronavirus. To learn more about how to get the best travel insurance for you, read our full guide about it. 

12 Tips for Cheap Flight Deals  

1. Use comparison sites to find the best flight deals

The best way to get the cheapest flight deal is by using comparison sites. We have created a table with the best comparison sites you can use: 

Flight Comparison Site	About
Skyscanner	One of the first flight's comparison sites and the most popular one. Although there are other sites that you can use to compare flight deals, this one is still an excellent option to use.
Kayak	This website has a decent range of user-friendly filters that can make your search more accurate.
Momondo	This website doesn't do searches for all cities in the world, just usually covering the biggest ones. With it, you can find the cheapest dates to travel.
Google Flights	This is the fastest option available and is very easy to use. If you are searching for flights on Google, this tool appears automatically. It's the biggest competition between Kayak and Momondo. Latest Deals uses this tool to find the cheapest flights available for different locations from the UK.
Kiwi.com	This website offers great refund and cancellation policies, so it's good to check with them what you could get to travel with more peace of mind.
TravelSupermarket	This website is great for finding holiday package deals; you can search for hotels and flights simultaneously and get a better deal. Also, it can be more advantageous getting them together, as they came with better cancellation and refund policies. Learn more about this in our guide about how to get a travel refund if your trip gets cancelled.
Last Minute	Another great website to find the best holiday package deals. On this website, you can search what is available during the dates you can travel to find the cheapest destination.
Loveholidays	One more option to find the best holiday package deals. This website is famous for its summer holidays, with all-inclusive resorts worldwide. You can also pay for your holiday monthly.

IMPORTANT NOTE: In some of these flight comparison websites, you can also find hotel deals. If you are looking for cheap hotel deals, check our full guide about it. 

You have many ways to use these websites. One of them is, if you know where you want to go and more or less when you want to travel, you can start by adding this information. Then, these websites will show you a list of flights available, which you can filter according to your preferences to find the best flight for you. 

Another way to use these websites is by seeing what deals are available. Usually, they have a list of the best deals available at the moment. This is useful if you want to travel but don't have precisely a destination or a date in mind. 

They are very similar, and you can use all of them to find the cheapest flight deal available. It's essential to keep in mind the travelling rules in place in the UK at the moment. Also, you might need to get tested before and after you travel. We have a guide about PCR tests for travel. 

IMPORTANT NOTE: Even if you find a cheap flight deal, keep in mind that you might need to spend extra money to be able to travel. It's essential to include in your budget expenses with PCR tests, for example. At the moment, there are many cheap deals, but with the travel restrictions in place, they could cost you more than you think. 

2. Use comparison sites to find the best flight deals, but always check if it's not cheaper to go directly to the flight website. 

In some cases, going directly to the flight website can be cheaper. It's important to use comparison sites to find the best deals, but always check before the official flight website to see if you can get a better deal. 

3. Be flexible with your travel dates and times.

The more flexible you are, the better deal you can get. Not having a specific date or time that you need to travel will allow you to travel at the cheapest rates. Most flight comparison sites will allow you to see what the cheapest dates and times are. 

4. Use budget airlines 

There are many budget airlines available in the UK and in Europe. Some of them are EasyJet, Ryanair, Norwegian Air UK, TUI, Eurowings, Virgin Atlantic and others. Check their websites as they usually have cheaper flight deals. 

5. Some flight companies have free-to-join loyalty programs.

Some of the biggest flight companies have free-to-join loyalty programs, which can help you to save money if you travel a lot. They frequently provide special offers to their members, and there are some other perks. To find more about this, check some of the biggest flight companies' official websites. 

 6. Use your points and/or miles. 

Every time you travel, you can collect points and miles with airlines reward programs. You can also get them by using some airline credit cards available. No matter how often you fly, make sure to sign-up for a reward program. Some options available are SkyMiles, AAdvantage, MileagePlus and others. 

Learn here about the best airline credit cards. 

7. If you can, don't fly directly.

It can be time and energy-consuming, but if you can, don't fly directly, as this can help you to save money. Flights with stops are usually cheaper. 

8. Know the cheapest travel seasons and plan your trips during these times 

The cheapest months to fly from the UK are January, February, March, May, June, September and early December. Also, it's cheaper to book international flights between four to seven months in advance. 

9. Keep your searches top secret.

Based on the cookies in your browser, flight prices do increase when a particular route is repeatedly searched; because of that, keep your searches top secret by using the incognito or private browsing mode. 

10. Be quick when you've found a good flight deal.

As soon as you've found a good flight deal, make sure you are ready to pay and book. Flight deals can change very quickly, and you can miss a good opportunity to save some money. To give you an idea, here's what a good deal from the United Kingdom or Europe looks like:

East Asia: £450 or less, China: £380 or less, Southeast Asia: £400 or less, US or Canada: £300 or less, Mexico and Central America: £400 or less, South America: £450 or less, Middle East: £275 or less, South Asia: £350 or less, Subsaharan Africa: £350 or less, and North Africa: £150 or less.

IMPORTANT NOTE: These are prices for economic class. 

11. Sign up for flight-finding services to receive some of the best flight deals

There are some flight-finding services that can send you email alerts with cheap flights. Some of them are Jack's Flight Club, Holiday Pirates, and Secret Flying. 

12. Sometimes airline companies publish flight fares with errors, and you can take advantage of them. 

It's not uncommon for airline companies to publish flight fares with errors, and if you notice a flight that is much cheaper than usual, you better act quickly. There are even some sites that can send you these "flight fares with errors". One of them is Scott's Cheap Flights. 

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