Traveling significantly expands our horizons, gives positive emotions and makes it possible to feel truly alive and fulfilled. Psychologists believe that the stress of a whole year of hard work can be removed with just one ten-day trip. Of course, many readers may retort that any trip requires significant financial costs, most of which are air travel. Because of this, our compatriots are afraid to organize independent travel, giving preference to package tours. But some Russians with extensive travel experience can reveal the secrets of how to find the cheapest airfare. They argue that with some skill and relatively little time spent searching, you can fly to almost any part of the world alongminimum price. We will talk about this topic today. Our readers will be able to learn how to find the cheapest tickets, when to book them, which route can be the most profitable and many more secrets of budget travel.
A few words about air tickets
Practically every person who has ever purchased a tourist package or planned an independent trip has an idea of how much the cost of the total travel budget is an air ticket. By reducing them, the tourist will be able to spend the released amount on excursions or purchases on vacation, so conversations about when it is more profitable to buy air tickets and how to do it almost never lose their relevance.
There are quite a lot of tips and recommendations for tourists on various Internet resources, but not all of them really help to save money. After all, the route of travel also plays a significant role in this matter. Few Russians know that the price of an air ticket grows not only in certain high seasons for air carriers, but also depending on the route. This should also be taken into account if you want to buy an inexpensive air ticket.
Experienced travelers who know how to save on this item of expenditure claim that this is possible only if you take into account the following nuances:
- route;
- season;
- time of purchase;
- the skill of searching for tickets on the Internet.
It all seems rather complicated, but only at first glance. We arewe will reveal all the tricks of how to get cheap round-trip air tickets.
Ticket price components
The cost of the cheapest air tickets of all possible options, as well as the most expensive ones, has several parts that form it. You need to know this in order to understand why air carriers reduce the price and arrange sales. After all, any passenger understands that the company will not operate flights at a loss, which means that there is a component that the carrier can increase and decrease at its discretion.
So what does the cost of an air ticket consist of? Everything is pretty simple here:
- fare;
- fees and taxes.
Fare is the base part of the price of a ticket, which is usually the sum of the airline's main expenses for making a flight. Most often, the carrier itself sets the tariff, based on its costs. This includes passenger service, salary fund, aircraft repair, leasing coverage and other nuances. Therefore, the fare is affected by the duration of the flight, the season and the booking class. In order to satisfy all the needs of passengers, airlines have provided several tariffs:
- First class. Such flights are very expensive, so the fare is available for booking only on rare international flights. If you happen to fly first class, you will definitely not remain indifferent to the level of comfort that will be provided to you on board. It includes a barvideo salon, showers, fully reclining chairs, private booths and more.
- Business class. This fare is more familiar to Russians, as it is found on most routes. Passengers receive an increased level of comfort, consisting of priority boarding, a separate cabin, the ability to carry more luggage, an extended menu with alcoholic beverages included in the price and other nuances of a comfortable journey.
- Economy class. This tariff is acceptable for most of our compatriots. After all, they are the ones who travel the world. It is not stable, as it has several subspecies. At the same time, the quality of service on board does not depend on them. Typically, the differences between economy class fares are baggage rules, ticket refunds, and the ability to choose your seat on board.
The fare, which is the basic part of the ticket price, almost never changes. But where do cheap flights come from? Here, the second component of the cost plays a significant role - taxes and fees.
It is not installed by the company, but by the airport. For example, the fuel surcharge depends on international fuel prices. In addition, it is calculated in euros and dollars, so fluctuations in these currencies have the most direct impact on it.
This part of the ticket price includes servicing passengers at the airport, ensuring their safety, paying for a departure from a foreign airport, and even a certain fare for flying over a foreign territory. Often this groupThe airline's expenses include the service charge for issuing the ticket. At any ticket office, it will already be included in the cost of your flight. Therefore, an experienced traveler will answer without hesitation where it is cheaper to buy plane tickets. Naturally, on the Internet, where there are no service fees, and no one writes out forms for you.
Based on the above, it is easy to conclude that the cheapest air tickets (S7, Aeroflot and other companies) are formed due to fluctuations in the second part, which is the cost of the flight. For example, the price of fuel may decrease due to the exchange rate, or the airport will give a privilege on servicing aircraft of a particular company for a certain time.
The rates themselves rarely change. In rare cases, the carrier may, as part of the promotion, make the bulk of economy class tickets non-refundable, which will significantly reduce their cost, or make another marketing move.
Choosing the route and season
If you are concerned about how to find the cheapest air ticket, then ask this question at the initial stage of travel planning. After all, your expenses depend on the route and time of the trip.
