Best tips for buying flights, our experience

You're thinking about organise a travel and you need buy flights?

In this article we are going to give you all the tips what do you have to know to book your flight perfect.

There are trips that are resolved with a single flight, and other long-distance trips in which you have to make several stops and use several planes to reach your destination.

In any case, no one wants to have the feeling of having paid more than necessary or having contracted something that in the end does not correspond to what you expected.

Therefore, based on our long travel experience, we have created this list of tips What you have to keep in mind if you are about to buy flights for a next trip.

Tips for booking cheap flights

Book flights early

If you are looking for the price to be as cheap as possible, you should book as far in advance as possible.

You may have to pay double the price if you book shortly in advance.

In our experience, for intercontinental trips you should book flights at least 6 months before the date of travel to get a very competitive price.

The closer the departure date gets, the fewer places there are and, therefore, the higher the price.

Is it better to travel out of season?

As we have mentioned, it seems obvious that the more demand for tickets, the more expensive the flight is, so obviously in high season prices rise.

I give you a real example that we often experience, such as going from Madrid a Boston, which is a city we fly to frequently, so you can appreciate the difference.

By booking 3 months in advance in both cases, in August a round trip costs around 1100 euros, while in February the flight cost us 450 euros.

This is real, but in high season there are also advantages that must be taken into account because they disappear out of season.

Although the price increases, airlines usually open routes that are only available in high season.

In practice this means that in high season you can do direct flight to some cities, while outside of it you will need make a stopover between two flights.

That is the case of the aforementioned Madrid-Boston flight, because in summer there is a direct flight and in winter there is not, so even if you have to pay more, at least you will save time to enjoy your stay.

But there are times when the price of the flight is very high and you don't know why, which is probably because there is a local festival or some event that you may not know about.

This happens in the case of travel to japan in March, the time when the cherry blossoms, a national event and high season in that country for as long as the flowers last.

So keep it in mind if you see that the price does not suit you for the dates you are looking for, unless what you want is to travel on that specific date.

How to use search engines and flight comparators

The good thing about them flight comparators The thing is that they offer you many options to choose from, although sometimes there are so many that they can disorient you.

But the best thing about comparators is the ability to filter searches, so if you know how to use them well, you can find real deals.

Many flight search engines give you the option (selecting only the month in which you want to travel) to search for the days in which flights are cheaper.

In this way they offer you the calendar of the month with the flight prices each day, and thus you can adjust the travel dates to the prices that interest you most.

If you have some freedom when choosing the days, use this option because it can save you a lot of money.

Which airline to choose to travel

Take into account the airline you are traveling with; It is not the same to travel low cost than in a company that is not, and in each group, with many nuances.

When choosing flights, price search engines show information about the airlines that operate them.

Each one has its own rules, especially regarding checked baggage or hand luggage that we can carry in the cabin.

Another aspect that differentiates the different airlines is whether they give you free food service or snack, which is increasingly less common, except in the case of long-haul or intercontinental flights.

And we must also take into account the flight schedules that they offer you, since flying with certain companies to certain destinations may mean traveling to the airport at ungodly hours.

But not always low cost It means worse service.

As an example I want to highlight that when flying with the low cost norwegian, in great expansion in recent years, on certain routes you will haveWireless free on the plane!! I assure.

In our experience there are some airlines that are spectacular and that take maximum care of the passenger, and others that pose almost an obstacle course, putting a price on every minimal service.

In this regard, be careful Ryanair, the most popular low cost in Europe, which always requires you to do the Online billing before going to the airport.

This implies that you always go with the printed ticket (or on certain routes, checked in on your mobile), because if not almost, you will have to pay 75 euros to check in at said airport.

flights with stopovers

Another important point is stopovers if your trip requires them.

Take a good look at the stopover duration, because there are times when the price of the flight is very cheap because you have a very long layover at the airport.

Of course, the stopover should not be too short either, for example only half an hour, which sometimes happens, as you run the certain risk of missing the connecting flight, and with almost complete certainty, your suitcase will not have time to be transferred from one plane to another.

And be careful with long layovers, especially on flights in which you arrive at the airport at 2 in the morning and, for example, the next flight leaves at 8 in the morning or similar times.

These stopovers kill you because you hardly have time to go to a hotel and it is a nightmare to sleep at the airport.

Our advice is that you make sure that the flight has short stopovers, or if they are long, that due to the flight schedules you have the possibility of leaving the airport to visit the city of the stopover.

For example, on an intercontinental flight with Quatar airways, if the scale in Doha is more than five hours, at the airport you can sign up for a free city tour.

And even better, if you have time on trips in which you connect two flights more than 10 hours apart, you should consider spending a night or a day visiting the city where you stopover as a good option.

Best flight times

As we have mentioned, another measure that airlines What they use to lower prices is to put flights at unappealing times, and in this way they free up spaces at peak times, which are more expensive for them.

But beyond the inconveniences that we have mentioned about having long layovers at airports, there is another problem that can arise.

