Avoid Excessive Airline Fees

Being a vigilant and smart traveller can save you many hefty and hidden expenses, and you can reach your destination as comfortably as others. So, we are not talking about shifting to an economy class but ways to get the same or similar services that you need for a lesser price.

Following are ten tips to avoid the fees that you can, and you should avoid.

1. Where do we buy tickets?

This is a crucial point when it comes to finding that bargain with which all travellers dream when looking for a flight. In recent years, it has become fashionable to use what has been dubbed as ‘metasearch engines’. These tourist portals analyze, in seconds, hundreds of pages of airlines, companies, agencies and search engines, which exponentially multiplies the option of finding an offer.

One of the most known and useful is Skyscanner (it specializes in cheap flights) although there are others such as Kayak, Trabber, Liligo or Momondo. So, searching on the right platform does help a lot. It is recommended to consider Faremart for booking your next flight to the desired destination as the user-friendly platform is well known for its best travel services and travel experiences.

They have a good reputation among travellers. It is convenient to use several of these search engines when it comes to tracking that flight at a price that we consider great. Moreover, of course, compare with the websites of the airlines that, from time to time, surprise us with exciting offers.

2. When do we buy the tickets?

Those who know this assure that you never have to go beyond the three months limit. The airlines publish the most exciting offers while the flights have many empty seats. So, do not expect to wait too long, nor be impatient and do it too early. American Airlines, United Airlines, Qatar Airways, etc are some popular ones which provide worth grabbing discounts. Go for checking American Airlines discount code, Qatar Airways travel deals, United Airlines deals to avail the best offers.

According to numerous travel bloggers, the best deals are offered around three to four months before flight departure, in the case of continental and national flights and about four to five in intercontinental flights.

It is a significant fact that we should take into account. Another aspect that we must take into account is that airlines usually publish their offers on Tuesdays.

3. Match flights for international trips

Travellers that jump off the continent have to take into account the characteristics of the air markets of each place. We are going to put an example. If you are travelling from any European city without intercontinental connections and a destination in America, bear in mind that many low-cost airlines can bring you closer to the departure airport at a much lower price.

For example, a traveller who wants to go from Bilbao to New York should try the combination of a low-cost flight to Madrid to the United States before going to book two flights with the same airlines. Another practice that can give us a pleasant surprise is to contract the departure with one company and the return with another.

4. For travellers of complicated tastes

If your ideal vacation is to spend four days in Tokyo, fly to Cambodia, from there to a remote village in Nepal and finish in Alicante, your flight search engine is Flight Fox. In this search engine created by travellers, you will have the best offer for this type of flights that, otherwise, would require hours and hours of inquiries.

5. What days are cheaper to travel?

It is clear that prices depend on demand. During the weekends the number of tourists is triggered, and on Mondays and Fridays, the men and women of business who use the plane for their business trips are legion. In case you are planning a long vacation, it is not a bad idea to get used to travelling on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

6. If you want to travel without caring about your destination

An excellent tactic to catch last minute offers and take advantage of the opening of new routes is to subscribe to the alerts offered by companies and search engines. Some of the latter also provide the possibility to search for flights without a destination.

An example is Skyscanner. Put your departure airport, the date and, at the destination, type “any place” and choose the option. You’ll be surprised. The Kayak offers maps which are also a great tool to find offers.

7. Be alert to the high seasons and the dates indicated

It seems obvious, but travelling in August, in Spain, or in January in Argentina or Chile will make the flight significantly more expensive. Dates marked as Christmas, Easter or Holidays are bad to find a bargain.  

Let’s take an example. Trying to fly to the United States in the days leading up to Thanksgiving is crazy; the same as going to Seville during Holy Week or to Argentina when the Perito Moreno breaks. Nor will it be the same to go to Peru during the rainy season. You have to avoid the indicated dates, holidays and holiday periods.

8. Flexibility in hours and days

When you search for flights, the portals allow you the possibility of being flexible in hours and days. Unexpected hours (very early or late at night) are much cheaper than those between nine in the morning and eight in the evening. It is a matter of doing some maths and seeing the arrival times and transportation from the destination airports and the city we want to visit.

9. Use the Low-Cost list of each continent

The Internet is a mine of information. Here, we put at your disposal the most elaborated list of low-cost companies in the world with their links and everything. You have to click on the link and look for your flights for that trip through Asia or North America or wherever you want to go.

List of all the low-cost airlines in the world listed by continent (2019)

10. Change the departure and arrival airports

It is another recurrent advice for those who look for that irresistible offer that allows you to show off to your friends for months. If you want to fly to Paris from Malaga, for example, try to return by another nearby airport (Seville, Granada, etc.) and you will see how it is sometimes worth it. The same is applicable for Canarian travellers. Sometimes the sum of offers and flight to your destination are less if you choose to return from the same place where you left.

11. Search in incognito

Some pages save your cookies and if you go back to surfing on the same website they know the flight that you are interested in buying and they raise its price. To avoid this, it is best that you erase your browser history or when you go to search for a flight, you do it with the browser in incognito mode. In this way, your search will be private and will not be registered.

12. Remove cookies from your browser

This goes beyond making the prices lower, which allows you to see the updated information. If, for example, one day you searched for a New York – Paris ticket and the price was 220 USD, but the next day the rate decreases to 150 USD, this decrease will not appear, for the simple fact that your browser will have Cookies of the previous day. Cookies are information that your browser saves to quickly load the webpage on future occasions, but will deprive you of updated information.