When we talk about the route, it is extremely important to consider the place from which you will fly. The fact is that, in addition to the high and low season, the starting point of the trip also affects the cost of the ticket. For example, if you are going to Thailand, then the months and days of the cheapest air tickets will differ significantly for residents of Irkutsk, Moscow and Tomsk, for example. Since inIn each region of Russia, one or another airline is the leader, then it is the airline that sets the price, depending on the demand in the region and its own workload. Therefore, if it is fundamentally unimportant to you which country or city to fly to on vacation, then find out where the cheapest flights are from your city. Believe me, with this approach, you can save quite a decent amount.
How to find the cheapest flight ticket? Plan your trip for the period when air carriers traditionally reduce prices for their services. Of course, there are subtleties in finding these months, but usually they are considered to be two periods: from mid-November to mid-December and from mid-January to the end of February. This is due to the fact that during the specified periods of time, interest in air travel among passengers decreases. Many who plan a vacation tend to combine it with the New Year holidays, so November and December until the twenties are simply not considered as a time for relaxation. By the New Year, airfare prices rise as a standard, to then fall again before the May holidays.
From May until autumn, most airlines do not make promotions on their flights. Since this time is the “hottest” time for air carriers. No one knows how to find the cheapest air ticket for a given period. Prices in the specified time interval are kept high in almost all directions. Therefore, if possible, plan your vacation for other dates.
But do not be upset if you wanted to walk around the Roman Colosseum or see yourthrough the eyes of Barcelona in all its glory, and this does not work out because of the high prices for flights in the summer. Of course, the cheapest flights to Europe from Moscow are sold in February, but this does not mean that your dream will not come true. Try to find a compromise and go on a trip, for example, in April. The cost of a flight to Europe at this time is kept at an average level, therefore it is affordable for many. And the weather in most European countries is already conducive to long walks and sightseeing.
Acting according to the scheme we have indicated, you can fly to rest quite inexpensively.
When is the cheapest flight to which country?
If you have the ability to tailor your vacation to specific dates, then you should know that there is a general downward trend in airfare prices depending on the destination. Perhaps you will be able to fly on vacation just when the ticket price is at a minimum.
For example, it is best to go to Sochi and Crimea from October to May. At this time, the price of tickets is low, and there are a lot of opportunities to have a good rest, on the contrary. After all, tourists often swim in the sea until November and open the swimming season in April.
Those who prefer traveling around Russia can be advised to plan their vacation from January to March. But the period of low prices for air tickets to Asia begins from February to June, and then it falls on October and November. Europe and the US are cheaper to visit in February and March. Low prices for tickets to the states are kept in September.
When to buy plane tickets?
In advance. We think that every potential traveler has heard such an answer at least once. That's just when in each case this "in advance" begins, few people know. Although there are simple rules about this.
Typically, those who travel the world on their own plan everything well in advance of the trip. Most often, all the details of the vacation are worked out for the year, so you need to think about air tickets at about the same time. Statistics give a fairly clear answer to the question "when is it more profitable to buy air tickets." It is believed that you can find the lowest prices six months before the trip and a few days before departure. However, the last option to buy a cheap ticket is more suitable for spontaneous trips. After all, inaction in anticipation of low prices for flights may not bear fruit. As a result, a carefully prepared trip will fail.
There are also special statistics by country that provide information about when it is most profitable to buy plane tickets. The lowest prices for a flight to Sochi are formed one or two months before the trip. But in the Crimea, America and Asia, tickets should be looked for no later than six months before the vacation. Those who are going to rest in Europe can purchase tickets approximately four months before the flight. Be sure that prices during this period will be the lowest. Traveling in Russia gives you the opportunity to buy the cheapest ticket between two and four weeks before the expected date of departure.
Skills needed to find yourselfbargain price
Despite the fact that today most of our compatriots buy tickets through special websites, many do not know how to book plane tickets via the Internet with maximum benefit. That is, a phased search and purchase scheme is known to almost everyone, but few people know the tricks, thanks to which you can find the cheapest flight. Today we will try to help our readers become professionals in finding plane tickets. To find the best flight, you need to have the following skills:
- to make full use of all the possibilities of search engines;
- follow promotions and discounts (Aeroflot and S7 airlines, for example, hold them regularly, which they inform their subscribers about);
- pick up a flight not from your city;
- don't be afraid to fly with low-cost airlines;
- travel with a large group;
- look for connecting flights;
- hide city of departure and arrival;
- use erroneous rates;
- accumulate miles and exchange them for air tickets.
In the following sections, we will go through the list items in more detail.
How to find cheap tickets through search engines: basic tips
What does the average person do when they want to buy a ticket online? Most likely, he opens the first available search engine, enters the dates and route, and then selects the most suitable one from the received options. But this way you will not find a profitable air ticket, so weprepared some tips for readers:
- Don't use all the services in a row. Not every one of them gives complete information about tickets. In addition, one should not exclude the possibility of falling for scammers, which periodically occurs in this field of activity. Therefore, the most popular search engines among experienced travelers are Aviacells, Skyscanner and Buruki. Before buying a ticket, be sure to compare its cost on all three sites. Sometimes the price difference is up to ten percent.