Keep in mind that there are times when if the departure or arrival times of the plane are late at night or very early in the morning, you may not have public transportation to get to the airport.

In the end, what you save on the flight you lose in the taxi.

If for whatever reason you had to choose this option, keep in mind that it is better and cheaper than a taxi. reserve a transfer that makes the hotel-airport journey for you.

What luggage can I bring on the plane?

The issue of luggage is a factor that can be very important to you, as you may be forced to pay more if it does not exactly comply with the measures they have in place.

It is also important to look at whether the ticket price includes baggage check-in or not.

If it's about long haul flights, the price always usually includes a suitcase with a maximum weight of 23 kg.

But if the flight is short and you need checked luggage, in most low-cost companies you will have to include it yourself as an extra to pay, sometimes at a really high price.

Most of the prices they put you on short trips They do not include luggage, only hand luggage, and the companies low cost They are quite strict in this luggage that we carry with us.

When the ticket includes a suitcase, it usually weighs 23kg.

For each extra suitcase (another 23 kg of weight) they usually charge you a supplement of between 50 and 80 euros depending on the company.

Keep in mind that it is cheaper to pay the baggage check-in along with the ticket when booking the flight, which if you do it at the last minute at the airport, which will always have a higher extra cost.

Be careful if you are going to hire several flights, because if one of them is an ocean liner but the rest are not, the ticket price may only include suitcases on the long journey.

Review it and make sure you hire and add what you need.

The aforementioned Ryanair It is a company that has always had very demanding standards, which you have to take into account.

Currently, only if you have paid a supplement will they let you bring your regulation suitcase into the cabin; If not, either check it in after payment, or if you take it as hand luggage, when you arrive at the plane door they will take it to the hold.

This last step of lowering hand luggage to the hold is also done by other companies. low cost.

What to do after a flight delay or cancellation

Know what to do in case of a long flight delay or cancellation It is a very important aspect.

It is not common, so if you are not a frequent traveler, you will almost certainly not know your rights in these circumstances and do not know how to claim.

If you want to know how to proceed if you have to make a claim, be it delays, cancellations or lost luggage, we have published an article in which we clarify all the doubts that may arise.

Here you can consult How to claim for delay or cancellation of your flight.

Is it necessary to take out insurance for airplane flights?

When booking the flight they usually offer you cancellation insurance alluding to possible problems of Overbooking and other questions to scare you and hire him, but...

Is it really necessary to take out cancellation insurance when purchasing the flight?

Each one has to see if it suits him or not.

Unless it is an internal trip in your own country, and then you may want to hire it, our opinion is that it is best carry good travel insurance that covers all incidents during it, and in which these types of situations are included.

These insurances cover a wide range of incidents that may arise, starting from possible medical problems, but they also compensate you for all inconveniences related to air travel.

If you have already taken out your own travel insurance, it would double the coverage, so you should not be interested in the insurance offered by the airline.

In our case we do not take out this cancellation insurance because we always travel with a good travel insurance.

Different arrival and return airports

If you are going on a route in which you visit several cities and you are going to move a lot, keep in mind that you can save hours or even days if you plan different airports of start and end of the trip.

Unless your route is circular, consider this option.

To give you another example, which is the best way to visualize, in our various trips along the West Coast of the United States always used one airport for arrival and another for returning home.

Change of time zone

If your flight includes a change of time slot, take a good look at it when booking it, with everything that this implies in terms of possible date changes, especially on very long trips.

You wouldn't be the first to realize that you have extra or missing days on your trip.

Tickets with special needs

There are many people who have different characteristics when traveling than a standard traveler, whether due to mobility problems, carrying special luggage or traveling with children in strollers.

When purchasing the ticket you must notify these circumstances so that the airline can take advantage of it.

In the case of children up to two years, they usually do not have to pay, or if they do, it is a minimum percentage of the standard ticket.

Of course, they do not have the right to a seat but must travel on the legs of one of the parents.

When children are between 2 and 10 years oldDepending on the airline and the price of the flight, there is usually a discount.

In the case of a mobility problem, airports always offer a service with help staff and wheelchairs, which you can request when you arrive at the airport free of charge.

They accompany you and give you the help you need, even transferring you or picking you up from the plane.

You will also not have to pay any charge, for example, for checking in a wheelchair or a stroller that you own.

And as for the special luggage, such as ski boards, when booking the ticket you must indicate this circumstance.

As long as they comply with the rules of what can be carried on a plane, you will only have to check it in when you arrive at the airport.

Entertainment during the trip plane

On long trips entertainment systems They vary, and traveling on one airline is not the same as another.

It is precisely in this type of service where you can find clear differences, and so for example, depending on the company and the origin and destination of the flights, the catalog of movies in your language can vary quite a bit.

Visas to fly

Finally, before purchasing tickets you should check if you will need to apply for a visa to fly to a specific country.

In any case, when billing you must have all the necessary documentation for the trip Well, without it they won't let you get on the plane.