Cost of flights summer 2026 - huge increase

[Ozgirl76]

In 2023 we went to Corfu - we paid 990 for 4 of us with easyJet. Civilised flight time (10.30am), we paid for 2 hold bags. This was leaving on 11 July, returning 9 days later from Gatwick.

We’d like to go back next year and I’ve just looked at flights - the cheapest at a civilised time is with BA and they want £1600!

Does anyone have any tips and tricks as to getting a flight a bit cheaper? I can’t believe they’ve gone up this much. I would happily go with easyJet but their flights are all at 5am or in the evening.

I guess I hadn’t realised how pedantic people were on this site. What I know is that we chose the cheapest flight 3 years ago (990) and are choosing the cheapest flight next year (1600).

So why did you say in your OP that the cheapest flight at a civilised time was the BA one? It sounds like the times are irrelevant?

Oh don’t be silly op 😆

To show why I chose BA - to note that even though easyJet are more expensive, they’re also at worse times.

I’m surprised you’re surprised
you spend most of your time on mumsnet saying how expensive the UK is and how inferior it is to Oz! 😆

It is! I would never come back if I didn’t have family here.

Collective sigh of relief! 😀

But you were making comments about the cost of staying at the airport cancelling out any savings from taking a cheaper flight etc. Why didn't you just say in the beginning that the 5am flight was more expensive?

Airline fares have gone go for a number of reasons.
A) inflation - like everything else
B) exchange rate - aviation fuel is paid for in dollars worldwide, and the the exchange rate is not as good as it was (same for European package holidays, where hotel rooms are paid in Euros).
C) SAF - Sustainable Aviation Fuel. Since 2025x Airlines need to use a certain percentage of SAF (how sustainable something is that is made in the far east and shipped to the UK in a tanker is another debate) and it’s expensive. Currently 2% of fuel has to be SAF, but this has to be 22% by 2040, so flights will only get more expensive.

Generally speaking - and there are some exceptions - airlines/holiday companies don’t make much profit per seat sold. It’s a high volume/low margin industry.

Yes we’ve noticed flights have increased a lot, my mum has a relative in Rio and she flies over most summers, for 5-6 years she was paying £650 for a return flight, luggage, food etc within that price. The cheapest she can now get is around £1,100 and that doesn’t include hold luggage or food and it has been that way since summer 2024.

OP I’ve just been on easyJet and put similar dates in to last year and it’s possible to fly for £900. The outbound gets there at 10pm but Corfu are 2 hours ahead so not awful. Not sure why you are getting so much more. This includes 2 cabin bags.

Welcome to Brexit Britain!

The easyJet fares were cheaper because of the departure times and 3 years ago fuel and airport f charges were cheaper. There is often very little difference in flight prices between EJ and BA when you compare like with like.

With BA the carry on allowance is so generous that you really don’t need to book hold bags. Would it be possible to go out from Gatwick and return to Heathrow? I worked out fares for the 4 of you for just less than £1,250. There might be (but might not) a BA sale after Xmas, depending on how well bookings are going.

You could also look at other carriers from the likes of Jet2 or other charter operators. Ryanair from Stansted might be an option for you but after add ons it might not work out cheaper.

TBH there are too many variables to establish a why..

As pps have pointed out a lot of many things the airline pays for to operate a flight will have gone up verses previous years but sometimes it's also simply a case that demand for a particular flight/route has changed and dynamic pricing has kicked in.

I get where you are coming from OP - even taking into account inflation it seems awfully expensive for your bog standard summer EU holiday. We are not going abroad for the first time since Covid next summer because quite frankly I cannot justify the scrimping and saving all year for a week or so in the sun in budget style accommodation. I dont have the stamina for anti social flight times either.

I do a short flight quite regularly. BA is always much more expensive. But much better service😊. I treat myself to it every so often when the difference isn’t too big.

you are comparing like with like - BA would have been much more expensive last year too

OP I agree, European flights to holiday type locations (not random non touristy locations so much) have increased significantly in recent years. Not sure why everyone is arguing against that. Consistently every flight I've taken or just researched is way more expensive year on year.

Flight only to holiday destinations tends to be more expensive in peak season because most the seats at this time of year are reserved for packages. Much nearer the time seats are released back I find through eg tui and jet2

BA sell 11.5 months out, so the answer is book a few months ago. I'm know this doesn't help you but that's when the lowest prices are released.

What a silly post, you are comparing chartered versus scheduled airlines.