- If you just want to have a cheap vacation, but don't know where to look for tickets, then Skyscanner will come to your aid. The search engine has one very convenient option that allows you to see all the cheapest tickets at once. This can be done by entering the word "everywhere" instead of a specific destination in the string. If you are not limited in dates, then indicate the travel period for a whole month or a year. Thus, you will see all the cheapest flight options in a few minutes.
- For those who know exactly where they want to go on vacation, we advise you to subscribe to the newsletter. A similar service is provided by the Aviacells search engine. Once you enter all the data you need to search for tickets, you will regularly receive information about price increases and decreases.
- The low price calendar allows you to compare the cost of a flight on different days throughout the week or month. If desired, the passenger can conduct a comparative analysis even for several months at once. Moreover, the lowest prices will be highlighted in green. Interestingly, usuallygreat flight deals appear on Tuesday.
- Complex itineraries involving one or more transfers are always cheaper than direct flights. Therefore, try to drive a similar route in a search engine and compare the cost of tickets. Often, non-closed flights are profitable when the city of arrival and departure in the next segment are different.
- It's almost impossible to find an inexpensive air ticket for the holidays. Therefore, Buruki offers special selections. One has only to enter the holiday that interests you, as the system will give out all the profitable options for destinations at its discretion.
If you use all the features of search engines, then your chances of getting a cheap air ticket will increase significantly.
Promotions and discounts
Many air carriers sell tickets and make various promotional offers. Therefore, it is worth subscribing to the newsletter from the companies you are interested in. But be prepared to do this at least six months before buying a ticket.
Planning a route based on profitable offers
Often, when searching for a flight ticket, we are fixated on certain airports, but the best deal can be waiting for you, for example, in a neighboring city. Try to enter in the search engine line not the city you are used to, but several others located nearby. Perhaps even taking into account the road to them, your flight will be much cheaper.
Low-cost carrier services: the best way to save on air tickets
Low-cost companies are already well known to our compatriots. They can travel around Europe for only a few tens of euros, but the problem is that most of the carriers do not work in Russia. However, there is a way to use their services and save on flights. This is possible if you initially fly from our country to Tallinn or, for example, Helsinki. A ticket here is very cheap, and from these cities you can get to almost anywhere in Europe for fifteen to twenty euros.
Thanks to low-cost airlines, you can make a difficult route and quite inexpensively go around almost half the world. Usually such trips are formed spontaneously right at the stage of buying an air ticket. By visiting the website of the low-cost airline, the passenger learns that from the place where he plans to fly, you can get quite inexpensively to another point, and from there to another one. Thus, in a month it is quite possible to visit five or six countries with minimal investment.
And one more piece of advice - travel without luggage. Low-cost airlines charge a significant surcharge for baggage. For example, with a ticket costing ten euros, luggage can cost all thirty.
Together is cheaper
Those who prefer to travel in a cheerful and noisy company may well count on a discount from some air carriers. It can be expressed in a discount on the current flight, a loy alty program or an offer to join a club. The latter option en titles you to purchase discounted tickets on an ongoing basis, but you will need to pay a membership fee. It usually pays off on the firstflight.
Advanced Passenger Course
If you have already mastered all the skills we described earlier, then try using several new ways that will allow you to save even more on the purchase of air tickets.
Everyone knows that connecting routes are cheaper. But what if the purchase of a ticket is not to the required end point? For example, you want to fly to Tallinn, but the price categorically does not suit you. In order to buy the cheapest ticket, you need to find a carrier whose hub is located in Tallinn. Once you find one, look through all transfer tickets in the city you are interested in. Often such a flight will be cheaper than a direct one. Therefore, you buy a ticket to another point and just stay in Tallinn during the transfer.
Many travelers write that with frequent requests for air tickets from the same city, the program starts to give you far from the cheapest result. Experiment and for a while enter a city that is not your city at all in the search box. Then, if you enter the correct data, you will get the most profitable option.
Often the program crashes, and the search engine gives an erroneous option. It can cost half as much as usual. If you immediately buy such a ticket, it will be valid even when the error is corrected.
And in conclusion, I would like to say about miles. Do not be lazy to use all kinds of bank cards that offer bonuses in the form of miles. If with every purchase you receive such a cashback, then it’s quiteyou can discreetly save up for a free flight.
And one more nuance: never take your time when you see a very good offer. Buy a ticket instantly, because such a chance may never come again, and go on a long-awaited journey along your dream route.
