Booking flights

[InterestedinEfteling]

Wheres the best place to book flights only? I have been on a flight since 2018 and I'm very under travelled so would like to know how to get the cheapest deals. Thanks

try sky scanner

Direct with the airline.
It will never be cheaper elsewhere and you'll have less trouble getting a refund.
Find the cheapest on Skyscanner as above but then go and book direct.

I would also suggest booking direct with the airline.

Cheapest always seems to come up as easyjet. But then once I add on bags etc it comes out so much more expensive. Are all airlines like this?

Yes mostly they are

I work my way through all airlines and all commutable airports for the day/s I want and find the best deals

I've even flown out with one airline and back with another

Most airlines charge more for bags one way or another now. Then there’s all the optional extras like seat selection or speedy boarding, but that’s personal choice.

I agree with PP about using sky scanner then going to the airline website to book direct.

The budget airlines often have hidden extras. We flew to Amsterdam recently. You could get a flight for about£40 return but if you wanted even cabin luggage that was an extra £80. We flew KLM in the end as it worked out marginally more expensive (£150 return) . But our arrival time meant we got most of the first day in Amsterdam, and we didn’t have to wait around for ages for our flight home.
I think it’s a false economy to go for some of the cheap Ryanair flights that get you in at 9 o clock at night so you are paying for a night in a hotel before you’ve even seen the place you are staying in.

Use Skyscanner but then book direct with airline, bear in mind Skyscanner prices are the basic price. With the cheap airlines like Easyjet, don't pay for seats or fares which come with bags - skip through and then add on one or two of the heaviest checked bags. Much cheaper than the fares with bags. And agree with PP - bear in mind hidden costs with cheaper flights that depart really early or late - you're more likely to have to drive to the airport or stay overnight at the airport. Or pay a late check out if you want to keep your room before you return.

Cheapest always seems to come up as easyjet. But then once I add on bags etc it comes out so much more expensive. Are all airlines like this?

Yes, but some airlines are more generous with the dimensions of the included hand luggage than others. EasyJet are a little more generous than Ryanair and Wizz, but less generous than national carriers like BA, Swiss Air, etc. Personally I just try and pack light these days if it's only me travelling. When I travel with my family of four, we take the cheapest fare and then add one or two large hold bags to share.

I use Sky Scanner to research prices and then book direct with the airline. You can sometimes save a small amount booking elsewhere but for a few £s it's not worth the extra hassle when anything goes wrong. The only time I don't book direct with the airline is when it's a more complicated journey (e.g. multistop with different airlines)

You need to weigh up all the factors especially how big hand luggage is included in the base price. We tend to use easyJet but take only small hand luggage (included in base price) then add a checked bag and share. Some airlines still include a 56cm hand luggage plus second item, but to be honest they are few and far between now.

Where do you live?
I've found BA from Heathrow cheaper that EJ from Gatwick for example because you get a cabin bag included in the flight price

I look at Skyscanner, booking.com has flights, there's a few others too like flight centre, but usually I book direct with the airline.

It's also always worth checking with TUI if it's a holiday type destination as they have generous luggage policies, it's why we so often opt for a package holiday

Thanks where did you fly from? Its Amsterdam we're going to.

Gatwick is our nearest airport we're on the south coast

On the easyjet website it will only let me add a checked luggage bag for all of us (2 adults and 2 children) whereas ideally I'd only like to add 1 checked suitcase. Is this possible?

We are going to Belfast and BA worked out cheaper than EasyJet as they have handbag and cabin case included. Also way more choice of flight times.

Also try google.com/flights as well as skyscanner to find connections

We flew from Glasgow. KLM were very good

I've just gone through Skyscanner. Tried first direct with airline (BA) and it came up as £2k+. Put info into Skyscanner and it came back with £760 for the same flight. Booked through the Skyscanner link on BA website.

That's a hell of a difference.

I just did a mock search/booking on Skyscanner.

Search: 345 euro
Click on that first search: 474 euro
Click on Skyscanner button for that particular airline 365 euro
Onto website 365 euro
Add luggage 400 euro.

So Skyscanner search, as above, gives you the base price with no added luggage, but what's interesting (ignoring the sudden hike to 474 which must be some sort of Skyscanner glitch) is how 345 becomes 365.

Going directly onto the airline website still gives base price of 365.

This: start with skyscanner and then go through to the airline.

@InterestedinEfteling if booking flights with Easyjet, select the basic option when they give you the choice of fares i.e. free underseat bag only. Then when you get past seating choice you have the option to select cases separately by person.

Be aware that unless you pay for it, you aren't guaranteed to be seated together, but Easyjet often will if you check in the 30 days in advance.

Are you planning to stay in a hotel in Amsterdam? If so it might be worth looking at Easyjet holidays to that location, often the holiday packages are good value as they have luggage and seats together included.

Agree that the low cost airlines such as EasyJet or Ryanair may not always be the cheapest.

We were looking at flights to Paris - easyJet’s base fare was cheap, but by the time we had added a small cabin suitcase each, it turned out that Air France was actually cheaper as their base fare includes a cabin suitcase as standard.

Also remember that Ryanair often use airports that aren’t actually anywhere near the destination (e.g the airport they fly to in “Paris” is actually almost 90 minutes away), so you would need to factor the cost of getting to your final destination into the overall cost.

Cheapest always seems to come up as easyjet. But then once I add on bags etc it comes out so much more expensive. Are all airlines like this

Jet2 include a wheelie case in addition to the smaller size in the price but are mainly based in the north, but do fly out of Stansted and Birmingham. I don't know if it's worth the extra distance for another option to try.

Thank you I didn't not realise I could add on bags at the end! I'll check again now. Yes I intend to stay 2 nights in Amsterdam and 2/3 nights at Efteling so I don't think I can book it as a package but I'll check with easyjet
Thanks.